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Indybay Feature

Obama's War on Humanity

by Stephen Lendman
anti-war
Obama's War on Humanity

by Stephen Lendman

Obama targets humanity at home and abroad. Illinoisans paying attention knew long ago. He served as senator for the state's 13th district.

He sold out straightaway. Real estate interests had their man. Gentrification demolitions rewarded them. Poor folks were driven out. Most were Black.  

Banking, finance, insurance, and real estate interests comprised his political base then and now. Needs of constituents he represented were ignored. Community uplift rhetoric disguised harming people who needed help.

Critics called his record kick back cronyism. Convicted felons and big monied interests funded him. Every dollar invested returned multiples.

Pay-to-play was always Chicago's way. City and state politics are notoriously corrupt. Obama played the game down and dirty.

He earned his bona fides. He was well suited for bigger and better things in Washington. He was singled out and took full advantage. Nationally he betrayed the poor and disadvantaged the way he did in Illinois. Globally it's much worse.

As US senator, his voting record told all. He supported power and big monied interests. He backed commodifying public education. He stood by medical providers in wrongful injury suits.

He opposed capping credit card interest rates. Mining companies loved him. He endorsed strip mining everywhere, including on public land.

He supported huge energy company subsidies, vastly expanded nuclear power, deregulation, harmful biofuels, other agribusiness interests, GMO food proliferation, and privatized healthcare.

He stood solidly for corporate friendly trade agreements, fraudulent financial deals, expanding America's prison-industrial complex, repressive immigration legislation, police state laws, military tribunals, spying and secrecy, controlling the media, and he was still just a senator.

Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) executive director Mara Verheyden-Hilliard said he "eviserat(ed)" civil and human rights. He exceeded the worst of Bush. He silenced acquiescent liberals. They support someone they should condemn.

On August 1, Gerald Celente headlined "The Next Four Years," saying:

"What will it take to change" America's future? Voters have no choice. Both candidates tout their credentials. "Obama the Osama Slayer vs. Romney the Corporate Commando."

Each says I'm your guy. "And what will they lead us to? Economic nirvana, world peace, environmental renewal, social harmony, cultural foment, spiritual enlightenment?"

Campaign 2012 comes down to "who is best qualified to destroy the most the slowest." Why can't people see what's obvious? Why do people who should know better wear blinders?

Why do they mindlessly "drink the Kool-Aid?" At issue is stop playing follow the leader and start "lead(ing) yourself." It can't be "bought, given, or imposed."

Grassroots activism alone offers change. It's "having the courage not to cower to power. The dignity to claim your rightful and sacred place on earth. To respect yourself, demand it of others, and show respect to all who merit it."

It means opposing corrupt political leaders "and the unprincipled and oppressive systems they represent." When enough people change, so will policies.

Washington and Jefferson's America "ended up led by freaks." It happened the same way in Germany and Italy.

Bach, Beethoven, Goethe, Michelangelo, DaVinci, and Galileo ended up Hitler and Mussolini. Modern-day equivalents await in America.

Reagan, Bush I and II, Clinton, Bush, Cheney, and Obama showed steady downward decadence. Expect Obama term two or Romney to be worse. They're two sides of the same coin.

European leaders and Arab League despots replicate their dark side. They're "two-bit freaks," says Celente. "And they're dangerous."

"They start wars, kill millions, destroy nations. They steal your money and give it to their friends." They treat ordinary people like garbage. Why don't they resist? "(T)hey argue among themselves why (one) freak is better than the other."

They defend what they should condemn. They let Obama, Cameron, Hollande, Merkel, Monti, Harper, Netanyahu, and others get away with murder. If they won't fight for what's right, who will?

America is ground zero. Policies made here affect everywhere. Wealth extraction, mass killing, destruction, and dominance define them. Crackdowns target nonbelievers. Expect current harshness to get worse.

Financial war rages on millions. Hot ones continue. Syrians struggle to survive. Washington picked Kofi Annan. He's a notorious imperial tool. He provided sham cover for regional ravaging. It masquerades as pursuing conflict resolution and peace.

Washington's strategy requires violence and instability. It features terrorizing Syrians to submit. Annan's a willing co-conspirator. He got marching orders and obeyed. He's no longer needed.

On August 2, he said he'll leave end of August when his mandate expires. He lied claiming Security Council inaction made him decide. Fellow imperialist Ban Ki-moon accepted his resignation with regret.

They partnered with Washington, other NATO countries, and regional despots against Assad. They blame him for Western death squad crimes. Expect conflict to persist. Imperial strategy demands it. Willful killing and destruction won't end.

Syrians courageously resist. They want freedom, not imperial subjugation. They're willing to die for it.

Obama admitted what's well known. Washington aids insurgents covertly. CIA and US special forces are involved. Heavy weapons, funding, training and direction are provided. Secret "finding" authorization approved more.

Washington's war on Syria is lawless. So are other US wars. Trillions go for mass killing, destruction, conquest, colonization, and plunder. Homeland needs go begging.

Imagine what's coming post-election. Expect greater wealth extraction, escalated repression, and new war theaters without end.

America's worst of all possible worlds sinks lower. Depravity defines it. Obama's a stealth neocon faking people-friendly credentials. Paul Craig Roberts calls hypocrisy Washington's hallmark. Global war crimes are committed in pursuit of peace.

Humanitarian intervention is sham cover for imperial ravaging. The late Gore Vidal addressed this and more long ago. He warned how it harms humanity. He called America decadent. It's not worth preserving, he said.

He called Cuba a place of hope. He said Americans haven't a clue about what they lost. He called US-style democracy fraudulent by design. It's illegitimate without choice on the ballot.

He said America is "rotting away at a funereal pace." He expected eventual military dictatorship. The late Chalmers Johnson predicted the same thing. He quoted Pogo saying, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

He expected eventual worst of times. He and Vidal agreed. America is plagued by the same dynamic that doomed past empires. Unwillingness to change assures demise.

It's not a matter of if, but when. At issue is will humanity perish with it? The possibility is terrifyingly real. Money power runs America. Policies it wants, it gets.

A nation without enemies remains permanently at war. A secret, unaccountable global gulag holds countless non-believers. Oppression targets anyone who resists. Wealth extraction impoverishes millions. Mind manipulation keeps people dumbed down.

Johnson said these policies produce military dictatorship or its civilian equivalent. America's republic always was more myth than real. Pretense ended long ago. It died and doesn't exist.

Democracy is a quaint artifact. Slogans and other rhetoric alone remain. Democrats are as neocon as Republicans. Most people haven’t a clue. Others who understand don't act.

America gets away with murder with ease. Lynne Stewart says "Agitate! Agitate! Agitate!" Nothing else works and won't now. It's needed more than ever. "It's the system, stupid," says Immanuel Wallerstein. Change it or it'll consume us.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen [at] sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour
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Comments (Hide Comments)
by Scott Patrick
Can we start the process of international war crimes prosecution against Obama and Bush before the elections? Could this make Obama disqualified for re-election? How would it look to the world if Americans have only two choices and one of them is being investigated for war crimes? That is totally unacceptable. .. In 2008, I went door to door to help get votes out for Obama. I'll admit, he had me fooled with that promise of "HOPE" and "CHANGE". "YES WE CAN". He "promised" that one of the first things he would do, would be to "end the war" and to "bring the troops home". He said the we could "take that promise to the bank"... It was towards the end of 2011 that the new Iraqi government executed a brilliant chess move and put Obama in Check. They used the rule of law (please keep that in mind) to force Obama to pull the troops out of Iraq and thereby end the US war. They did this by REFUSING to EXTEND "immunity for war crimes" to US soldiers as of day one of 2012. Obama fought this and tried to get the Iraq government to change their mind, but it was not happening. Obama had no choice, but to run to pull the troops out by the year end date... There are several things that we as Americans should learn from this! I will try to highlight a few. The first is, "POWER TO THE PEOPLE"! They used the rule of law to force the expulsion of an occupying Super Power. The law, especially international law has teeth! They put Obama (the USA) in "check mate" and force Obama out of the game. Another very important point that should not be over looked is, how easy the war ended. Obama's efforts to keep the troops remaining in Iraq, is why the war did not end soon after he took office. With the war ending so simply, this could of been done in his first year as President! What do you say to the families of the soldiers that loss their lives in 2009, 2010, and 2011 ? Why did they have to die? For what good reason were they there? Now consider all the soldiers that were badly wounded, many beyond repair. What was it that they should have to pay such a price? I hope that those of you without a heart of stone are also thinking about all the Iraqi men, women, and children that have suffered and died. Who is responsible for this atrocity? Who will hold Obama responsible for this?? Think about all the rhetoric about "hope" and "change". To this equation I would also point out the monetarily expense. This WAR has been a means for transferring wealth from the 99% of Americans by putting those tax dollars into the war profiteers bank accounts. Whether you are a senior citizen, a middle class family, struggling low income individual, a college student, a child in elementary school, or an infant, you have been robbed. The roads you drive on, the bridges that are crumbling, the schools that lack adequate study materials, and on and on are all effected by the drain that the Iraq War and Afghan War is causing. Its like a con game of slight of hand, where something like a flag is waved in front of your face as someone unseen steals your wallet. The country is not made safer nor stronger. Quite the opposite! Can it get any worse? Regretfully the answer is "yes". Do you remember the reasons that Bush/Cheney drummed up this war? It was all wrapped in the flag and rhetoric about how we were sending troops there to help the people of those countries. I should not leave out that they waged a psychological war on the minds of the American people with regular announcements of possible domestic threats. We truly only had to fear fear itself... For the record, the Russians told their troops that the reason they had invaded Afghanistan was to help make the country better (schools, hospitals, etc.etc.). Under the leadership of President Bush and now under President Obama, our military has been using uranium composite munitions. It is called 'depleted uranium', but it remains a radioactive material. When these munitions explode or upon impact, they create a vaporized radioactive dust. Think of the munitions as being like "dirty bombs", the kind that the Bush administration has said that we have to fear from terrorist. Terrorist? This dust is then blown by the strong winds of these two countries and is spread all over. It can be found in the soil, the ground (drinking) water, the crops, the live stock and places where people live. It is even in the air. This radiation is worse in that it has been weaponized. It is so fine that it can easily pass through the filter of a gas mask. When you inhale these particles they can lodge in the ling of your lungs or pass through into the bloodstream. It then can go through out the body and promote cancer. There is no way to be protected from this! This dust will be in these countries(regions of the world) for over a thousand years plus. It will result in uncountable deaths and suffering of men, women, and children. Remember, we were told that we were going there to make life better for them... Our troops have also been exposed to this. The government knew that this was dangerous. There are old black and white videos made by the government explaining the danger of exposure(view on YouTube). They knew from a weapons plant outside of Albany New York that it was dangerous. Even twenty years after exposure the radiation could still be detected in urine of those exposed in and around the plant. Our troops, that took and oath to defend the country, were then sent into harms way without any protection. Ask any soldier that was there and they will tell you that dust is everywhere. Here is the point that I do not want you to let go of, the military did not have to use this type of weapon. Starting with Rumsfeld and going from Bush to Obama, this constitutes treason. This month 8/2012, the USA has sent workers to Vietnam to help clean up the "agent orange" that the US military sprayed on that country when it waged war. Even now, forty years after the troops were pulled out, men, women, and children suffer and die from the chemical warfare that the US military used. I personally knew soldiers who once home reported of symptoms of illness that the VA and the Pentagon denied came from their active duty in Vietnam. It took approximately ten years for the Pentagon to acknowledge that it was due to the dioxin exposure that they rained down on troops and the Vietnamese people. Are you seeing a pattern here of lack of accountability ? That was a war crime that was committed by the US government. The "dirty bomb" munitions used by the US military in civilian areas is even a far greater war crime. It is a genocidal crime against humanity. .. We are either humans that live by laws that protect the human rights of all people or we are monsters. You and I did not decide that it was okay to condemn people, in regions of the planet, to be sentenced to death for no reason at all. This was decided by those who have led this country (Republican/Democrat). This depravity and disregard for human life is not what we as Americans want to be known for. Do you remember that flag waving slogan after 9/11, "make the guilty pay"? We have to show the world that we are a nation that is govern by law and that those responsible for these war crimes need to be held accountable. We won't be alone in this. We will have the support of the whole world. We need to show the world that we will not stand silent and condone this crime against humanity. It will be a hard lesson, but it will stand as a historical monument of warning to those who will lead this country or others, that they will be held accountable for their actions. The people will make sure of that. What say ye?
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