A special thank you to peacemakers who communicated the truth about the illegal invasion of Iraq. Our individual conversations, presentations, newspaper articles, books, movies, phone calls, teaching events, peace demonstrations, radio interviews, television interviews, and prayers do make a difference. In the Freedom From War organization alone, the above actions enabled us to educate over 10 million people in 2006!
Without question, if we had left the truth about the Iraq war to the mainstream media, the sweeping change in the House of Representatives and the Senate would not have happened. The fact is Donald Rumsfeld resigned because of the election results. As a reminder, as recently as Nov. 1, 2006 President Bush extended a job guarantee to Donald Rumsfeld, saying he was doing a “fantastic job and would remain in “his administration until the end of his presidency.
Freedom From War applauds Rumsfeld’s departure and we go on record as saying that the nomination of Robert M. Gates is bad for our country. Gates is the man who helped lead disastrous covert operations in the Middle East (you may remember in 1987 that he removed himself from consideration as the CIA director to avoid questions about his involvement in the illegal Iran-Contra program). We should not lose sight of the fact that we have much work to do as indicated by Cheney’s “full speed ahead and Bush’s comments that Gates will bring new ideas for military victory. President Bush is electing to stay the course by failing to recognize that Americans want our involvement in the killing to stop. For specifics on what America can do to bring US troops home safely and with honor, please visit the FFW website (for a specific proposal, see pages 2 and 3 in the newsletter at http://www.freedomfromwar.org/FFW%20Newsletter.pdf and page 4 in the newsletter at http://www.freedomfromwar.org/Newsletter%20Oct%20Nov.pdf to learn why Iraq is really three countries).
Please make time to celebrate an important step forward for a more peaceful future. The elections have restored checks and balances to the US government. The US is far less likely to initiate a war with Iran. The Israeli government may elect to follow through on repeated statements that they would attack Iran but each day without war is an opportunity for peace. The American people should remember that we do not have a defense alliance with Israel and are not automatically required to become part of a war with Iran. We must remain vigilant because from the perspective of corporations like Halliburton, many of the new members of Congress will not have the courage to stand up against war profiteering.
Please contact representatives in the House and the Senate and let them know the president’s “military victory talk will only lead to more innocent people being killed. We can help the Iraqi people and prevent Al-Qaeda from growing in power by recognizing that Iraq is three countries. The false notion that Iraqi nationalism could trump Kurdish, Sunni, and Shiite religious differences continues to be perpetuated by Bush’s incredibly flawed “military victory strategy. Scientific estimates already put the number of innocent civilians killed in Iraq at over 650,000, which means President Bush has the blood on his hands of over 216 9/11s (650,000 divided by 3,000 and remember Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11).
All US and British soldiers should be replaced with a United Nations peacekeeping force. All US and British war-profiteering companies must leave Iraq as Bechtel decided to do on Nov. 1, 2006 (see http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/11/01/MNGMIM3RAG1.DTL for more information). For a fraction of the human life and economic costs, a more peaceful alternative is within our reach. We must also work for justice for the hundreds of thousands of people that were mass-murdered by convicting President Bush’s lies and his key architects as war criminals.
Thank you to everyone who stepped forward to stand up for peace. Our journey continues and peace is our destiny!
David Dionisi writes from the perspective of a military intelligence officer, senior executive and international volunteer. His book, American Hiroshima, warns that the US will attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and Iran will respond by attacking US nuclear power plants. He currently serves as the national awareness officer for the international organization Freedom From War (www.freedomfromwar.org) and is a weekly columnist for The Daily Star Egypt.
