Posts Tagged ‘GWOT’

Oh Just Wait

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008

Mere hours ago, the U.S. Embassy in Yemen was attacked with gunfire and explosions, leaving 16 dead, including six attackers.  Yemen has been the scene of a string of terrorist incidents starting with the attack on the U.S.S. Cole in 2000.  According to the AFP, there are 3 weapons to every citizen and the country has been a hotbed of terrorist activity, especially Al Qaeda.  Let’s just say it’s not the kind of place you’d want to vacation.

The AFP refers to it as,”a major focus of the US “war against terror”,”  but with zero American military involvement.  Seriously, guys, when was the last time you remember seeing “The War in Yemen” plastered all over the media?  It has never happened.

Because the Republican Party has positioned itself as the one and only authority on all things “Terror,” (how ironically true!) they’re sure to blame this attack on Democrats.  Just you wait.  I’ll be tuning into Rush Limbaugh later today, and I’ll be damned if I don’t hear that retarded piece of shit blame Democrats for it.

That’s right.  They will be blamed for a terrorist attack against a U.S. Embassy… which are unpredictable by their very nature… in a severely hostile country… even though Republicans have been calling the shots both domestically and especially in foreign affairs for the past 8 years.  Oh, just wait.  The Dems will be pounded on foreign policy and homeland security–even though this happened in Yemen–and will be painted as weak and unpatriotic.

The Republicans, delusional cretins they are, will fancy themselves as the champions of the Global War On Terror™, even though their brutal and simplistic foreign policies failed to prevent it.  Even though Yemen has been cited as a major target in such a war, they attacked a country that by now all can agree posed no threat to us.

Don’t be surprised when I say I told you so.

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Let me take a moment to slap our collective consciousness here back into reality by addressing the Global War On Terror™  and the Bush Doctrine which right-wing foreign affairs guru Sarah Palin couldn’t begin to identify.

A “pre-emptive war” is a misnomer.  There is nothing “pre-emptive” about attacking another country which hasn’t attacked you.  When a child knocks down another child on the playground just in case the other child was going to push them first, we would call that child aggressive.  If the child did it based on what some older kids said because they thought they’d get some entertainment out of it, we’d say the child was manipulated.  Naivety is not an excuse for aggression when the child very well knows the difference between self-defense and outright socking another.

It’s disheartening that I feel it necessary to use a schoolyard playground as an example so certain people will understand.

I reiterate, there is nothing pre-emptive about attacking someone who hasn’t attacked you.  It is called aggression.  Afghanistan, despite our unwillingness to work with the ruling party prior to the war, was at least justifiable.  Iraq did nothing to us, period, let alone something that would warrant an unprovoked attack for the purposes of regime change, something which the International Criminal Court identifies as a war crime.

I think it’s pretty obvious by now there were myriad ulterior motives behind those who led us into this war.  While correlation does not imply causation and just because someone benefits from a situation doesn’t mean they caused it, this certainly paved the way for a very small amount of associated people to gain a whole lot of money.   One does not simply stand in the shadow of reasonable doubt and evidence to the contrary, then knowingly choose to ignore it unless they’ve something to gain by doing so. Think tobacco industry “medical experts.”

Conspiracy theory?  Maybe.  As long as you wingnuts admit the only reason you’re unwilling to consider it is because of your political affiliation.