By Terry Canaan
April 2, 2008
In the Iraq war, nothing is sacred. The Bush administration, deeply entrenched in their failed adventure, has always been shameless — the lies that led us here is proof enough of that.
For the Bush administration, there have always been two enemies to fight; whoever happens to be shooting at US personnel at the moment and those who’d dare suggest that maybe this big invasion wasn’t such a good idea.
Luckily for those of us who belong to the latter group, Bush can’t get away with shooting us too. So other methods, both hamhanded and subtle at once, have to be used to defeat the danger we pose to their war.
Being shameless, nothing is too low, too exploitative. There is no lower limit, other than what they can get away with. The Bush administration actually fights three wars — Iraq, Afghanistan, and the propaganda war against the truth. It’s that third war that this administration has fought the hardest and invested the most time waging. Truth is a rare commodity in the White House.
Being shameless, the neocon dreamers who started this whole thing are above nothing and the tragedies of the other wars become ammunition for the propaganda war. There is no grief that can’t be exploited, no fear that can’t be fostered, and no loss that can’t be turned to political gain. With an administration that politicizes everything, no exploitation is too crass.
In this war against the American people, there’s no such thing as “too low.” We have an example:
Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor fought dozens of battles in the streets of Ramadi, shouldering his MK48 machine gun without complaint in the 130-degree heat of Iraq’s violent Anbar province.
In May 2006, only a month into his first deployment to Iraq, the 25-year-old Navy SEAL from Garden Grove, Calif., ran under fire into a street to drag to safety a wounded comrade who was shot in the leg, earning a Silver Star for his courage.
On Sept. 29, 2006, another act of valor would cost Monsoor his life — and save the lives of three comrades. For that act, he will posthumously be awarded a Medal of Honor on April 8, the White House said yesterday.
Monsoor threw himself on a hand grenade to save his comrades. “He made an instantaneous decision to save our teammates. I immediately understood what happened, and tragically it made sense to me in keeping with the man I know, Mike Monsoor,” said Lt. Cmdr. Seth Stone, Monsoor’s platoon leader. He died a half hour after the incident.
The Medal of Honor is the military’s highest honor. Only three have been awarded in Afghanistan and the current Iraq war combined.
Remember that date — April 8 — while you read another snippet from Associated Press.
The House plans to consider by early May legislation that would continue paying for the Iraq war, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters on Tuesday.
The legislation will come after Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador there, testify on April 8 and April 9. The two officials are expected to tell Congress that impressive security gains and modest political progress has been made since last year’s influx of U.S. troops, and that troop withdrawals can continue this fall only after officials ascertain it wouldn’t hurt security.
Democrats are expected to challenge their recommendation that troops should stay, contending that the Iraqis are not doing enough to hasten progress so long as the U.S. is leading combat operations. They have held off on approving all the money President Bush wants for the war this year.
As I say, shameless. On the same day that Petraeus gives testimony about how much we need to stay in Iraq, Monsoor will be award a Medal of Honor posthumously — in a White House ceremony where Bush will speak about all the heroes in Iraq who all desperately, desperately need our support. And, since Bush defines “support” as “willingness to send to kill and die,” that will mean staying in Iraq until time stops. Oh, and vote for McCain while you’re at it.
A man dies in an act of extraordinary courage and valor, serving his nation far beyond what could reasonably be expected of anyone, and he comes home to be used as a rallying flag for support of the war. Even in death Michael Monsoor is not without his uses and, for an administration that uses everything and anything for political advantage, his actions and resulting death comes at just the right time. The enemies, the Democratic party and their screwy ideas about ending this catastrophic waste of people and money, are storming the castle. Gen. David Petraeus, our only real hero of Iraq, needs all the help he can get.
Of course, the testimony by Petraeus and Crocker will — in reality — be nothing but a sales pitch. A beg for more money and more time and more heroes like Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor. All just to run out the clock until the next poor sap takes the Oval Office and the historical blame that comes with being the President who “lost” Iraq.
Nothing is sacred when it comes to protecting Bush’s legacy — at least, nothing other than Bush’s sacred legacy. Nothing is too exploitative, too shameful, or too self-serving. In an administration that politicizes everything, even death is a tool in the propaganda war. What Lincoln called the “last full measure of devotion” is not full enough. Even the lost heroes must fight on.
Terry Canaan is a former political fundraiser living and writing in Wisconsin. He published the blog, “Griper Blade.”
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