2004-05-13

Irregular Times

I just recently rediscovered one of my favorite websites: Irregular Times. A friend of mine co-created the site several years back and I was always amazed by the quality of his writing and the depth of his research. Apparently they have expanded and have a variety of folks who contribute.

Concerning the current attempt by Republicans to cover up the evidence of the torture of Iraqi prisoners Katherine Davis writes:

Now, Republican members of Congress are pondering the question: If an Iraqi prisoner is tortured by an American, but we don't let the public see the photographs, did the torture really happen at all?

The GOP's cover-up machine has sprung into action, with Republican Tom DeLay suggesting that he doesn't think the torture is any big deal, accusing the public of overreacting to the gruesome photographs. Other prominent Republicans have stated that the photographs need to be classified Top Secret, because they would make the United States look bad.

Americans have become very skilled at allowing themselves to remain ignorant of the policies and actions of "their" government. This is nothing new but the ramifications of our ignorance are becoming increasingly obvious, not just to ourselves, but to the rest of the world. American arrogance and bullying have finally gone too far. Our allies are dwindling and with good reason. George Bush pushed for a preemptive war and against world opinion he waged that war. To this day no WMD have ever been found and it becomes increasingly clear that George never had real evidence that we would find any.

We hear over and over that this mess is all about the creation of freedom and democracy in Iraq. That it is about fighting terrorism... I find it interesting that George and his cronies are so quick to shit on what little bit of freedom we may have here in freedomland where democracy has been so thoroughly twisted that it no longer has any real meaning... and he does it in the very name of freedom and democracy.

America, land of the Hummer, home of the torturers... something has gone very, very wrong.