The Children of Iraq

Everytime I read something about the children if Irak, it is always sad. For instance, the ongoing humanitarian crisis of orphans in Irak just makes my blood boil. Please read the report "Orphans Face Uncertain Future" for background. There may be as many as four million children in Irak that have been orphaned! These children are usually taken in by relatives (if any are still alive), but these relatives are often hard pressed to put food on the table for themselves. They get little or no schooling and their health needs are most certainly poorly attended to.

But no, people in America just don't even see this. It is so far away from their universe that it is incomprehensible, even though we are directly responsible for this state of affairs.

When it comes to the amount of money that BushCo has put in the pockets of their cronies versus the amount that they have spent on these children it is laughable. It does not make any difference how much total money is spent (the denominator), if the numerator (that spent on children) is zero, the percent will always be zero.

Friday Crab Blogging

And last but not least we have our local political statement:

Numbers

935 - Number of times George W. Bush and cronies lied to the American people before invading Iraq

1 - Number of crimes committed by BushCo brought to justice (and this one was commuted)

unknown (but very large) - Number of crimes left to be prosecuted in the next 362 days

Dust - what our Constitution has been reduced to

The Power of Oversight

As usual, Glenn Greenwald hits it on the head. Today he post on the glaring lack of action by the "Democratic" Congress when it comes to exercising their power of oversight of the administration. I think I first picked up on this years ago when bloggers would refer me to Henry Waxman's numerous letters to the administration (e.g. to Colin Powell, Rice, Cheney, Bush, etc.) asking for explanations for their usual, outrageous behavior. I never remember seeing an answer. I still, to this day, do not understand how an official in this administration can ignore such letters. Not only is it rude (ha! ha!) but it subverts, as Greenwald points out, the very basis of our representative government.

Congress is the only check on an "administration gone wild." It is becoming increasingly obvious that BushCo is going to get away with murder. Literally.

Where we are now

Almost everyone I know is in a funk. That certainly includes myself. While a very large number of Americans do not follow world events, I think the bad news still trickles down and affects their lives. I would include most Americans but certainly not Mr. Bush who still acts as if America is in the same position it was in January, 2001, when he took the oath of office. (Swearing to uphold the Constitution; an oath that he has violated on many occasions.) Mr. Bush is destined to remain in his bubble I suspect for the rest of his life.

The largest, most tragic event that wears on us is the occupation of Irak. While not on the radar screen for countless Americans, our leaders both in the military and in politics have now indicated that the United States will continue this occupation for at least the next decade, if not longer. In fact, Bush is attempting to make binding agreements with the government of Mr. Nuri Al-Maliki which the incoming president (who replaces him in January, 2009) will not be able to alter. Furthermore, all of the major candidates for that position, both Republican and Democratic (except John Edwards) basically agree with this, i.e., that The United States will not withdraw its forces in the near future.

Thus, while the majority of Americans, when they think about it, say they want us to leave Irak ASAP, our leaders continue to believe that "victory" is possible. Does this not remind you of two historical dramas? The first would be the senseless mass attacks in the trench warfare of the Western Front in 1916-1918 (particularly the battle of the Somme, July-Nov 1916). The second would be Hitler's refusal to recognize that his army would never take Moscow, destroying it in the process. (I should have included Napoleon's foray into Russia also.) Have our leaders not learned with almost five years of experience that there is no "victory" to be had in Irak? No.

The human situation in Irak must be inhumanly awful. I have not been there, but what I read (e.g. at Gorilla's Guides) or see (in the daily slide show at Yahoo)suggests that this country and its people which we invaded for no good reason has been damaged beyond repair. How the continued occupation by an army that is despised is going to have a good outcome is beyond logic. The situation in Irak is an albatross that America will wear around its neck for years. It is doubtful that in 2040 the situation will resolve like Vietnam has. We have messed it up terminally.

The most ironic thing, though, is that Americans do not seem to blame Bush and his cronies for the disaster they have created. An argument has been made that Nixon was threatened with impeachment not so much because of Watergate (a mere trifle compared to the crimes of BushCo), but because of the Vietnam War. Now, I'm not so sure. There seems to be almost no support for impeachment. If Bush is never held accountable, then we will be left with that unresolved issue, the assignment of responsibility. Some would make an argument that a country must contend with this before it moves forward.

I continue to believe that the reason we are in such a mess, and the reason that the mass of American people have not risen up to confront these evils is that they are not personally threatened. This is particularly true of the youth. It was the youth, who were threatened with the draft and death in the jungles of Southeast Asia that turned the tide of public opinion against the Vietnam War and, eventually, Nixon.

Friday Crab Blogging

A metaphor for those of us soon to be in very hot water.
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Nothing like a a happy crab (oxymoron?) for the stress level.

Friday Crab Blogging

I had to drag another one out of the archives for today. Definitely some fresh ones next week: