Ron Paul: 15 Years After the US Invaded Iraq, It’s Time to Listen to the Iraqi People

By Ron Paul | 

This month marks the 15th anniversary of the US war on Iraq. The “shock and awe” attack was launched based on “stove-piped” intelligence fed from the CIA and Pentagon through an uncritical and compliant US mainstream media. The US media was a willing accomplice to this crime of aggression committed by the George W. Bush Administration.

Despite the lies we were constantly bombarded with, Iraq never presented a threat to the United States. Iraq never had the weapons of mass destruction that the neocons used to frighten Americans into supporting the war. How many of them knew all along that there were no WMDs? We’ll never know. Attacking Iraq and overthrowing its leader was long a plan in the neocon playbook and they used the 9/11 attack on the US as an excuse to pull the plan off the shelf and put it into action.

The US “regime change” war on Iraq has directly resulted in the death of at least a quarter of a million civilians, and indirectly perhaps a million Iraqis have been killed. The Iraqi infrastructure was destroyed and the country was set back many decades in development. Far from the democratization we were promised, Iraq has been turned into a hell on earth. Due to the US use of depleted uranium and other chemical weapons like white phosphorus, Iraqis will continue to suffer from birth defects and other related illnesses for generations.

How did we get there? War propaganda was essential in paving the way for the Iraq war. Americans are generally skeptical about launching new wars, so it takes a steady media bombardment about the alleged depravities of any targeted regime before public opinion begins to shift in favor of war.

Because the neocons who helped launch the war have never had to face the consequences of their actions, they continue to promote war with impunity. Just this past week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was pushing for a US attack on North Korea in which millions may be killed. He said this weekend, “All the damage that would come from a war would be worth it in terms of long-term stability and national security.” That’s just what they said before the US attacked Iraq, and how did that turn out? I find it disgusting that the media continues to give airtime almost exclusively to those who promote more US disasters like Iraq.

The Iraqi parliament did something extraordinary last week. A majority of elected Iraqi representatives voted to demand that their prime minister draw up a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from the country. President Obama had withdrawn US troops from Iraq in 2011, after a status of forces agreement could not be reached with the Iraqi government, but he returned the US military to Iraq under the auspices of fighting ISIS.

We had no business going into Iraq in the first place and we have no business remaining in Iraq. Al-Qaeda and ISIS emerged in Iraq because our attack and occupation of the country 15 years ago created fertile fields for extremism. Nothing will be achieved if we remain. Let’s listen to the Iraqis and just come home!

The post Ron Paul: 15 Years After the US Invaded Iraq, It’s Time to Listen to the Iraqi People appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

Iraq: Occupied US Territory

America came to Iraq to stay, intending permanent occupation – at least as long as the country remains one of the world’s major oil producers, the curse harming its people grievously.

The Pentagon currently has numerous bases in Iraq of varying sizes – including Main Operating Bases (MOBs), smaller Forward Operation Sites (FOSs), and Cooperative Security Locations (CLSs – called lily pads, used to preposition weapons, munitions, and small troop contingents).

Weeks earlier, Trump requested congressional funding for US military base construction in Iraq and Syria.

On July 12, a White House policy statement on the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act expressed concern about lack of “additional requested authority for small-scale construction of temporary facilities that are necessary to meet operational needs and force protection requirements in both Iraq and Syria” – code language for US occupation of both countries.

Claiming funds are needed to continue combating ISIS conceals US support for terrorist fighters throughout the region and elsewhere.

So-called Operation Inherent Resolve was established to support ISIS and other Middle East terrorist groups – its aim to maintain Washington’s regional control, including turning Syria into a vassal state like Iraq.

According to Syrian and Lebanese media, the Pentagon has at least seven bases in northern Syria, operating illegally without Damascus permission.

Iraqi sources reported construction underway for a large US military base in the country’s Nineveh province.

Four more bases are planned to secure control over the border with Syria. Iraqi Lt. Col. Mahdi al-Khafaji said base construction began after talks between US and Iraqi forces in Mosul’s Zammar district.

US Army Corps of Engineers reportedly completed over half the work on the initial base, to be used as an area command center. US special forces and advisers are already deployed there.

It’s unclear what troop strength the Pentagon intends maintaining in Iraq and Syria. Permanent occupation is planned in both countries.

Washington has a compliant puppet in Iraq’s Haider al-Abadi.

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad calls US and other foreign forces in the country illegal invaders – wanting them out, Syria liberated from their scourge.

Convictions of Blackwater Killers Overturned

The former Blackwater security guards, from left: Paul A. Slough, Dustin L. Heard, Nicholas A. Slatten and Evan S. Liberty. Credit Associated Press

When CIA operatives, US military personnel and hired gun mercenaries commit cold-blooded murder, it’s OK.

That’s the message from the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit – reversing the convictions of four Blackwater killers.

Nicholas Slatten alone was convicted of first-degree murder, the others (Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard) found guilty on multiple voluntary manslaughter counts, attempted manslaughter and various weapons offenses.

Slatten was sentenced to life imprisonment. The others got 30-year terms. Re-sentencing was ordered.

All defendants were involved in the cold-blooded killing or injuring of 31 Iraqi civilians – the incident occurring on September 16, 2007 in Baghdad’s Nisour Square.

Without provocation, they opened fire on cars carrying families. They had little reason to think they’d be held accountable.

Washington grants so-called private military contractors (PMCs) blanket immunity. Paul Bremer’s Order 17 authorized it. Rare exceptions prove the rule.

Blackwater personnel shot recklessly at defenseless civilians, using automatic weapons and a grenade launcher, including from two hovering helicopters.

Pandemonium erupted. Everyone tried to flee. Vehicles tried making U-turns to escape. Dead and wounded were everywhere, the crime scene blood-drenched.

A daughter witnessing her mother lethally shot in the head said:

“They are killers. I swear to God, not one bullet was shot at them. Why did they shoot us?”

In October 2014, a federal district court in Washington convicted the four Blackwater operatives.

They wounded over a dozen other Iraqis besides 17 massacred in cold blood. At trial, defense lawyers outrageously claimed they fired in self-defense. Eye witnesses refuted them.

They murdered defenseless Iraqis in cold blood – thinking blanket immunity protected them. Nearly always it does.

An FBI agent earlier called the incident the “Lai massacre of Iraq.” In sentencing, Judge Royce Lamberth said “(t)he overall wild thing that went on here just cannot be condoned by the court…You can’t just shoot first and seek justification later.”

He rejected a defense motion for a lesser sentence, along with a prosecutorial motion to increase it. Defense lawyers argued for mercy.

Prosecutors said the men never showed remorse of accepted responsibility for their crime. They called the incident an unprovoked ambush and massacre of civilians.

Former federal prosecutor T. Patrick Martin called what happened “nothing short of an atrocity.”

The Defendants were charged under the Military Extraterritorial Act. It covers overseas crimes of Defense Department civilian employees, military contractors and others involved in US war theaters.

Defense lawyers twisted reality, claiming the four mercenaries were in Iraq to provide diplomatic, not military, services.

Prosecutors argued that crimes committed “were so horrendous – the massacre and maiming of innocents so heinous – that they outweigh any factors that the defendants may argue for leniency.”

It’s unclear if the Justice Department will seek retrials or end a year’s long process. US Attorney for the District of Columbia Channing Phillips he’s “reviewing the appeals court ruling and has no further comment at this time.”