Iraq: MIssion Rebranded

Cindy Sheehan

“As we do, (turn the “page” in Iraq) I am mindful that the Iraq War has been a contentious issue at home. Here, too, it is time to turn the page. This afternoon, I spoke to former President George W. Bush. It’s well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset. Yet no one could doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security. As I have said, there were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it. And all of us are united in appreciation for our servicemen and women, and our hope for Iraq’s future.”

Barack Obama, Speech August 31, 2010

I feel like I have written this article about 10 times now since I became an antiwar activist. Please believe me—I don’t like being “negative.” I am inherently a very optimistic and cheerful person, but in this Empire that is heading Back to the Future of Orwell’s 1984, there is little to cheer or be hopeful about.

The above quote is, of course, from Barack Obama’s August 31st speech declaring an “end to combat operations” in Iraq.

What, no ticker-tape parades? No iconic images of recently liberated troops kissing innocent passersby in Times Square? Nope, it’s almost as if even the most ardent war propagandist knows this incoherent and poorly delivered speech is merely a monumental hoax.

Even though there is much to comment about in the entire speech—like when Obama said that the US commitment (numbers still hovering over 150,000) in Iraq is to help the Iraqis build a government that is “accountable to the people of Iraq,” my first thought was that it would be great if we had a government that was accountable to USAians.

The president was also schizophrenic over just who are our “enemies” in Afghanistan: al Qaeda (less than 100 there), or the Taliban.

In his little chat, Obama clearly said that our military was being used to expand “new markets for our goods” (Imperialism) and that we should “honor” this Imperial Guard by “coming together” and “turning a page” on the war in Iraq. If we do all these wonderful and hopeful things, then we will stay the “Leader of the Free World.” A Shining City on a Hill where “Americans ‘give’ (have stolen) their lives for the ‘values’ (conquest for profit and murder for murder’s sake) ‘we’ (the elite oligarchy) have believed in for two centuries.” I never thought I could watch a speech that would make me more physically ill than a Bush speech, but Obama succeeded where a lesser person may have failed.

With an Imperial Outpost in Baghdad the size of 80 football fields and with a mega-oil reserve, the US is planning a permanent presence in Iraq—that is clear to anyone who has eyes, ears and a brain. The Iraqi people get the full picture and they know that the speech on Tuesday was simply a crass display of lies for political manipulation.

The section that bowled me over, and not in a good way, was the part where Obama said that George Bush “loves” America and he was “concerned” for our security. The one passage that I quote above clearly demonstrates that Obama is just another member of the elite class that has existed in and pummeled our nation since, well, forever.

In the horrific Oval Office speech, (frankly, I was more interested in analyzing the homey family pictures sitting on the credenza behind him) Obama continued his policy of exonerating and ignoring the crimes of the Bush regime so his regime can commit the same crimes with impunity.

“Turning the Page” to Obama means: “let’s forget what has happened before so I can go forward and destroy any country that gets in the way of the profits and power of the elite class.”

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