September 1, 2010

Obama Whitewashes Bush

by Anthony Gonzalez

We already knew President Obama has a counterproductive and outrightly insane obsession with bipartisanship, but he sank to a new low last night by rewriting history in favor of his Republican predecessor, the worst commander-in-chief the United States ever had. In his address to the nation from the Oval Office about the end of our combat operations in Iraq, Obama stated that "no one can doubt President Bush's support for our troops or his love of country and commitment to our security."

This was an outrageous lie. Anyone who monitored the previous administration knows that throughout it, George W. Bush demonstrated neglect of our troops, contempt for our Constitution, and carelessness about our national security. He allowed the attack of 9/11 to occur, violated the Bill of Rights via policies that Obama is continuing, slashed counterterrorism funding, allowed for dozens of our English-Arabic translators to be fired for being gay, illegally sent our troops into needless battle without adequate gear and equipment, worked to cut the salary of our troops and the benefits for them and our veterans, encouraged insurgents to attack our troops, etc.

It's bad enough that Obama is a corporatist and a militarist. But by now, no one can doubt that he's also a liar. And he doesn't only lie for his own political gain as he did in the campaign. He lies to cover up for the criminals whom he refuses to prosecute and of whom he is, therefore, an accessory.


Partners in crime

Also in last night's address, the current president claimed, "The greatness of our democracy is grounded in our ability to move beyond our differences..."

Wrong again. The greatness of our (indirect) democracy is grounded in our freedom to express and act on our differences. One of the differences Americans had with each other concerning the invasion and occupation of Iraq was whether it would make our country safer or less safe. Based on the unanimous conclusion of our intelligence agencies, the facts vindicate those of us who said it would make us less safe. However, on Friday, Obama said the invasion and occupation of Iraq "has made America safer."

Finally, aside from what Obama did say lately, what he did not say also stood out. Neither in his speech last night, nor in any other statement from him that I have read or heard, did Obama make any mention of the casualties among the Iraqi people that resulted from our military action in their country. Over 1,200,000 Iraqis were killed because of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and I have not heard of anyone even trying to estimate the number of injuries inflicted because of it. What will continue to take a toll in that land is the psychological damage inflicted on Iraqis by the horrors we perpetrated there for the sake of higher corporate profits. And remember, Obama is leaving 50,000 of our troops in Iraq for another year. The flag-draped caskets have not stopped arriving on our shores.

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