How many Amerikans, like the good Germans in 1940, cheered the carpet bombing of Iraq, and the subsequent invasion?
By Philip Farruggio
We from the ‘true progressive (AKA Socialist) and true conservative (Libertarian)’ political spectrum of thought should and do know better. We all see through this obvious ‘super rich controlled’ Two Party/One Party system that is the servant of what Eisenhower labeled in his 1961 farewell address as a Military Industrial Complex. This writer has always referred to it as the Military Industrial Empire, which is what we have become since the Soviet Union’s dissolution over 25 years ago. Our cherished home, America, has become Amerika. The weeds transplanted from that terrible Nazi Germany mindset have been strangling us for over three generations. Even those who still consider themselves good Republicans or Democrats realize somewhere deep inside their consciousness the folly of such an affiliation. Yet, they continue to ‘go along to get along’ with this empire, in a childish hope of… heaven forgive us, reforming it.
This latest con job perpetrated on many of our fellow citizens is ‘Making America Great Again’ via Donald Trump. Who would have ever imagined, even three or four years ago (while he was on the air with his mindless dribble of a reality show) that this man would now be elected president? Well, Trump really won because the other person selected by the super rich who run Amerika was so full of baggage and contempt for working stiffs. Thus, it was many working stiffs who still believe in this Two Party scam who in reality voted against by voting for. Now this man who many refer to as ‘President Cheetos’ (you know, the orange hair and tan) is running things… well, not exactly. You see, all of our presidents, especially in modern times, are just servants of the super-rich who sit behind the curtain, like ‘Wizards of Oz’. Trump’s predecessor, Mr. Obama, that nice guy who spoke articulately about ‘Hope and Change,’ only served the interests of this empire, giving little hope and less in change to working stiffs. Mr. Trump will do as he has already done, what with his cabinet selections and plans to aid the super rich, to further demise working Americans. Yet, a large percentage of the very people he and his ilk are screwing will continue to rally behind the demagoguery.
Today, as I write this column, is the 14th anniversary of one of the most heinous acts our country has ever perpetrated: The pre-emptive attack, invasion and occupation of Iraq. How many of our neighbors and fellow citizens drank the kool-aid the empire was handing out via our elected stooges and mainstream media? How many Amerikans, like the good Germans in 1940, cheered the carpet bombing of Iraq, and the subsequent invasion? We know most of the mainstream media had career moves upward for their cheerleading. People like Lester Holt of MSNBC (the , duh, Democratic-leaning channel?) later on became a ‘celebrated anchor’ on NBC, even hosting a 2016 presidential debate. Little Katie Couric, who marched along the hallways of NBC shouting with a big grin “Marines Rock”, also furthered her career. So many of the right wing pundits were 100% in favor of invasion, many either as guests or hosts on Fox cable, like Sean Hannity, who said: “[A]s we pointed out, this is a noble cause, and we’ve got to be so proud of these men and women and what they’ve been able to accomplish in such a short period of time so the weapons of mass destruction that we will be finding don’t end up in American cities. And we applaud them all.” [Fox News, Hannity & Colmes, 3/24/03. What about some others, who have since been labeled as ‘centrist’ journalists? Let’s look at one guy who has had his own news talk show going on ten years, Morning Joe, on that ‘Democratic leaning station’ MSNBC. Joe Scarborough in 2003 was one of the strongest proponents of war with Iraq outside of Fox News.
In March of 2003, he repeatedly made claims that toppling Saddam Hussein would “mean the end of his weapons of mass destruction.”
In April of 2003, Scarborough said that, “For six months now, George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld have been telling the world that the people of Iraq needed to be liberated from Saddam Hussein’s bloody reign. The past three weeks have shown us just how right these three men have been.”
In that same commentary, Scarborough pondered whether “journalists at The New York Times and NPR or at ABC or at CNN are going to ever admit just how wrong their negative pronouncements were over the past four weeks.” Meanwhile, while all of this hype and spin was going on, many folks, worldwide for that matter, saw thru the lies and disinformation. So much so, that even before the dastardly deed of March 19th, 2003, on February 15, 2003 the BBC reported that ‘ There were between six to ten million people marching in over sixty countries ‘… all to say NO to any US invasion of Iraq. Still, millions of our own citizens followed the pied piper over the cliffs of reason!
Cassius was correct: “The fault dear Brutus is not in our stars, but ourselves…”
Philip A Farruggio is son and grandson of Brooklyn, NYC longshoremen. A graduate of Brooklyn College ( class of '74 with a BA in Speech & Theater), he is a free lance columnist. Philip can be reached at PAF1222@bellsouth.net
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.
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