Ending the War in Iraq

Without doubt, learning that we have sent hundreds of thousands of our children, husbands, wives, sisters, and daughters off to fight and die in a foreign land, on a suspect mission has caused our country’s mood to be a bit sour. The worst part of not finding WMD in Iraq is that there were US politicians who continue to be held in high esteem, who would not simply admit that something has gone terribly wrong, and that the price paid is too high. Instead, some of our most respected and senior officials sought to continue the charade, suggesting that perhaps a nuclear weapons program that supposedly was an imminent threat just months earlier, had been moved underground in Iraq.

Was it possible that the same sophisticated satellite system that had revealed the locations of underground bunkers that were being destroyed by bunker busting bombs could not reveal a massive hole being dug and an entire nuclear weapons project being buried underground. No one even attempted to explain why the US troops on the ground during the period between the invasion and the search for the nuclear weapons program did not see any digging, or burying of Iraq’s nuclear weapons project. If pressed on the issue, the answer was that such information; or rather explanations and excuses are classified.

Also important is the fact that no one, even as we were supposedly waiting for Saddam Hussein to prove that he had in fact disassembled his nuclear weapons program years earlier, thought to simply request that the UN submit its records to its own Security Council. UN inspection records proved that Iraq had in fact ended its nuclear weapons program and those UN inspectors had seen the evidence and were satisfied that Iraq had no nuclear weapons program that posed an imminent threat to anyone.

The Iraq war incident will go down in history as the greatest lie with the most horrible consequences, ever told. More than 4000 Americans dead, thousands of more brain damaged and disabled, and a record number killed by their own hands, a result of the evil racist pseudo religious fanaticism that was allowed to seep into the ways of war, transforming some of our soldiers from honorable men and women, into murderers, torturers and ideologues, killing and intimidating people and destroying their lives, simply because they are different. War might be hell, but our military is not intended to be the devil. Our mythology is heroic and honorable, and we have always believed that we send our soldiers into the battlefield as honorable and heroic men and women.

It has always been our country’s intention to serve the world as protectors of the weak. Until now, we have seen ourselves as not only an honorable people, but also as a virtuous people, bound together by a Constitution that conveys high ideas, and laws that stand as a guard between society and the misguided passions of extremist political factions, and especially those extremist factions that disguise themselves as the Church, the Synagogue, and/or the Mosque.

Iraq has demonstrated to us why it is so important that we protect the US Constitution and demand that it be adhered to, no matter under what circumstance. There is no doctrine that has proven its merit to any greater degree than our Constitutional doctrine of liberty that guided our country over 250 years of the greatest challenges and accomplishments in the history of modern mankind. The US Constitution is not merely a piece of paper, and it is not a theory. It is an idea that has yielded unmatched progress for a people bound by nothing more than belief in its simple, but powerful pronouncement of equality, liberty, and justice for all.

As our government continued to talk of victory in the Iraq war, it was becoming painfully apparent that victory has many meanings. To date, we have only been told that victory in Iraq means leaving Iraq stable, free of Al-Qadea and a friend to the US. Those who understand what stability means, know that Iraq will never stabilize so long as there are US troops on the ground in Iraq, and a war. Stability does not mean merely a cessation of violence. It means that the country has reached a point where its peace is sustainable without the use of military force. It is also common knowledge that Al Qadea fighters represent a small number of those who are fighting the US in Iraq. Most of the fighters are indigenous Iraqis who are fighting us because we invaded their country. They will not stop fighting us until the war is over. We can end this war through a treaty, or simply by declaration that our mission has been accomplished, the war is ended and we are mounting a diplomatic mission in Iraq that is aimed primarily at restoration.

As for Iraq being friends to the US and Israel…forget about that. Israel’s arming and military training of Iraq’s Kurds who were turned loose to carry out violence against other Iraqis in an attempt to carve out and create an area of Iraq, one with oil, that would serve the US and Israel has failed. That project is not likely to succeed because neither Turkey, nor Iran, nor Syria, nor Saudi Arabia, nor Jordan is likely to tolerate having an Israeli controlled Kurdish area of Iraq in their backyards, that is siphoning off Iraq’s oil to fuel Israel’s long hoped for period of development and industrialization, and its continued militarization of the region. Israel has sought to prevent the economic, political and social development of the Middle East countries by keeping the region impoverished, illiterate, politically paralyzed and at war. Ironically, as part of that region, Israel is doing the same to itself, and no amount of US money, or military might will be able to extricate Israel from its own self inflicted suffering.

It is time for the US to end the war in Iraq, and to bring our troops home. Our country cannot begin the much needed process of healing, so long as we are embroiled in a war. We cannot continue to worsen the wound, and expect to also heal. The Iraq war is nothing more than an attempt to recreate the Arab world in an ugly and unjust neo-conservative Zionist image. It is an image that the world, and most Americans reject, and rightly so.

Who do we talk to?

The ongoing debate over whether or not the US should negotiate with Iran, Syria and Hamas is not really a debate about US security. It is rather a debate about who is right, those who feel that the US should ride shot gun through the Middle East for Israel, staring down and blowing up everyone that Israel doesn’t like, or feels threatened by, or who disagrees with AIPAC or the other Jewish American organizations that are dictating US foreign and also our domestic policies, or those who feel that Israel as an ally has no greater meaning than any other country as a US ally, and that US interests, and not Israeli interests should be our first and only policy priorities.

Considering that most of us realize, probably during adolescence, that we must talk to one another, even when we dislike one another, it seems strange that the leaders of one of the world’s most powerful, and technologically advanced countries would be arguing about whether or not we should use diplomacy or be limited only to war as a means to settle disputes. God spoke to Satan, even after Satan had sinned, and misled Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. Jesus spoke to Satan even as his faith was being tested by God in the desert. Perhaps these metaphors symbolize the truth that words are a form of power when spoken as truth, which could be why God used words, such as revealed books, more often than lightening strikes, tornadoes and earthquakes to get his points across. For those who don’t believe in God, the metaphor might symbolize the idea that people, and not weapons are the true powers on earth, since God has subjected all things in the earth to His stewards, except other human beings. Human beings belong exclusively to God.

It’s too bad that we have not been allowed to understand what the human being really is, and our potential inherent power, which is the spirit of God manifest within each of us. If we did understand such things, there would be no arguments about talking to enemies rather than merely killing them. We would understand that the consequence of talking is far more powerful and empowering than the consequences of killing which is absolutely debilitating and destructive for all involved. Israel is learning this the hard way. No matter how many Palestinians they kill, they have not been able to successfully cleanse Palestine of Arabs and Muslims. What they have managed to become is one of the most hated and distrusted countries on earth, and even with the trillions of dollars and military weapons and aide they receive they have no equivalent achievements to boast of.

Of course it would be foolish to expect mere human beings to act like God. I only mention God and Jesus since they represent absolute Godly perfection, and the lesser human perfection. It seems strange that the neo-cons, who give the appearance that they are a God loving people, closely aligned with the religious right, who supposedly know, understand and live the Bible to a greater degree than any of us so-called infidels, goyim living in husks and sinners, have ignored these very basic but meaningful truths about God and Jesus, and their dialogues with their enemies Perhaps this is due the fact that there were no billions of dollars at stake for either Jesus or God, and no government appointments, political power, or an Israeli lobby to fear.



In my humble opinion, neither Barak Obama, nor Hillary Clinton have demonstrated that they understand the real meaning and power of diplomacy as a standard methodology, used those who desire righteousness in the ongoing battle of good versus evil. Neither will admit, even though US intelligence stated emphatically that Iran's nuclear program was destroyed, while Iran says that no program ever existed, that there is no Iranian nuclear weapons program. Neither have been able to say that Israel must abide by the laws, same as we expect of any country. neither can say that Israel must end its ethic cleansing and genocide in Palestine, and its illegal occupation. Why wont the presidential candidates or even our President and Secretray of State demand a mutual cease-fire between Israel and Palestine? Could it be because they believe that with time, Israel will simply kill off the Palestinians and no cease fire is needed?

Moses, who led the slaves to freedom from captivity in Egypt, spoke to Pharaoh and continued to call him to repentance, and God. He never spoke of killing Pharaoh, even though Pharaoh often spoke of killing of Moses. Knowledgeable and wise men and women understand that when we have reached a point where taking life is our only option that we have failed in some way and that we will be held accountable for the price of that spilled blood. We must remember that every human being belongs to God, and He is taking a toll, and also taking an account.

Hamas, Syria, Palestine, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Iran are all organizations and groups of people. They are not ideas. They have a different view of life than some other people, but they also have a view of life that is shared by billions of other people, people who have a right to exist and to hold a view different than the neo-con, and Israeli worldview. Ther lives, like all other life is sacred to God, and should also be sacred to us. Israeli and Jewish is not superior. The idea of superiority was introduced to the world by Satan, and it caused God not only to cast him out the Garden, but also to doom Satan to eternal damnation and destruction. Should we imitate him?

If change is to come, it will require more than mere political changes. We must open our hearts and ears to new and different ideas. Like God and Jesus, we must listen, and to ask questions, even when we feel we know the answer. Imagine the arrogance of one imperfect human, saying to another imperfect human that he or she cannot speak to them until they make certain adjustments in their thinking, or behavior. Let’s pray that on the Day of Judgment that God will not have adopted the neo-con non-engagement policy, because if He does, we will all be lost. In fact, we need not imagine that the day of Judgment fits John Hagge’s tormented description of Armageddon, where only he and Israeli Jews (only those who reject Judaism and accept Hagee’s Jesus) will be raptured. Every day is a Day of Judgment because the die is cast with each day’s passing, and God is judging us and punishing and rewarding us each day.

We cannot change the world without changing ourselves. Having humility and learning to hear and speak again to the rest of humanity might be a perfect place to start the process of chaging ourselves, since once we really hear what they have to say we might realize that when it comes to the bottom line, we are all saying the same thing, but perhaps in different ways.