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Inside U.S.A.: Uncle Sam Owns You
Posted on Monday, June 09 @ 20:05:37 UTC
Topic: USA
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 by Ben Roberts
We are all used to that Army recruiting picture of the Abe Lincoln type guy,
bearded, with a towering hat, dressed in the red white and blue of the American
flag, pointing sternly and ominously at us as he declares 'Uncle Sam Needs
You!' Scrap that. We are in a different time now. A time of abrupt warning color
code changes that is making that orange color crayon wear thin in Tom Ridge's
hand about now. A time of never ending war on terrorism. A time when a
President and Commander In Chief, who went AWOL for a protracted period
while in the National Guard and never saw active duty with any branch of our
fighting forces, get to land on one of our most lethal ships, complete with uniform
and medals to declare that the war in Iraq was over. A time when, within weeks
of this declaration, a commander of this Commander In Chief announces from
Iraq that the war is not over, in his attempt to explain the daily loss of life of
American military personnel in that country. A time when a story of a daring
rescue during the war in Iraq is found to be bogus but one of the major networks
decide to press on with production of a movie of the event. A time when a movie
of the President is being made, purportedly depicting his 'inspirational' leadership
during the September 11 disaster that visited this country. Yeah, the new logo for
Americans should be 'Uncle Sam Owns You!' because that is surely the state of
affairs in this country that we hold so dear to our hearts. Get used to it. 'The
inmates have taken over the asylum.' The asylum being our government.
It must be an asylum when, as this nation was gearing up for war with imminent
loss of life of our fighting men and women, along with innocent Iraq civilians, our
lawmakers were passing a resolution changing the name of a potato chip from
French Fries to Freedom Fries, in an attempt to embarrass and one up the
French. Maybe they should have killed two birds with one stone and at the same
time pass a resolution to return to the French that gift to us, that beacon of hope,
that embodiment of America, the Statue of Liberty, that drew and continues to
draw humanity to these shores from the far flung corners of our globe.
Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld declared a possible reason for absence of
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is that Saddam Hussein destroyed them
before US forces attacked. With overwhelming US forces amassed outside his
country ready to attack, why would Saddam Hussein destroy his life saving
deterrent if he had it? Furthermore, if he destroyed these weapons prior to
attack, then why was an attack carried out? Rumsfeld also expressed concern
that the Iranian government was interfering in Iraqi affairs. How off the wall. The
Iranians responded that this was so ridiculous, and that they were the ones
concerned because the United States 'was' in Iraq. They are absolutely right. Still
focusing on Iraq. Our President initiated lethal attacks at the outset of the war in
Iraq, geared to decapitate the leadership. Simply put, the attacks employed state
of the art multi-million dollar warplanes and ordnance to eliminate one man. After
these repeated attacks failed to eliminate Saddam Hussein, while destroying
many innocent Iraqi citizens in the process, the United States decided that it
would not be denied its 'decapitation' mission. Undaunted, our troops decided
instead to 'decapitate' a statue of the Iraqi leader. Complete with rope, a US flag,
an Army Personnel Carrier vehicle, and a gaggle of onlookers, American forces
pulled the head off a statue of Saddam Hussein and dragged it through the
streets of Baghdad. Bravo! Is this surreal or what?
Still in Iraq. Jessica Lynch was captured by Iraqi forces. She was cared for by
compassionate Iraqi healthcare workers. It almost brings tears to my eyes to
read of how a lowly hospital cleaning lady described her delight at coming to
work to see this American girl who, despite her injured state, always greeted her
with a smile. She ended by saying how she misses Lynch since her departure.
Can you believe that. These people took diligent care of one of our citizens who
was there for the sole purpose of attacking their country. Here in America we
missed out on an incredible story of the humanness and compassion of a people
towards one of us, while we were targeting them with death and destruction.
Instead we were force fed a story of how one of our citizens, a young woman
from Palestine, West Virginia, was shot, stabbed, tortured, suffered broken
bones, and was slapped about by vile low life Iraqis. How sad.
Truth is, Jessica Lynch was more in danger from American forces than from the
Iraqis. After all, the hospital staff decided that, given the chaos of war, Lynch was
better of in the hands of American forces. They took her by ambulance to
American troops. The ambulance was fired upon by our troops, almost killing
her. They raced back to the safety of the hospital where a bogus videotaped
'rescue' went down. Our government officials say she has memory loss and
cannot recall what happened. Her father, Greg Lynch, says in the Washington
Times for Friday, May 30 that, 'Her memory was as good as it was when she
was home. She can still remember everything.' Wow! Oh Jessica will have
memory loss all right. Because that is what the government wants. Wise up
people. Think of this. As soon as Lynch was rescued stories poured out from,
you guessed it, 'unnamed government and Pentagon officials,' that she fired her
gun at her attackers until she ran out of bullets. Now I'm no Sherlock Holmes by
any stretch of the imagination, but does that not mean that she had to tell her
rescuers this on being debriefed? How could she do this if she was suffering
memory loss? The truth is Uncle Sam owns Jessica Lynch and she does not
dare have a memory. Such an asset would run counter to the quackery Uncle
Sam is selling us, in his drive to own each and every one of us Americans.
Its a madhouse folks. Paul Wolfowitz in a recent interview with Vanity Fair
magazine, said weapons of mass destruction was used as the battle cry to attack
Iraq because it was a way of overcoming the 'bureaucracy,' and it was something
'everyone could agree on.' The man is actually telling us that he had to con us
into war in some way, and this was the most effective way of doing so. Wait a
minute. Watergate and its web of concealed lies resulted in an impeachment.
Iran Contra and the cesspool of lies resulted in heads rolling. The Monica
Lewinsky affair denials resulted in the Office of the President being vacated
under a cloud. Will American citizens accept this current con job without even as
much as a murmur? It would be to their detriment, and that of the world, if they
did so. But Wolfowitz did not stop there. He added that US troops had vacated
Saudi Arabia, and repositioned in Iraq because it was one of the sticking points
of Bin Laden that American forces not be in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia with
such proximity to the Muslim holiest site of Mecca. What? Do you realize what
Wolfowitz just said? He is in truth saying that we are accommodating Bin Laden.
How can this be, when our leaders steadfastly claim to never negotiate or kow
tow to terrorists? Given Wolfowitz shocking disclosure, we might be in deeper
trouble than we know. Americans had better open their eyes. Or more accurately
claw the wool away from their eyes, put there by Team Bush, in its attempt to
deceive them, send them stumbling into the ditch, and ultimately own them.
As I write we have reports that our troops, that have been in the Demilitarized
Zone (DMZ) facing off against and deterring North Korean troops for something
like fifty years, have 'redeployed' further away from the zone. Once again, some
'unnamed' government official announced that the reason for this redeployment
was that it will serve as more effective deterrence against North Korea. Are you
about to break into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, because I sure am. We
presumably faced off against the North Koreans, practically eyeball to eyeball,
for half a century as a deterrence to their aggression. Now, in the aftermath of
revelations that they have nuclear weapons, we move away, advancing to the
rear because this provides optimum deterrence. There is a lesson here. You get
a free trip to Disney World if you said the moral of the story is: 'If you quietly go
about your business and acquire weapons of mass destruction then the US is
unable to push you around and backs off big time.'
Charlatans and con men everywhere. Nowhere to turn. No accountability. No
truth. This all sounds gloomy and hopeless does it not? No way! Have faith. This
nation's founding fathers and the Boston Tea Party crowd did against the yoke of
British oppression. Paul Revere did against the overwhelming odds of the
advancing British Army. Lucy Stone did against the chronic social ills of this
country. Martin Luther King did against the yoke of prejudice of his own
government. These were ordinary people who became extraordinary when they
did what they did. We need to stop looking for others to deliver us. We are our
own deliverers. What would this nation be today if Revere had said 'Oh man I
can see these Redcoats eyeballs. Why won't someone do something for heaven
sake, and ride out to warn our people?' Consider America today if Lucy Stone
had said, 'This is utter despair. Women have no rights in this society, Negroes
are brutalized, work conditions are horrendous, and our population is unable to
read. Why doesn't someone come along in a hurry to bring some relief?' Imagine
this country if Martin Luther King had said, 'My people are abused by their
country even though our Constitution affords them, and every citizen guaranteed
rights. When will someone come along to speak out against this injustice?'
I have reason for enthusiasm, because I went to church Sunday, a week ago. My
dear old mother would be delighted to know that I went to church, because she is
always admonishing me to do just that. Then she would be promptly less than
pleased to hear that it was not for a regular church service, but rather a national
teach-in at the National City Christian Church hosted by the organization, United
For Peace. The event was convened to discuss social issues at home, our
disastrous relations abroad, and our government policies in general. The church
is beautiful, with impressive steps ascending to its entrance, and has a
commanding view of Thomas Circle in Washington, DC. The church pews were
overflowing with citizens concerned about the state of their nation and the world,
and a desire to be involved. They congregated on the steps, lined the walls,
crowded around the columns, and filled the aisles on both sides of the pews.
There was the passionate, never say die Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney in
whispering distance at the podium expressing herself with a conviction that is a
hallmark of America, encouraging her listeners to put their shoulders to the
wheel to save a floundering America. There was the old warrior Ralph Nader, a
David who has spent most of his life fighting unscrupulous corporate and political
Goliaths, telling those assembled about what their flag's pledge of allegiance
really means. There was the scholarly Hussein Ibish explaining how the Justice
Department has rewritten this nation's freedoms in the Patriot Acts, and calmly
vowing to battle them at every turn. There was the laid back but radical looking
Miles Solay of Not In Our Name, intelligently exhorting all to stand up for their
country. There were a whole lot more speakers showing their concern, love, and
patriotism for their country. These people have been doing this for a long time.
So what excuse do you and I have for being silent, sticking our heads in the
sand, and pretending that the predicament that our nation, and the world, finds
itself in, is someone else's issue to deal with?
Imagine our national and global society run by deceivers, thieves, convicted
felons, plagiarists, liars, con artists, forgerers, and drunks. I know as you read
this the immediate response back to me will be, 'Buddy you are behind the times.
We already have that scenario.' Okay. Okay. But let me finish. Imagine our
society run by such elements and we were unable or unwilling to bring them to
heel or make them answer for their actions. That would be a disaster. We would
then be living an existence the equivalent of George Orwell's 'Animal Farm.' And
that would be unconscionable, unpalatable, and totally UN-AMERICAN.
Ben Roberts is a newsletter editor, freelance writer and published author. His book, Jackals of Samarra, was published in January 2001. Ben can be contacted by email at: grandt730@aol.com
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