What's Going On?

If you ever wondered what the Iraq War was really about, or what this whole "war on terror" thing really means, today's totally fabricated "news" makes it all very, very obvious.

This is a war of propaganda. But it's not really the USA and Iraq who are at war, or even the Democracies of the Western World versus the Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. This is a war being waged by Big Business. And the enemy is YOU.

Let's start with Bush's supposedly "spontaneous" video-conference with US troops in Saddam's old home tome, Tikrit. Reporters on the scene described an event that was totally staged, carefully screened and delicately pre-scripted. When asked about that (remember, just a few months ago reporters didn't dare ask these questions) here's what White House spokesman Scott McLellan said:

QUESTION: How were they selected, and are their comments to the president pre-screened, any questions or anything...

MCCLELLAN: No.

QUESTION: Not at all?

MCCLELLAN: This is a back-and-forth.

But soon the secret was out. Even CCN was reporting on the White House's blatant fabrications. Time for another press conference:

Q Scott, why did the administration feel it was necessary to coach the soldiers that the President talked to this morning in Iraq?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, I don't know what you're suggesting.

Q Well, they discussed the questions ahead of time. They were told exactly what the President would ask, and they were coached, in terms of who would answer what question, and how they would pass the microphone.

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, are you suggesting that what our troops were saying was not sincere, or what they said was not their own thoughts?

Q Nothing at all. I'm just asking why it was necessary to coach them.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, in terms of the event earlier today, the event was set up to highlight an important milestone in Iraq's history, and to give the President an opportunity to, once again, express our appreciation for all that our troops are doing when it comes to defending freedom, and their courage and their sacrifice. And this is a satellite feed, as you are aware, and there are always technological challenges involved when you're talking with troops on a satellite feed like this. And I think that we worked very closely with the Department of Defense to coordinate this event. And I think all they were doing was talking to the troops and letting them know what to expect.

Q But we asked you specifically this morning if there would be any screening of questions or if they were being told in any way what they should say or do, and you indicated no.

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't think that's what the question was earlier today. I think the question earlier today was asking if they could ask whatever they want, and I said, of course, the President was -- and you saw --

Q And I asked if they were pre-screened.

MR. McCLELLAN: You saw earlier today the President was trying to engage in a back-and-forth with the troops. And I think it was very powerful what Lieutenant Murphy was saying at the end of that conversation, when he was talking about what was going on in January, how the American troops and coalition forces were in the lead when it came to providing security for the upcoming election, an election where more than eight million Iraqis showed up and voted. It was a great success.

And he talked about how this time, when we had the preparations for the upcoming referendum this Saturday, you have Iraqi forces that are in the lead, and the Iraqi forces are the ones that are doing the planning and preparing and taking the lead to provide for their own security as they get ready to cast their ballots again.

Q But I also asked this morning, were they being told by their commanders what to say or what to do, and you indicated, no. Was there any prescreening of --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not aware of any such -- any such activities that were being undertaken. We coordinated closely with the Department of Defense. You can ask if there was any additional things that they did. But we work very closely with them to coordinate these events, and the troops can ask the President whatever they want. They've always been welcome to do that.

In other words, McLellan lied. Then he tried to cover up his lie by pretending he had said something different to what he did say. When pressed further, it's the old "I'm not aware..." pleading-ignorance defence.

This is standard Orwellian double-talk for the White House these days. Here's another revealing exchange between McLellan and journalist Helen Thomas, also from today's press conference:

THOMAS What does the President mean by "total victory" -- that we will never leave Iraq until we have "total victory"? What does that mean?

McCLELLAN: Free and democratic Iraq in the heart of the Middle East, because a free and democratic Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will be a major blow to the ambitions --

THOMAS If they ask us to leave, then we'll leave?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm trying to respond. A free and democratic Iraq in the heart of the broader Middle East will be a major blow to the ambitions of al Qaeda and their terrorist associates. They want to establish or impose their rule over the broader Middle East -- we saw that in the Zawahiri letter that was released earlier this week by the intelligence community.

THOMAS They also know we invaded Iraq.

McCLELLAN: Well, Helen, the President recognizes that we are engaged in a global war on terrorism. And when you're engaged in a war, it's not always pleasant, and it's certainly a last resort. But when you engage in a war, you take the fight to the enemy, you go on the offense. And that's exactly what we are doing. We are fighting them there so that we don't have to fight them here. September 11th taught us --

THOMAS It has nothing to do with -- Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

McCLELLAN: Well, you have a very different view of the war on terrorism, and I'm sure you're opposed to the broader war on terrorism. The President recognizes this requires a comprehensive strategy, and that this is a broad war, that it is not a law enforcement matter.

Terry.

TERRY MORAN On what basis do you say Helen is opposed to the broader war on terrorism?

McCLELLAN: Well, she certainly expressed her concerns about Afghanistan and Iraq and going into those two countries. I think I can go back and pull up her comments over the course of the past couple of years.

MORAN And speak for her, which is odd.

McCLELLAN: No, I said she may be, because certainly if you look at her comments over the course of the past couple of years, she's expressed her concerns --

THOMAS I'm opposed to preemptive war, unprovoked preemptive war.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- she's expressed her concerns.

Again, McLellan lies. He backtracks on his own words without ever admitting that he was wrong. He says "I'm sure you're opposed to the broader war on terrorism" then he says "No, I said she may be..."

This liar is the Bush White House's number one spokesman. But what's really scary is that he does not even seem to be aware of his own double-thinking mental duplicity. White is black. War is peace. Anyone who asks the wrong questions is a traitor.

Of course, it's not just McLellan who is dishing up the Kool-aid crap to the press (and via the press, to you and me). Here's what Bush himself said to those troops on TV:

I wish I could be there to see you face to face and thank you personally. Probably a little early for me to go to Tikrit. Perhaps one of these days the situation will be such that I’ll be able to get back to Iraq.

ARe we supposed to laugh or cry? Does Bush really wish he could be in Tikrit right now? Does he have any idea what's going on over there?

This was a totally scripted event, and Bush was right on (the same old) script:

I'm going to assure you of this: that so long as I'm the president, we're never going to back down, we're never going to give in, we'll never accept anything less than total victory.

Total victory? Total victory??? What the fuck is he talking about???!

Perhaps Bush had better read the latest report from Tom Lasseter, Knight Ridders Baghdad bureau correspondent. Lasseter just spent a week embedded with the all-Iraqi 4,500-member 1st Brigade of the 6th Iraqi Division. He says the Bush exit strategy of turning over military control to the Iraqis is in serious trouble:

Instead of rising above the ethnic tension that's tearing their nation apart, the mostly Shiite troops are preparing for, if not already fighting, a civil war against the minority Sunni population...

[They are] seeking revenge against the Sunnis who oppressed them during Saddam Hussein's rule... they look and operate less like an Iraqi national army unit and more like a Shiite militia.

Got that, George? If not, here are some quotes from the Iraqi soldiers themselves:

Lasseter quotes the brigade leader, Brig. Gen. Jaleel Khalif Shwail: "These people in Amariyah are cowards. I swear, I swear I'll have revenge."

... He quotes the response of a Shiite sergeant: "Just let us have our constitution and elections in December and then we will do what Saddam did -- start with five people from each neighborhood and kill them in the streets and then go from there."

Another sergeant tells him: "Your country had to have a civil war. It will be the same here. Everything in this world has its price. In Iraq the price for peace will be blood."

Well, George? Got a comment on that? Scotty? Karl? Dick? Anyone?

No, George is busy talking out of his ass about the glorious new Iraq Constitution (which, unlike real Constitutions, can be readily changed anytime in the future). Or else he is talking about that Al Quaeda letter which surfaced very conveniently the other day, which even Al Quaeda in Iraq is now saying is a fake. ("Aha!" I hear the wingnuts cry, "so therefore it MUST be real!!!")

It's all lies and propaganda, smoke and mirrors. The real aim here is for ordinary people, you and me, to be scared shitless 24/7 so that we will allow our governments to do whatever they claim they have to do. And the bogeyman stories make a great cover for their real agenda, which is to destroy our real Democracies while pushing money to their rich, powerful Fascist friends.