Somebody Has To Do It?

Exclusive to STR

November 13, 2006

The other night on the evening news I saw a young American soldier being interviewed in Iraq. He was saying how it's tough when you see your buddies getting wounded and killed and that after he gets home every year for the rest of his life Veterans Day will bring those friends taken from him in Iraq back to him. Veterans Day will never be the same for him. Within a few weeks of the filming and interview, he was killed in Iraq.

One of the things he said in the interview about why he joined the US Army was 'my grandfather who fought in WWII said, 'somebody has to do it.''

When I read my morning paper today I read about some Marines and soldiers at the Tampa, Florida VA Hospital who were terribly wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the Marines is quoted as saying the exact same thing as the soldier did on the evening news, 'Somebody has to do it.'

Two very important questions arise in response to this seemingly common position of young soldiers and Marines: Somebody has to do what and why?

Let's start with the 'do what.' What are Americans who are in the government's armed forces actually doing in Iraq? Bush and the neoconservatives started out saying they were fighting to protect America from Saddam's Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction that he was developing when he took time out from plotting with bin Laden and al Qaeda to attack America. Over time these lies were seen for the lies that they were (after over 1,000 Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis had died) and then the reason for the invasion and unnecessary war changed to freeing the Iraqi people and bringing democracy to Iraq and eventually to the entire Middle East. That's the story line now. So, according to the change of lies, the 'what' that the grunts are fighting and dying for now is not to protect America from 'mushroom clouds' but to bring democracy to the Middle East. And it must be a kosher type of democracy, just any type won't do as the Palestinian people learned after voting in Hamas, which is not approved by the Israelis and their kosher plutocrats in Congress and the White House. (Don't expect the 'US' position on Israel to change just because the Democrats have the majority now in both Houses of Congress.) The hypocritical plutocrats in the US and its allied countries who pretend to promote democracy have so isolated the Palestinian government that its freely elected Hamas Prime Minister is offering to step down in order for the self-proclaimed freedom loving democracies the world over to assist the Palestinian people, who are under the bloody thumb of the Jewish terrorist state. So, based on how we're attacking the Palestinian democracy, it appears the 'to spread democracy' reason is a government lie as well.

The government says the reason we're in Afghanistan is because Afghanistan ruled by the Taleban allowed bin Laden and al Qaeda to operate bases on Afghan soil where they trained Islamic insurgents to attack the US as they did on 9/11. That is an honest reason, so they didn't have to change it as they did in the case of Iraq. HOWEVER, the government and the media NEVER seriously or honestly talk about why bin Laden wants to attack the US. If America was really free and if we really enjoyed a free press and media, there would be a free exchange of ideas where this fact would come out. And if that did become a reality, they would have to point out how American politicians/plutocrats who were scurrying to win favor and cash from Israel's lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, for the last three decades or more put Israel's interests before America's interests and, indeed, before the interests of the entire world. This unbalanced Middle East policy of the US would probably then be corrected by outraged individuals. But since we must deal in reality, these facts are kept from the people. So the 'what' that the grunts are doing in Afghanistan is defending the kosher plutocrats who promote Israel for the advancement of their own political careers.

The 'why' we have the US military in both Iraq and Afghanistan is because of cowardly politicians from both parties who think much more of their own careers than they do about the lives of members of the US armed forces and the lives of the people in the countries they invade. As a reality check, each recruiter of each branch of the armed forces should be required to tell each person inquiring about joining the military that instead of defending the US Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic, they will be sent to war for the advancement of the careers of politicians who've sold their souls to AIPAC and Israel.

Another key 'why' we are in Iraq is to promote Israel. Before the Gulf War, Iraq was a real rival to Israel and its military machine. After the Gulf War, it no longer was. However, Iraq under Saddam was very pro-Palestinian, and Saddam gave $25,000 to the families of each suicide bomber who attacked Israel. AIPAC and its whores in Congress and the White House couldn't let this continue. The following important facts are exposed on page 302 of the book The Book On Bush - How George W. (Mis)leads America, by Eric Alterman and Mark Green: 'But an invasion of Iraq presented any number of opportunities and potential benefits from an ideological perspective that could not be honestly and openly identified in official policy documents. It removed a significant threat to Israel and, once all went according to plan, would also help to demoralize the Palestinians and force them to accept their lot in life as an occupied people with reduced resistance.'

When Islamic people who suffer under Jewish oppression see how America is unbalanced in its virtually limitless support of Israel, they naturally hate us. This is why we were attacked on 9/11 and why our troops are in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

In addition to fighting and dying for the plutocrats, our soldiers and Marines are fighting to promote the neoconservative worldview as envisioned by the founding father of the neocons, Leo Strauss. Strauss promoted, and neocons today promote the same goals and worldview, a society based on the Hebrew (Old Testament) Bible (Strauss was a Jew). And of course, the Hebrew Bible promotes Hebrews/Jews/Israel. And millions of Christian evangelicals support Israel blindly due to their Biblical beliefs in the 'chosen people' myth and the real estate deal the Hebrew Bible claims God gave the Jews. It's interesting to note that one rabbi at least openly said that Christianity is Judaism for Gentiles.

With the US having so many Christians, and so many Christians believing the Jews are God's chosen people, it shouldn't be too hard to see how this plays into a dangerous US Middle East foreign policy. And if some Christians get out of hand and start to demand fair treatment of the Palestinians, the good rabbi will take them on a trip to Auschwitz! Not only is the Bible a great tool for Israel, so is the 'Holocaust'!

If US military people really want to follow their oath to 'defend and protect the US Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic,' they would start by rendering harmless the politicians!