So, you thought the "Swift Boating" of Kerry was bad, you ain't seen nothin' yet

As the right becomes more and more fearful of losing control, they will sink to new lows of dishonesty and des- tructiveness. Nothing will be beneath them. Here's a preview of what we can expect. (From: "Strangers to the Truth" By Joel Bleifuss In These Times)


"Coming soon to a media market near you:
The GOP (Grand Old Prevaricators), who brought you the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004, have been test-marketing another TV ad campaign.
The fabrication this time: the war in Iraq. The target: any Democratic candidate who speaks out against the U.S. mission during the mid-term elections. The venue for the test is Minnesota.
Two ads have run so far. Both have caused a furor.

"The first ad featured footage of the World Trade Center burning and testimony from soldiers who have fought in Iraq. Lt. Col. Robert Stephenson of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, tells viewers: “You’d never know it from news reports but our enemy in Iraq is al Qaeda, the same terrorists who killed 3,000 Americans on 9/11.” And Capt. Mark Weber of the U.S. Army Reserve ominously asks: 'Where do you want to fight terrorists? [pause] We want to fight them and destroy them in Iraq.'

"The second featured heartfelt testimonials from parents who share the screen with giant sepia-toned images of their sons who died in Iraq. That ad says in part:
Voiceover: 'September 11, 2001, the battle began on the streets of America.'
Patrick Kelly, who lost his son Bryan: 'These people are out to destroy us.'
Chuck Larson, U.S. Army Reserves: 'If we were not fighting al Qaeda in Iraq, I am convinced we would be fighting them in America and all we have to do is look back at September 11.'
Merrilee Carlson, who lost her son Michael: 'And thank God there are people like Michael who would put their lives on the line for the rest of our country and our world.'

"Both ads conclude with this slogan, 'Iraq: The front line in the war on terror.'

"After the first ad, Democratic Farmer Labor (DFL) Party Chairman Brian Melendez told WCCO, the CBS affiliate, 'There is room for a lot of puffery in politics, there is room for spin, there is room for opinion, there is room for disagreement, there shouldn’t be room for lies and this ad is about lies.'"

Photos from March 19 WRL 3rd anniversary memorial march commemorating all those who have been killed in Iraq

All March 19 photos by Dan Cohen
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Israel and the war on Iraq

Note Sec'y of State Rice in photo
There are a number of reasons for the U.S. invasion of Iraq (oil, domestic politics), but the influence of the Israel lobby (AIPAC) on U.S. Iraq policy particularly over key neocon figures, who were at the center of promoting this war, can no longer be dismissed.

According to UPI:

"Two of America's top scholars have published a searing attack on the role and power of Washington's pro-Israel lobby in a British journal, warning that its 'decisive' role in fomenting the Iraq war is now being repeated with the threat of action against Iran. And they say that the Lobby is so strong that they doubt their article would be accepted in any U.S.-based publication.

"Professor John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, author of The Tragedy of Great Power Politics and Professor Stephen Walt of Harvard's Kenney School, and author of Taming American Power: The Global Response to U.S. Primacy, are leading figures American in academic life.

"They claim that the Israel lobby has distorted American policy and operates against American interests, that it has organized the funneling of more than $140 billion dollars to Israel and 'has a stranglehold' on the U.S. Congress, and its ability to raise large campaign funds gives its vast influence over Republican and Democratic administrations, while its role in Washington think tanks on the Middle East dominates the policy debate.

"And they say that the Lobby works ruthlessly to suppress questioning of its role, to blacken its critics and to crush serious debate about the wisdom of supporting Israel in U.S. public life."

Photos from 3/18 Troops Out Now rally & march from Times Square to UN

All photos from 3/18 by Dan Cohen
The rally at Times Square
  
  
  
  
  

  
The march to the UN
  
  
  
  
  
A die-in along the way
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At the UN