I have been against the adventurism launched by Chimperator Bush and Emperor Palpatine Cheney in Iraq and Afghanistan from the outset. I clearly recall watching the television news as the Chimperator announced the U.S. military was going into those countries and thought to myself that Bush's hubris and Cheney's insanity would bring nothing good for the USA. Here we are years later and those fears have been confirmed. Thousands of U.S. servicemembers dead, countless thousands of Iraqi and Afghan civilians dead, in the neighborhood of a trillion dollars just as effectively wasted as if it had been put in a pile and lighted on fire. The recent WikiLeaks disclosures have only served to underscore the fool's errand the USA has been on from the get go. Yet what is the reaction - especially from the military which has been caught with its pants down and Barack Obama who disingenuously promised change in failed foreign policy and to be a "fierce advocate" for LGBT rights? Condemnation. But of the leaker(s) and WikiLeaks, not the misdeeds disclosed - some of which merit serious of criminal prosecution - and the utterly false premises behind so much of the deadly and costly misadventures. Not all in the media are buying into the ploy of shifting attention from what ought to properly be the focus of attention following the disclosures, but too much of the MSM is - as is the norm - merely parroting the White House and military disinformation. Sometimes being a true patriot means going against leaders who are taking the nation down a disastrous road. Pfc. Bradley Manning, who served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq, has been charged with eight violations of the U.S. Criminal Code. If the leaks result in change in a failed policy, he more probably should be given a medal for exposing the lies of the military and some of the truth about what is really happening in Afghanistan. Here are highlights from some who are on target as to what ought to be happening. First from Glenn Greenwald at Salon:*
[A]s was painfully predictable and predicted, the bulk of political discussion in the wake of the WikiLeaks disclosures focuses not on our failing, sagging, pointless, civilian-massacring, soon-to-be-decade-old war, but rather on the Treasonous Evil of WikiLeaks for informing the American people about what their war entails. While it's true that WikiLeaks should have been much more careful in redacting the names of Afghan sources, watching Endless War Supporters prance around with righteous concern for Afghan lives being endangered by the leak is really too absurd to bear. You know what endangers innocent Afghan lives? Ten years of bombings, checkpoint shootings, due-process-free hit squads, air attacks, drones, night raids on homes, etc. etc.
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Numerous government officials are predictably threatening not only WikiLeaks' sources with criminal prosecution, but WikiLeaks itself. That, of course, would be a major escalation of the Obama administration's war on whistle blowing leaks, which already easily surpasses the war waged by the Bush administration. . . . . allowing prosecutions not for those who leak classified information, but also for those who receive and publish it, would obviously allow criminal sanctions to be aimed at journalists who publish or report on classifed information.
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[T]he Obama administration is now advocating changes to the law that would empower federal law enforcement agents to compel companies to turn over citizens' Internet records without a warrant or any other form of judicial oversight.
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The latter move sounds like something out of the former Soviet Union or present day China. The sad truth is that if one had reason to fear for their privacy and civil rights under the Bush/Cheney regime, things are now even worse under Obama. Yes, Obama is bringing change - but not the change he was elected to bring about. Why does the word "LIAR" keep springing to mind? Here via CNN is what the founder of WikiLeaks has to say back to Obama and the DOD:
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Friday that he was disappointed by criticism from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates over the release of about 76,000 pages of U.S. documents related to the war in Afghanistan.
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Gates said Thursday that the massive leak will have significant impact on troops and allies, revealing techniques and procedures. Assange rejected that assessment Friday, saying in a release that Gates "has overseen the killings of thousands of children and adults" in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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Assange's statement Friday was harshly critical of Gates, particularly over deaths in Afghanistan. "Secretary Gates could have used his time, as other nations have done, to announce a broad inquiry into these killings," the statement said. "He could have announced specific criminal investigations into the deaths we have exposed. He could have announced a panel to hear the heartfelt dissent of U.S. soldiers, who know this war from the ground. He could have apologized to the Afghani people.
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"But he did none of these things. He decided to treat these issues and the countries affected by them with contempt. Instead of explaining how he would address these issues, he decided to announce how he would suppress them. "This behavior is unacceptable. We will not be suppressed. We will continue to expose abuses by this administration and others."
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Frankly, I don't believe anything Gates has to say - and my inability to believe Obama isn't far behind. Things have changed in Washington, alright. And for the worse.
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