BBC, Iraq, and me

I just finished watching the March 15 show of BBC's Question Time, where a high powered panel and intelligent and diverse audience members discussed the Iraq situation for one hour. My impressions:

• How that level of discourse (in terms of time, level of participants, intelligence of discussion) just doesn't happen on American TV.
• How intelligent and mature the audience members members seemed to be. Though many different views were represented, it remained civil.
• The same impression I have whenever I see or read something from John Bolton. The man is an evil turd. And I type that in a calm, civil tone.
  
• That what I feel is a key point was only mentioned briefly, and not directly addressed. That point being that the US was instrumental in bringing Sadaam to power, keeping him in power, encouraging and supporting his war with Iran, and deafening in it's silence when he was gassing various enemies. It's ludicrous to assume that suddenly we are acting from the moral high-ground. We couldn't be trusted then, so we shouldn't be trusted now.
  
• That no one mentioned the wanton destruction of all of the ministries. I mean, if Iraqi self governance and stability was a goal, that's a pretty dumb thing to do. However, if instability is your goal, it's a pretty effective action.
• That no one mentioned the (4 or 5 I think) huge permanent bases, and largest embassy on planet Earth. But, the turd Bolton slimily spouted that no one wants the troops there any longer than is absolutely necessary. When the Iraqi's stand up...blah blah blah.
• That it was said that soon Iraqis would create laws allowing them for the first time to share in the wealth of Iraqi oil. That struck me as rather odd. Isn't that like saying that you can share in your bank account? If it's their oil, it's their oil, all of it, and it's their decision as whether to share it with others or not.
• Several spoke, in a frightening way (to me), that when the UN doesn't go our way, with countries like Russia, France, and China jamming up the Security Council, that it's something like a moral imperative to act to stop evil. As when China invaded Tibet, or as they could invade Taiwan? As when Sadaam invaded Kuwait which he blamed for stealing Iraqi oil via slant drilling? As with Russia attacking Afghanistan? Are we now saying that those are all reasonable, morally justified actions? If not, why not?
• Thank goodness for the internet, that I can access such info.
  

Iraq: a two front money scheme

The simple reason that the W company (a front company) sent the American military to shock and awe Iraq is the old story. Old as the hills. Treasure. To steal treasure. Again. From the poor to the rich. Again. Yawn.

But this war has a modern twist. In Roman times money came from the booty of war. But W company isn’t so interested in stealing treasure from the vanquished – Iraqis were rather poor after years of brutal sanctions. And not to steal oil, though that’s a nice side dish. No, one of the great reasons for ‘going in’ was to take money from the US Treasury; to take money from the US treasure and put it into a few carefully positioned pockets. And the time and energy they take to position their pockets is truly amazing. Would that they could channel such intensity towards happy ends, but alas, I digress.

The American army no longer cooks for itself, nor washes its own clothes, nor builds its own camps, nor supplies it’s soldiers with means of calling home. KBR (Kellog, Brown and Root, a Halliburton possession, for newcomers to world events) does that at dectuple the price, thank you very much. See the documentaries Iraq for Sale, or The War Tapes for enough gory details to make you sick. Meals to the troops get billed out at $29, laundry $99 a load, and locally made cola $6 a six-pack. KBR bills by the plate whether there is food on it or not, and by the truck-journey, whether there is anything in it or not. They can even demand that US soldiers protect their investments. Good work if you can get it. And if the vice prez happens to be your former CEO, get it you can. Without even the process of bidding, and all that competition nonsense.

And then of course there’s all the material. The bullets, the humvees, the trucks, the smart bombs, the fuel. War consumes like crazy. Look around. Every company who sells these consumables is a ‘patriotic’ supporter of the war. Their stock is up. Patriotic bumperstickers fill their parking lots. “I support my paycheck the troops”.

A few years ago, via Riverbend blog (a heroic Iraqi), I read about an Iraqi engineering company, in the early, ideological days of the ‘reconstruction’, that bid on the repair of a bridge. They lost. The contract went to a US company, at ten times their bid.

What ended up getting constructed were permanent military bases, and the biggest embassy on the planet – a new, neocon Vatican.

America is in a money fever. Our army is on the other side of the world. The fever has gotten down to our roots.

We’ve started yet another war to pump money into pockets. Looks like over 700,000 Iraqis have died as a result. Don’t talk about them. Kids in Iraq can’t go to school and are growing up in a nightmare scenario. Don’t talk about them. The money is flowing as designed. Americans are getting poorer and working harder just to stay afloat. Don’t talk about them. The money is flowing as designed, from our normal pockets into some rich CEO's, and in the process is massive suffering and death.

The constitution lays out the mechanisms by which we control this beast called government. We have not used those mechanisms. The death toll has been enormous. Our karma.

Instant karma, because make no mistake my friends, this is a two front war: Iraq and America. The people behind W company know that the American people are their greatest threat. The Patriot act was no mistake.

Torture is legal; free speech is not.

Our primary torture base has a cute nickname, gitmo.

A two front war. Both countries are in mortal danger. And the money guys look in the camera and say ‘stay the course’.

This fever is at our cultural roots now. What are we going to do?

Rise up!

Rise up! is an antiwar song I wrote in the run-up to the second Iraq war. The intro clip is from an antiwar protest in Washington a month or two before the invasion. I don't know who the guy speaking is, but he is great.

Rise up, rise up, rise up.
They say it's to protect you
while they try to dispossess you
of the right to decide between wrong or right
to openly discuss what politicians hide.
They want to keep their secret plans from the public eye
we got to keep our fires burning keep our spirits bright.
We got to rise up, rise up, rise up.

Rise up people against the war!

Money's got no children
and bombs ain't for building
and killing ain't no way to make a peaceful day
as all of God's children can easily explain.
We got to keep our fires burning keep our spirits bright
stand up and speak for what we know is right.
We got to rise up, rise up, rise up.

Rise up people against the war!

-I see days ahead
-kiss my children into bed
-all across the planet I
-see that everything is fine!

Rise up people against the war!

We've got the power and the will and
we'll do it for our children
put the warmongers and the corporate whores
in the history books with the dinosaurs.
I claim my power!
I claim my rights!
And no dirty tricks are gonna change my mind.
I'm gonna rise up, rise up, rise up.

Rise up people against the war!


The Positive Chi Units:
me on choppy guitar and vocals
Case Rienstra (Amsterdam) on pretty guitar and extra vocals
Simon Blechynden (Western Australia) on didgeridoo and extra vocals