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ISIL
Statement on U.S. Military Intervention in Iraq and Syria
Submitted by info on Fri, 09/19/2014 - 16:18
The United States needs to:
Get out of Iraq.
Stay out of Syria.
Twelve years ago the Bush Administration and the corporate media launched a huge campaign to convince Americans that a regime in the Middle East was such a threat that it required military intervention and occupation of the area. "Sadam Hussein even gassed his own people," we were told, along with the falsehoods about weapons of mass destruction. The United States has already suffered nearly 4,500 Americans dead and 35,000 Americans injured, not to mention the effects on Iraqis: over 175,000 dead, untold numbers injured, displacement of over 1.5 million from their homes, the devastation of the Iraqi economy and infrastructure, and the leveling of Iraqi cities. It has cost over $2 trillion of U.S. taxpayer money.
Now the same hype job is back, to ensure continued profits of the military-industrial establishment. Now, again, there is a regime in the Middle East (ISIS) that is claimed to pose a threat to the entire world. "The brutal, insane ISIS regime has beheaded two American journalists! We must respond by sending our military back to Iraq!"
The Oregon Progressive Party says no. American policy should be:
Get out of Iraq.
Stay out of Syria.
The Obama Administration now says we have to do the same thing we already did in Iraq for over a decade. But this time somehow military intervention in Iraq (and Syria) will work, instead of just continuing to make the situation worse for the U.S. and for those who live in Iraq and Syria. Not to be outdone by the Bush folks, Obama wants to expand U.S. military strikes into Syria and to arm "the moderate Syrian opposition." The CIA has already been trying to do that, but the weapons seem to end up in the hands of ISIS.
And, say the hawks, we have to "train and equip the Iraqi Army," which we already did for 10 years--before they ripped off their uniforms and turned over their weapons to ISIS. And, although until about a week ago the two worst regimes in the Middle East were supposedly Iran and Syria, now the U.S. is allying itself with those Shiite regimes against their Sunni enemies.
The only reason the war hawks care about Iraq and adjacent areas is because somehow a lot of Arab sand got deposited on top of our oil. Protecting the oil there does not benefit consumers; it only secures more profits for the oil companies.
Get out of Iraq.
Stay out of Syria.
