Am I still An Unpatriotic Traitor?

By Ed Hanratty

June 13, 2003: (Democratic Underground) When I spoke against the threat of war, that's what you called me. You told me I had forgotten about the tragic events of September 11th. You told me I was encouraging another attack. You told me I was sympathizing with terrorists. But you never proved a link between Iraq and September 11th. In fact, the only concrete link you've ever proven was the money trail from the Saudi Royal Family to Al Qaeda. But it's okay, if the President chooses to ignore the Saudi's culpability, good little Americans should lockstep behind him.

Forget about the fact that detained Al Qaeda operatives claim that Saddam and Osama Bin Forgotten detested each other and refused to cooperate. Forget about the fact that the only people happier about the collapse of Saddam's regime than Halliburton, were the Shi'ite fundamentalists inside Iraq, demanding a Taliban/Iranian theocratic state in the new "liberated" Iraq. You told me I was a terrorist, because you listen to the message coming down from the top: You're With us or Against us. You fail to see the danger of having a "leader" who thinks in such strict black and white terms. Even a child can see that the world is made up of gray areas. Sure, we know the basic fundamentals of Right and Wrong. Stealing is wrong, Charity is Right. Murder is Wrong, Compassion is Right.

But you can see the danger now, can't you? It's in Tel Aviv. It's in Gaza City. It's in Bagram, and Kandahar, and Kabul, and Basra, and Fallujah, and Baghdad, and Tikrit. It's in Casablanca and Riyadh.

It's in Detroit and Chicago and Los Angeles and Houston and Montgomery and Little Rock and Newark - where our schools are failing miserably and our public servants are losing jobs. Why? Because of "No Child Left Behind" and "Homeland Security", ideas in principle that may have some merit, but ideas that provide strict spending standards and no money to back it up. Where is the money? Haven't you read? Tax cuts for the rich: the Alka-Seltzer of the Republican Party. Take two and call me in the morning. And the money's in Iraq. And the money's in Doha and Afghanistan. And the money's buying off barely industrialized nations to say "I do" at our altar of infamy.

Am I still an Unpatriotic Traitor?

That's what you called me when I said let the inspections play out, let them continue. But no, you said "enough was enough". You told me Saddam was building this apocalyptic arsenal. He had VX and Sarin and Anthrax and Mustard Gas and Salmonella and The Cooties. You told me was capable of launching a biological attack at the drop of a hat. You told me he presented a clear and imminent threat to my security. You told me to gift-wrap my house in Saran-wrap and Duct Tape.

You told me we'd march right into Baghdad and find all of these horrible weapons. And you told me that they'd have inscriptions written in French, and German, and Russian, and Chinese, and maybe even Mexican - because hey, they were "against us too". You told me the evidence was overwhelming. You told me a graphic drawing of an 18 wheeler was overwhelming proof that we were facing the biggest threat to mankind since the Empire began construction of the Second Death-Star. You called Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix an insignificant crybaby when he disagreed with you. You told me that France and Germany and Russia were the "Axis of Weasels", and it was spread throughout all of Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

But we haven't found the weapons yet, have we? We've been looking pretty hard. And we're hearing the rhetoric coming out from every nook and cranny of the Bush Administration. We're hearing it from the Ministry of War in Arlington and we're hearing it from the Ministry of Information on FOX News. We're told that Saddam may have buried them. We're told that he may have destroyed them on the eve of the attack (which would have made this conflict even more illegal than it was to begin with). We're told that they were smuggled out to Syria, or Iran,or shipped directly to Bin Forgotten.

We're speculating as to every possible place that these magical mythical "Weapons of Mass Destruction" could be. But ask Tony Blair, the public's beginning to speculate too. They're speculating that they just might not have ever existed in the first place. What an odd and unconventional thought! Could it be that Blix and France and Russia and 80% of the world's population was right in the first place - that Hussein wasn't an imminent threat to begin with? That maybe he didn't have these super-weapons? That maybe he wasn't hell-bent on world domination? That maybe he wasn't the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, the correlation your pResident tried to make while standing on the sacred soil of Auschwitz?

Am I still an Unpatriotic Traitor?

That's what you called me when I marched with a quarter of a million others in February. You told me I didn't support the troops. You told me that I was undermining their confidence. You told me that I, along with Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Michael Moore, Martin Sheen and the Dixie Chicks, were subversives aiding and abetting Saddam Hussein. You told me that I was a "coward", even though most of you never served. You ran off a plethora of straight-from-the-bumper-sticker slogans to me: Freedom Isn't Free; These Colors Don't Run; Love it or Leave It; Love Your Freedom - Thank a Vet; God Bless America; We Will Never Forget.

You had Neandercon attack dogs like Michael Savage, Sean Hannity and that Q-tip known as Ann Coulter making their rounds on the air and in print, launching an attack campaign against dissent that would have made Joe McCarthy proud. You painted everyone who showed up to say Not this War, Not this Time as a hippie-pot head-criminal-communist that hasn't showered in weeks. Even though the demonstrators looked just like Savage, and Hannity and Culter, well, maybe not as anorexic. They were doctors. They were lawyers. They were grandmothers. They were clergy. They were Republicans. They were children. They were teachers. They were firefighters. They were students. They were stockbrokers. They were immigrants. They were athletes. They were you and I.

Somehow I didn't support troops. But do you want to know what's ironic? If you had listened to me, the teachers, the clergy, and Tim Robbins - we'd still have 183 (as of 6/12/03) brave, young Americans spending Christmas with their families this December. One hundred and eighty three. Sure, you'll build them some statues, dedicated some parks, and wear some yellow ribbons. But in the end, that's 183 families that now won't be able to celebrate long, healthy and prosperous lives with their sons, daughters, grandchildren, parents, cousins, aunts or uncles. No graduations, Bar Mitzvahs, Bat Mitzvahs, Confirmations, Engagements, Weddings or Promotions. All you're allowing them is a flag on a casket and some depressing pomp and circumstance. 183 might not sound like a lot to you. It may seem insignificant. But the next time you lose somebody close to you, look around at the service. See how many people were affected by that death. Then multiply that by 183.

Am I still an Unpatriotic Traitor?

That's what you called me when you discovered the Mass Graves. You told me this is what I was supporting. You told me we stopped the greatest genocidal maniac since Hitler. Can you define "Genocide"? I didn't think so. You told me Saddam was a monster that needed to be dealt with. I say with all due respect, I can smell the stagnant stench of hypocrisy before you even open your mouth. Let's think for one minute.

When the towers fell, you threw eggs at Mosques in Texas, Arizona, Florida, New Jersey, Michigan, California and in many other places. You're palms sweat when you see an Arabic man in an airport. You've said within the past two years "Camel Jockey" or "Towelhead" or "Sandnigger". You care about Islamic peoples about as much as I care about the role that Windex plays in our everyday lives.

And how many bodies, how many lives does it take to fill a "mass grave"? Would the roughly seven thousand civilians killed in Afghanistan and Iraq fill a mass grave? Would they fill 70 mass graves? How many bodies does it take? We've more than doubled the death toll of the 9-11 attacks. Was that the point? Does that quench your thirst? Do you, like me, find it ironic that we're uncovering mass graves in Iraq at the same time that we're filling them?

You're the one that told me that Iraq was married to Al Qaeda, responsible for the 9-11 attacks - and they were not. You're the one that told me that Iraq had this awesome stockpile of chemical and biological weapons. They didn't. You found and empty truck. You're the one that told me I didn't support the troops, while you're beliefs and your line of thinking deprived almost 200 families of their loved ones. You're the one who out of one side of your mouth cursed the people of the Middle East, and out of the other side cried alligator tears about mass graves. Meanwhile, the US military campaign was piling up enough civilian casualties to fill Radio City Music Hall one and half times over.

You're the one who subscribes to this dogma that America stands for aggression, America doesn't believe in diplomacy, America can go ahead and wage war whenever it wants with little of no justification. This isn't what this great nation was founded upon. This isn't what the founding fathers had in mind. This isn't what brave men and women have fought and died to protect in Concord, Lexington, New Orleans, Gettysburg, Bull Run, the Western Front, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Chosin, or Saigon. Why, I just might think that you might be an Unpatriotic Traitor.



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...did the Dog eat your WMDs?

Bumpity bumpity back in your face assholes.

Now, more then ever.

There's no "s" in WMD.

Hey Dio, where do you find all the garbage you post here (like the article starting this thread)???

I couldn't find it where it should be located:

http://www.nonsense.com/

...consistent if nothing else. Nothing else it is.

Pinocchio rules:- lies that are never questioned



What a Tangled Web We Weave . . .

. . . when first we practice to deceive!

Updated: 06/14/03

Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.

Dick Cheney

Speech to VFW National Convention

August 26, 2002



Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons.

George W. Bush

Speech to UN General Assembly

September 12, 2002



If he declares he has none, then we will know that Saddam Hussein is once again misleading the world.

Ari Fleischer

Press Briefing

December 2, 2002



We know for a fact that there are weapons there.

Ari Fleischer

Press Briefing

January 9, 2003



Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent.

George W. Bush

State of the Union Address

January 28, 2003



We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, is determined to make more.

Colin Powell

Remarks to UN Security Council

February 5, 2003



We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have.

George W. Bush

Radio Address

February 8, 2003



If Iraq had disarmed itself, gotten rid of its weapons of mass destruction over the past 12 years, or over the last several months since (UN Resolution) 1441 was enacted, we would not be facing the crisis that we now have before us . . . But the suggestion that we are doing this because we want to go to every country in the Middle East and rearrange all of its pieces is not correct.

Colin Powell

Interview with Radio France International

February 28, 2003



So has the strategic decision been made to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction by the leadership in Baghdad? . . . I think our judgment has to be clearly not.

Colin Powell

Remarks to UN Security Council

March 7, 2003



Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.

George W. Bush

Address to the Nation

March 17, 2003



Well, there is no question that we have evidence and information that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical particularly . . . all this will be made clear in the course of the operation, for whatever duration it takes.

Ari Fleisher

Press Briefing

March 21, 2003



There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. And . . . as this operation continues, those weapons will be identified, found, along with the people who have produced them and who guard them.

Gen. Tommy Franks

Press Conference

March 22, 2003



I have no doubt we're going to find big stores of weapons of mass destruction.

Defense Policy Board member Kenneth Adelman

Washington Post, p. A27

March 23, 2003



One of our top objectives is to find and destroy the WMD. There are a number of sites.

Pentagon Spokeswoman Victoria Clark

Press Briefing

March 22, 2003



We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.

Donald Rumsfeld

ABC Interview

March 30, 2003



Obviously the administration intends to publicize all the weapons of mass destruction U.S. forces find -- and there will be plenty.

Neocon scholar Robert Kagan

Washington Post op-ed

April 9, 2003



But make no mistake -- as I said earlier -- we have high confidence that they have weapons of mass destruction. That is what this war was about and it is about. And we have high confidence it will be found.

Ari Fleischer

Press Briefing

April 10, 2003



We are learning more as we interrogate or have discussions with Iraqi scientists and people within the Iraqi structure, that perhaps he destroyed some, perhaps he dispersed some. And so we will find them.

George W. Bush

NBC Interview

April 24, 2003



There are people who in large measure have information that we need . . . so that we can track down the weapons of mass destruction in that country.

Donald Rumsfeld

Press Briefing

April 25, 2003



We'll find them. It'll be a matter of time to do so.

George W. Bush

Remarks to Reporters

May 3, 2003



I'm absolutely sure that there are weapons of mass destruction there and the evidence will be forthcoming. We're just getting it just now.

Colin Powell

Remarks to Reporters

May 4, 2003



We never believed that we'd just tumble over weapons of mass destruction in that country.

Donald Rumsfeld

Fox News Interview

May 4, 2003



I'm not surprised if we begin to uncover the weapons program of Saddam Hussein -- because he had a weapons program.

George W. Bush

Remarks to Reporters

May 6, 2003



U.S. officials never expected that "we were going to open garages and find" weapons of mass destruction.

Condoleeza Rice

Reuters Interview

May 12, 2003



I just don't know whether it was all destroyed years ago -- I mean, there's no question that there were chemical weapons years ago -- whether they were destroyed right before the war, (or) whether they're still hidden.

Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, Commander 101st Airborne

Press Briefing

May 13, 2003



Before the war, there's no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical. I expected them to be found. I still expect them to be found.

Gen. Michael Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corps

Interview with Reporters

May 21, 2003



Given time, given the number of prisoners now that we're interrogating, I'm confident that we're going to find weapons of mass destruction.

Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff

NBC Today Show interview

May 26, 2003



They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer.

Donald Rumsfeld

Remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations

May 27, 2003



For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction (as justification for invading Iraq) because it was the one reason everyone could agree on.

Paul Wolfowitz

Vanity Fair interview

May 28, 2003

It was a surprise to me then — it remains a surprise to me now — that we have not uncovered weapons, as you say, in some of the forward dispersal sites. Believe me, it's not for lack of trying. We've been to virtually every ammunition supply point between the Kuwaiti border and Baghdad, but they're simply not there.

Lt. Gen. James Conway, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force

Press Interview

May 30, 2003

Do I think we're going to find something?  Yeah, I kind of do, because I think there's a lot of information out there."

Maj. Gen. Keith Dayton, Defense Intelligence Agency

Press Conference

Yes, Ed, you are.

...if you didn't show the ol yankey spirit of speaking out.

We'll leave to the the slugs to suck up to these criminals and liars. Benidict Arnold would have puked on these maggots.

this is imc who cares what the supporters of this drivel think about world politics they are obviously not listened to and for good reason theyre not worth it.

...what der Fuhrer says or you are unpatriotic. You must believe everything he says without question. He must be allowed to invade an kill at will. It is unpatriotic to question it. Now report to the Kamp for further "instruction".

Your a man after my own heart. I really liked your article. You truly are a patriot. Any fool can argue a point but it takes class, upbringing and character to differentiate between right and wrong. You can honestly call ur self a true american.

When I was growing up I always thought that America was a great country because you could always stand up for what you thought is right,

Well done man, ive never met u but I can see that U can handle ur own in an argument. I think that any neutral person can see that the articles that u post, your reasoning and ur intellectual level is far greater than the people taking pot shots at U.

FresCOW where are ur articles and sources and arguments. Take a que from Dio. Take a bow DIO Bravo man BRAVO.

Why can't I get a congrats like that?

nice stamp

...you are too kind. I'm just here because I despise the lies spread by the shills. If I can do a little bit to counter it and get people thinking for themselves I am happy.

However, I would be lying if I did not say it feels nice to be appreciated.

Thanks again.

"FresCOW where are ur articles and sources and arguments."

My arguments are evreywhere. You can't see them since they don't conform to your notions. Sorry.

Yes, they exist in her mind.

what mind?

...is the type of individual who after having been lied to at great expense and the cost of many innocent lives goes on credulously bootlicking and spouting the same nonsense ad nauseam. Kind of like the Brown Shirts. Before Hitler had them liquidated.

Another name for them is Quisling.

You commies need to get a good job and stop complaining about your democracy. You know, there are peoples in the world that are hungry and cold, and you just sit there all day complaining about how bad you have it, why dont you go try and live in china or the late russia, see how much freedom you have there. You know, when I was a little kid, my mom would beat the shit out of me if I killed the american GI joes instead of cobras evil army of commies. Plus you should really learn to spell your words right, how are you supposed to be right if you make mistakes on your typing. You should really start listening to the talk radio personalities that are on the good side instead of listening to those dum dums trying to sway you bad.

"when I was a little kid, my mom would beat the shit out of me"

That explains your mental deficiency. She must have dropped you on your head a few times, too.

A product of televison abuse.

How can any self respecting person endure the tide of garbage that device produces. A patriot thinks for themself

and doesn't opt out to be told what to think by a profit driven system of mind control.

Let's assume for a moment that Diogenes is correct. That there are no weapons of mass destruction.

Perhaps he will inform us all of why Hussein was so elusive in coming clean about said lack of WMD? Why did he kick out inspectors in '98? Where are all those chemicals and biological agents that he never denied having?

And ultimately, what was so terrible about deposing him?

Duh.

I especially love how it shows the DOW Futures to be up 31 points while those Iraqis are holding up a sign calling liberals "wankers".

is the most crude forgery I've yet to see posted as

news. PATHETIC.