Washington gets explicit: its 'war on terror' is permanent

thinksquad:

The “war on terror” cannot and will not end on its own for two reasons: (1) it is designed by its very terms to be permanent, incapable of ending, since the war itself ironically ensures that there will never come a time when people stop wanting to bring violence back to the US (the operational definition of “terrorism”), and (2) the nation’s most powerful political and economic factions reap a bonanza of benefits from its continuation.

This is self-evident, and it’s designed to make a lot of money for a lot of people. It’s one of the many benefits of lesser-of-two-evilism, because both major parties are led by warmongering profiteers.

It should also be noted that the War on Terror has expanded and grown even more horrific under Barack Obama. We’re now bombing Afghan kids who are out collecting firewood. We’re bombing first responders who try to rescue folks have we’ve let off a bomb the first time. Guantanamo has gotten bigger, and been expanded. We exempt people who kill prisoners during torture sessions from prosecutions. We now know that the secret prisons were real.

The more you learn about the War on Terror, the more you’ll understand why the world hates us.

103 ♥ 05.19.13

Dying Iraq War Vet Pens Scathing Letter to Cheney and Bush

This guy lives ten minutes away from me. (Or rather, lived.)

That fact isn’t really relevant to the story, but it just makes it feel that much worse to read his story. Soon he’s going to be one of the thousands of kids who died to cover for George Bush’s lies and incompetence.

What saddens me more is the fact that so few in this country really give a crap about it.

03.19.13

Very, very true. (And sad.)

66 ♥ 06.24.12

Am I a bad liberal for thinking this?

News broke yesterday that the US will stop deporting illegal immigrants who were brought to the US as children, and that this will be accomplished via an order from the Department of Homeland Security.

Four short years ago, I was one of the many people heaping criticism on George Bush for using non-congressional means and abusing executive orders in an effort to bypass Congress in implementing the conservative agenda. (According to the National Archives, Bush issued 291 executive orders during his presidency.)

It doesn’t seem like a huge win to me to see Barack Obama doing the same thing. (Don’t get me wrong, though, I think this cause is noble and I support finding means to end illegal immigration by integrating people into our population.)

Even if the House has effectively become a committee to sabotage Obama’s presidency, seeing liberals use these kinds of tactics worries me tremendously. We have multiple branches of government precisely to protect against unilateral exercises of power such as this, and such actions on the part of liberals validate the troubling expansion of executive power we experienced under George Bush. (and make us look like a bunch of hypocrites for criticizing George Bush’s executive orders.)

3 ♥ 06.16.12

canisfamiliaris:

Portrait of former US President George W. Bush made from photos of soldiers who have died in Iraq. Fucking bastard. (high res)

(via postmortemdecay666::christiantheatheist)

1377 ♥ 04.22.12

It should be pointed out that Barack Obama…

…has added an average of 157,368 manufacturing and energy jobs in every year of his term. Given the severe economic climate we’ve experienced since George Bush’s second term, that’s a pretty striking figure.

It’s no surprise that neither the Bushes nor Reagan accomplished that.

6 ♥ 01.24.12

Condoleeza Rice: “Bush’s ‘Freedom agenda’ Has Been Won”

anglophonic:

Wait…did she actually have the nerve to say “freedom” agenda?

The Bush “freedom agenda,” as left on the White House porch.

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The Bush administration illegally kidnapped hundreds of American citizens off of our own streets (for being Muslim, based on hearsay and bad tips) and then held them in foreign offshore prisons so that they would not be entitled to any of their constitutional rights. Many of them are still in prison and will never see the light of day again.

That freedom agenda?

Lady, you must be fucking kidding.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/23/condoleezza-rice-on-gaddafi-death-bush-freedom-agenda-won.html

Reblogging for Anglo’s excellent commentary.

16 ♥ 10.23.11

The "war of terror" decade

socialismartnature:

Anthony Arnove, author of Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal and coauthor with Howard Zinn of Voices of a People’s History of the United States, looks back at the 10 years since the September 11 attacks—and how politicians have exploited the tragedy.

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TEN YEARS after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the world is still reeling from the consequences of the terrorist attacks and the geopolitical shifts that followed.

Moments after the attack, President George W. Bush and his military planners were discussing how to use people’s anger and fear for their political advantage.

The Bush administration saw the horrific events of September 11 as a rare chance to carry out plans that long predated the attacks and package these as defensive rather than offensive measures. Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney, immediately set to work to target Iraq, despite the fact that the country had no link at all to the attacks.

Leading members of the Bush administration were open about describing the post-September 11 moment as an “opportunity.” After September 11, Condoleezza Rice, Bush’s National Security Adviser and later Secretary of State, asked senior national security staff to think about how to “capitalize on these opportunities,” which were “shifting the tectonic plates in international politics” to U.S. advantage.

“I really think this period is analogous to 1945 to 1947,” Rice told one journalist. “And it’s important to try to seize on that and position American interests and institutions and all of that before they harden again.”

1 ♥ 09.11.11