[rad-green] Militarism in Time of Pandemic: The Arrogance of the (Ongoing) US War in Iraq

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*https://consortiumnews.com/2020/03/17/militarism-in-time-of-pandemic-the-a=
rrogance-of-the-ongoing-us-war-in-iraq/*
<https://consortiumnews.com/2020/03/17/militarism-in-time-of-pandemic-the-a=
rrogance-of-the-ongoing-us-war-in-iraq/>


*Consortium News          March 17, 2020*

Militarism in Time of Pandemic: The Arrogance of the (Ongoing) US War in
Iraq
*Amid a Corona news blackout, Danny Sjursen says Americans are expected to
forget, or ignore, that the Iraqi parliament recently asked the U.S.
military to leave.*

*Speaker of Iraqi Parliament concluding Jan. 5, 2020,  vote on expelling
U.S. troops. (YouTube still)*

*By Danny Sjursen <https://consortiumnews.com/tag/danny-sjursen/>*
*Antiwar.com
<https://original.antiwar.com/danny_sjursen/2020/03/15/militarism-in-a-time=
-of-pandemic-the-arrogance-of-the-ongoing-us-war-in-iraq/>*

*Look, I=E2=80=99m no doctor; not a scientist; certainly no expert in epide=
miology.
So I=E2=80=99ve kept silent, for the most part, on the Coronavirus. Being m=
ore than
a little out of my depth on the subject, I=E2=80=99ll continue to do so.
Nonetheless, it is striking how the disease outbreak has swallowed the news
cycle whole, totally blotted out the sun of reportage on America=E2=80=99s =
ongoing
militarist wars. While almost certainly not the cause or initial motive,
24/7 Corona-coverage has been convenient for the Establishment media and
political elites: a beyond-reproach justification for total blackout for
U.S. wars and violent interventions that continue to kill our soldiers and
=E2=80=94 in far greater numbers =E2=80=94 foreigners unlucky enough to liv=
e in the vast,
contested expense from West Africa to Central Asia.*

Generally, I=E2=80=99m a decidedly Occam=E2=80=99s Razor
<https://www.britannica.com/topic/Occams-razor> sort of guy: which is to
say, one who never rules out the preeminence of contingency and rank
incompetence as an explanatory tool for world events. Conspiracy peddling
is hardly my go-to position. Still, however this Corona emergency turns out
=E2=80=93 passing (let=E2=80=99s hope) panic or zombie apocalypse =E2=80=93=
 it must be said that
the wall-to-wall disease reporting serves as an opportune disciplining
tool. To wit, while it=E2=80=99s totally acceptable to utilize Corona as a =
cudgel =E2=80=93
by the Establishment =E2=80=9CLeft,=E2=80=9D and its peculiar neoconservati=
ve allies
<https://www.theatlantic.com/author/david-frum/> =E2=80=93 to batter
<https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/trump-ensuring-worst-pos=
sible-outcome-coronavirus-crisis/607867/>
(perhaps
somewhat appropriately) President Donald Trump, any critical analysis of
the media response and its failure to report other war-related news is
beyond the pale. Count me skeptical of the polite, prevailing band of
admissible discourse.

After all, some profound events have unfolded during said Corona-blackout.
Like a few days ago, when, less than 24 hours after the House voted
<https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-passes-war-powers-resolution-limiting-p=
residents-ability-to-strike-iran-11583961365>
to
limit (albeit symbolically) Trump=E2=80=99s ability to wage war on Iran, U.=
S.
fighter jets bombed
<https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/politics/coalition-airstrikes-retaliation-i=
raq/index.html>
five
sites linked to ostensibly Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia militias. This
transpired, we are told, in response to an Iraqi militia rocket attack that
killed
<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/03/12/us-military-coalition=
-personnel-killed-in-iraq-rocket-attack-iran-militias/5029918002/>
two
U.S. troopers and a British national. Another deadly tit-for-tat escalation
in another endless American war; and it was met by something approaching
silence. Outside of alternative media =E2=80=93 and, due to the Coronavirus=
, muted
even by those standards =E2=80=93 there was no public outcry, no fresh ques=
tioning
of American strategy in Iraq or whether that ongoing war furthers U.S.
interests or homeland security. There was nothing.

*The Pentagon. (Defense Department)*

*Cursory Justificaiton *

Naturally, the Defense Department and senior administration officials did
treat a Corona-cowed-citizenry to cursory justifications for the strikes.
Nothing too immersive, of course =E2=80=94 after all, ours is a Pentagon th=
at has
at times gone over a year
<https://www.newsweek.com/pentagon-press-briefing-doesnt-answer-questions-1=
445061>
without
holding an official press briefing =E2=80=94 but just enough Orwellian expl=
anation
to soothe their consciences and reassure a blinded populace that there=E2=
=80=99s
nothing-to-see-here. Still, as one who, despite it all, happens to believe
that words matter, I found the language of said rationales both instructive
and chock-full of arrogance and unexamined assumptions.

For example, the Pentagon=E2=80=99s written statement explained
<https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/politics/coalition-airstrikes-retaliation-i=
raq/index.html>
that
=E2=80=9CThese strikes were defensive, proportional, and in direct response=
 to the
threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D Defens=
ive=E2=80=A6now there=E2=80=99s
the rub. Yes, U.S. and British-little-brother coalition troops were, quite
unfortunately, killed, once again, in Iraq. That seems certain. Only, dare
I ask, what *exactly*, is =E2=80=9Cdefensive=E2=80=9D about the actual foun=
dation of U.S.
policy in Iraq: i.e. maintaining some 5,000 troops in that country for
nearly 17 years in the face of mass, and long-standing, opposition from
significant quarters of two =E2=80=94 Sunni and Shia Arab =E2=80=94 of the =
three main
ethno-sectarian communities therein?

Fascinating, isn=E2=80=99t it, that hardly anyone =E2=80=94 and almost no o=
ne in a position
of real influence =E2=80=94 questions the underlying reality of American mi=
litary
occupation in Iraq. Instead, the national-security-wing Trumpeteers =E2=80=
=94 and
the Obamaites and Bushies before them =E2=80=94 deliberately erase any semb=
lance of
context and pretend the Iraq conflict began with whichever latest attack
these supposedly *Iranian*-=E2=80=9Ccontrolled=E2=80=9D militias unleashed =
on innocently
Iraq-ensconced American soldiers.

Yet, in all the obligatory, almost obsessive, inclusions of the prefix
=E2=80=9CIranian-backed,=E2=80=9D lost is any and all recognition or sober =
analysis of the
*Iraqi* agency and motives behind the recent =E2=80=94 but wholly consisten=
t (since
at least the April 2004 Shia uprising
<https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/05/03/the-uprising> against U.S.
occupation) =E2=80=94 spate of attacks. That=E2=80=99s by design; a sleight=
-of-hand meant
to erase any acknowledgment of Iraqi nationalist =E2=80=94 even among Ameri=
ca=E2=80=99s
promised (since 2003), and current, purported Shia allies =E2=80=93 grievan=
ces
against a lengthy military occupation. We the People are meant to forget,
or ignore, the pesky, inconvenient fact that they =E2=80=94 the Iraqi people
through their parliamentary representatives =E2=80=94 fairly recently *aske=
d* (via
that cherished American method of *voting*) the U.S. military to leave
<https://www.wsj.com/articles/iraqi-parliament-votes-in-favor-of-expelling-=
u-s-troops-11578236473>
=2E

*Rejecting Iraqi Parliament *

In response, it was the U.S. *empire* =E2=80=93 in this case, its Trumpian
spokesmen =E2=80=93 which flatly  refused
<https://www.wsj.com/articles/iraqi-parliament-votes-in-favor-of-expelling-=
u-s-troops-11578236473>
to
respect the originally (and ironically) *U.S.-installed *Iraqi parliament=
=E2=80=99s
prerogative, in a bout of hegemonic imperial arrogance that beggars belief.
The president reflexively responded with the threat of sanctions =E2=80=94 =
and
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added the unsubstantiated, hardly scientific
claim
<https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/05/mike-pompeo-iraq-iran-troops-0939=
61>
that
he was =E2=80=9Cconfident that the Iraqi people want the United States to c=
ontinue
to be there.=E2=80=9D That demonstrated, once and for all, that national
sovereignty has serious limitations. Thereby, Iraq is sovereign only to the
extent that it bends to the will of Washington and the Pentagon=E2=80=99s
militarist proclivities =E2=80=94 specifically, the U.S. desire to utilize
Mesopotamia as a proxy battleground with Iran.

All of which illustrates just how far off-the-rails the U.S. military
mission in Iraq has run. Remember how this all *began*, after all, this
crusade in Babylon. In 2002-03, the American people were told =E2=80=94
patronizingly lectured to, really =E2=80=94 that a hasty military invasion =
to
depose Saddam Hussein was necessary in order to protect the homeland from
the imminent threat of Iraq=E2=80=99s (nonexistent) WMD arsenal and to coun=
ter the
regime=E2=80=99s (imaginary) collusion with Al Qaeda. The Iraqi *people =E2=
=80=94 *especially
the embattled Shia =E2=80=94 the public was assured, would welcome said inv=
asion
with open-arms and rose-petals. When both primary justifications for the
invasion were proven (at best) epically mistaken, or (at worst, and more
likely) deliberate, bold-faced lies, and after even significant Shia
elements rose up against the U.S. military occupation with nationalist
vehemence, well, then, the Bush-team pivoted to the moralizing fraud
of =E2=80=9CFreedom
Agenda <https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/freedomagenda/>=
,=E2=80=9D
necessary-dictator-removal, justification rhetoric.


*President Barack Obama announces latest U.S. bombing of Iraq on Sept. 10,
2014.*

Later, when President Barack Obama reentered =E2=80=93 in a decidedly open-=
ended
mission =E2=80=93 Iraq in force, the prevailing rationalization was ISIS-de=
feat.
Then, when ISIS was decisively crippled, Obama pivoted to the use of Iraq
as a basecamp for apparently equally requisite and vital operations in
Syria. Trump, elected (not unlike Obama) on a promised *anti*-war platform,
then relied on the ostensible Iranian bogeyman next-door when he, too,
decided to maintain a substantial military footprint in Iraq. Unquestioned,
and left to their own nefarious devices (with a current assist from
Corona), it seems that bipartisan foreign policy elites possess a
bottomless bag of ready rationales for an Iraq War gift that keeps on
giving.

Lost in the fog of apathy, context-erasure, information-suppression, and
alt-media-exclusion, is any sense of the shaky legal, strategic, and
ethical underpinnings of America=E2=80=99s second (after Afghanistan) longe=
st war
in its history. Time and again, many others and I have diligently  diagnosed
<https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/10/01/backfires-and-more-blowback-=
generation-american-folly>
the
a-strategic counter-productivity and moral bankruptcy
<https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-u-s-militarys-metoo-reckoning-that-w=
asnt/>
of
both major U.S. wars. Tabling that, for present purposes, it is the
ostensible *legal* foundations of, in this case, the current manifestation
of the Iraq War, that are most plainly absurd.

Here=E2=80=99s a related, and instructive, question: under what domestic or
international sanction, precisely, is the current U.S. military presence in
=E2=80=94 and consequent bombing of =E2=80=94 Iraq based? After all, there =
have been only
two congressional authorizations for the use of military force (AUMFs)
during the last two decades of forever war. The first
<https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/23/te=
xt>
, in September 2001, authorized the president to =E2=80=9Cuse all necessary=
 and
appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he
determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the [9/11] terrorist
attacks=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D. Well, there were no Iraqis (and certainly not an=
y Shiites) on
those hijacked planes, and Saddam Hussein =E2=80=94 who, incidentally, was =
long ago
hanged to death =E2=80=94 had no role in the terror attacks in question, so=
 AUMF
option No. 1 can=E2=80=99t reasonably apply.

*President George W. Bush signing resolution authorizing the use of force
against Iraq, Oct. 16, 2002. (White House)*

Okay, but what about the second
<https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-joint-resolution/114/te=
xt>
, more clearly Iraq-focused, October 2002 AUMF? Problem is, even that one
only authorized the president to =E2=80=9Cuse the Armed Forces of the Unite=
d States
as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to=E2=80=A6defend=
 the
national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed
by Iraq.=E2=80=9D No mention of Iran; nothing about (then nonexistent) subn=
ational
(Shia) militias. Furthermore, unless the linguistic meaning of
=E2=80=9Cself-defense=E2=80=9D is farcically stretched beyond the definitio=
n in Article 51
<https://legal.un.org/repertory/art51.shtml> to the United Nations Charter,
the fact that the AUMF=E2=80=99s stated =E2=80=9Cthreat=E2=80=9D =E2=80=94 =
the Saddam regime of Iraq =E2=80=94 has
been deposed and replaced, indicates that even the second potential legal
sanction is quite obviously inapplicable to the current circumstances.

In sum, litigious reasoning aside, anti-occupation Iraqi nationalists
=E2=80=94whether they choose to align, or not, and to whatever actual exten=
t, with
neighboring Iran =E2=80=94 have a point. The U.S. military defiantly sits o=
n their
turf, despite parliamentary calls for its departure, and continues to wield
violence according to Washingtonian whims. Furthermore, characterizations
of the alleged Iranian threat (within Iraqi borders, or otherwise) as
=E2=80=9Cexistential=E2=80=9D to U.S. national security are blatantly prepo=
sterous. It is,
at certain times, helpful to review foreign adventures from the viewpoint
of an uninterested alien observer. Such an extraterrestrial policy wonk
might cogently question how the United States has sent its troops 6,000
miles away, kept them there for nearly two decades, fighting *whom *exactly,
and just what threat =E2=80=9Cthey=E2=80=9D pose to the homeland? Recent hi=
story suggests
that our alien friend wouldn=E2=80=99t receive very satisfying answers =E2=
=80=A6 would
probably be treated to just another written statement from the Pentagon.

Deliberate erasure by a bipartisan political-media alliance, and the
consequent languor of a frightened, exhausted, and uniformed populace, may
serve a power elite which *requires* as much to maintain unchallenged
preeminence (whilst counting the profits). However, it does not, by any
measure, benefit the (statistically
<https://epdf.pub/the-casualty-gap-the-causes-and-consequences-of-american-=
wartime-inequalities.html>)
underprivileged U.S. troops doing the killing and dying in the People=E2=80=
=99s
name, their countless foreign *victims*, or the remaining institutions of
American Democracy.

Most of the populace will likely survive the Coronavirus. Should these
absurd, endless wars continue even a little longer, the republic may not=E2=
=80=A6

*Danny Sjursen is a retired U.S. Army officer and contributing editor at *
*antiwar.com* <http://antiwar.com/>*. His work has appeared in the LA
Times, The Nation, Huff Post, The Hill, Salon, Truthdig, Tom
Dispatch, among other publications. He served combat tours with
reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan and later taught history at
his alma mater, West Point. He is the author of a memoir and critical
analysis of the Iraq War, =E2=80=9C**Ghostriders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civi=
lians,
and the Myth of the Surge*
<https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Riders-Baghdad-Soldiers-Civilians/dp/16116878=
10>*.=E2=80=9D
His
forthcoming book, =E2=80=9CPatriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless=
 War=E2=80=9D is
available for **pre-order*
<https://www.amazon.com/Patriotic-Dissent-America-Age-Endless/dp/1597145149=
/ref=3Dpd_rhf_ee_p_img_1?_encoding=3DUTF8&psc=3D1&refRID=3DVNEJXPE1HG5DW7NP=
PR6R>*.
Follow
him on Twitter at **@SkepticalVet* <https://twitter.com/SkepticalVet>*. Che=
ck
out his professional **website* <https://skepticalvet.com/> *for contact
info, scheduling speeches, and/or access to the full corpus of his writing
and media appearances.*

*This article is from *Antiwar.com
<https://original.antiwar.com/Danny_Sjursen/2020/02/26/first-they-came-for-=
assange/>
=2E

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_default"><div class=3D"gmail_default" =
style=3D"font-size:small"><a href=3D"https://consortiumnews.com/2020/03/17/=
militarism-in-time-of-pandemic-the-arrogance-of-the-ongoing-us-war-in-iraq/=
" target=3D"_blank"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">https://consortiumnews=
.com/2020/03/17/militarism-in-time-of-pandemic-the-arrogance-of-the-ongoing=
-us-war-in-iraq/</font></b></a></div><div class=3D"gmail_default"><b><font =
face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4"><br></font></b></div><div class=3D"gmail=
_default"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif"><font size=3D"4">Consortium News=
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 March 17, 2020</font><font color=3D"#000=
000" style=3D"font-size:small"><br></font></font></b></div><div class=3D"gm=
ail_default" style=3D"font-size:small"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"geor=
gia, serif"><b><br></b></font></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D""=
><h1 style=3D"font-size:small;box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;line-height:=
1.2"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Militarism in Time of =
Pandemic: The Arrogance of the (Ongoing) US War in Iraq</font></h1><h1 styl=
e=3D"font-size:small;box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;line-height:1.2"><str=
ong style=3D"color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:14pt;box-=
sizing:border-box"><br></strong></h1><h1 style=3D"font-size:small;box-sizin=
g:border-box;margin:0px;line-height:1.2"><strong style=3D"color:rgb(0,0,0);=
font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:14pt;box-sizing:border-box">Amid a Coro=
na news blackout, Danny Sjursen=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">=
says Americans are=C2=A0</span>expected to forget, or ignore, that the Iraq=
i parliament recently<span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">=C2=A0</span>ask=
ed<span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">=C2=A0</span>the U.S. military to<s=
pan style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">=C2=A0</span>leave.</strong></h1><div s=
tyle=3D"font-size:small"><strong style=3D"color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:geor=
gia,serif;font-size:14pt;box-sizing:border-box"><br></strong></div><div sty=
le=3D"box-sizing:border-box;width:860px;padding:0px;border:0px;overflow:hid=
den"><div style=3D"font-size:14px"><font face=3D"georgia, serif"><img src=
=3D"https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Screen-Shot-2020-=
01-06-at-3.30.32-PM-1.png" alt=3D"" width=3D"472" height=3D"244" style=3D"c=
olor:rgb(0,0,0);box-sizing:border-box;border:0px none;margin:0px;padding:0p=
x;display:inline-block"></font></div><p style=3D"font-size:14px;box-sizing:=
border-box"><font face=3D"georgia, serif"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-=
box;font-size:14pt"></span></font></p><p id=3D"m_-8148809178198271127gmail-=
caption-attachment-42565" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding=
:0px 4px 5px"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000"=
 face=3D"georgia, serif" style=3D""><b style=3D"">Speaker of Iraqi Parliame=
nt concluding Jan. 5, 2020, =C2=A0vote on expelling U.S. troops.=C2=A0<span=
 style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">(YouTube still)</span></b></font></span></=
p><p style=3D"font-size:14px;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:justify"></p>=
<div style=3D"font-size:14px"><strong style=3D"color:rgb(0,0,0);box-sizing:=
border-box"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;font-size:14pt"><font face=
=3D"georgia, serif">By=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><a href=
=3D"https://consortiumnews.com/tag/danny-sjursen/" style=3D"box-sizing:bord=
er-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank=
">Danny Sjursen</a></span></font></span></strong></div><div style=3D"font-s=
ize:14px"><em style=3D"font-size:14pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);box-sizing:border-bo=
x"><a href=3D"https://original.antiwar.com/danny_sjursen/2020/03/15/militar=
ism-in-a-time-of-pandemic-the-arrogance-of-the-ongoing-us-war-in-iraq/" sty=
le=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:n=
one" target=3D"_blank"><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Antiwar.com</font></a>=
</em></div></div></div></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-siz=
e:small"><font face=3D"georgia, serif"><br></font></div><div class=3D"gmail=
_default" style=3D""><p style=3D"font-size:small;box-sizing:border-box;text=
-align:justify"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#00000=
0" face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"=
><strong style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"></strong></span></font></span></p>=
<div style=3D""><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif" style=3D"" =
size=3D"4"><strong style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span style=3D"font-weig=
ht:normal;box-sizing:border-box"><strong style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">L<=
/strong></span><span style=3D"font-weight:normal">ook, I=E2=80=99m no docto=
r; not a scientist; certainly no expert in epidemiology. So I=E2=80=99ve ke=
pt silent, for the most part, on the Coronavirus. Being more than a little =
out of my depth on the subject, I=E2=80=99ll continue to do so. Nonetheless=
, it is striking how the disease outbreak has swallowed the news cycle whol=
e, totally blotted out the sun of reportage on America=E2=80=99s ongoing mi=
litarist wars. While almost certainly not the cause or initial motive, 24/7=
 Corona-coverage has been convenient for the Establishment media and politi=
cal elites: a beyond-reproach justification for total blackout for U.S. war=
s and violent interventions that continue to kill our soldiers and =E2=80=
=94 in far greater numbers =E2=80=94 foreigners unlucky enough to live in t=
he vast, contested expense from West Africa to Central Asia.</span></strong=
></font></div><p style=3D""></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span st=
yle=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, seri=
f" size=3D"4">Generally, I=E2=80=99m a decidedly=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-si=
zing:border-box"><a href=3D"https://www.britannica.com/topic/Occams-razor" =
style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-lin=
e:none" target=3D"_blank">Occam=E2=80=99s Razor</a></span>=C2=A0sort of guy=
: which is to say, one who never rules out the preeminence of contingency a=
nd rank incompetence as an explanatory tool for world events. Conspiracy pe=
ddling is hardly my go-to position. Still, however this Corona emergency tu=
rns out =E2=80=93 passing (let=E2=80=99s hope) panic or zombie apocalypse =
=E2=80=93 it must be said that the wall-to-wall disease reporting serves as=
 an opportune disciplining tool. To wit, while it=E2=80=99s totally accepta=
ble to utilize Corona as a cudgel =E2=80=93 by the Establishment =E2=80=9CL=
eft,=E2=80=9D and its peculiar neoconservative=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizi=
ng:border-box"><a href=3D"https://www.theatlantic.com/author/david-frum/" s=
tyle=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line=
:none" target=3D"_blank">allies</a></span>=C2=A0=E2=80=93 to=C2=A0<span sty=
le=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><a href=3D"https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/a=
rchive/2020/03/trump-ensuring-worst-possible-outcome-coronavirus-crisis/607=
867/" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decorati=
on-line:none" target=3D"_blank">batter</a></span>=C2=A0(perhaps somewhat ap=
propriately) President Donald Trump, any critical analysis of the media res=
ponse and its failure to report other war-related news is beyond the pale. =
Count me skeptical of the polite, prevailing band of admissible discourse.<=
/font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span style=3D"box-sizi=
ng:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4">A=
fter all, some profound events have unfolded during said Corona-blackout. L=
ike a few days ago, when, less than 24 hours after the House=C2=A0<a href=
=3D"https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-passes-war-powers-resolution-limitin=
g-presidents-ability-to-strike-iran-11583961365" style=3D"box-sizing:border=
-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank">=
<span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">voted</span></a>=C2=A0to limit (albei=
t symbolically) Trump=E2=80=99s ability to wage war on Iran, U.S. fighter j=
ets=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><a href=3D"https://www.cnn.c=
om/2020/03/12/politics/coalition-airstrikes-retaliation-iraq/index.html" st=
yle=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:=
none" target=3D"_blank">bombed</a></span>=C2=A0five sites linked to ostensi=
bly Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia militias. This transpired, we are told, in re=
sponse to an Iraqi militia rocket attack that=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizin=
g:border-box"><a href=3D"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/03/=
12/us-military-coalition-personnel-killed-in-iraq-rocket-attack-iran-militi=
as/5029918002/" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;tex=
t-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank">killed</a></span>=C2=A0two U.S. t=
roopers and a British national. Another deadly tit-for-tat escalation in an=
other endless American war; and it was met by something approaching silence=
. Outside of alternative media =E2=80=93 and, due to the Coronavirus, muted=
 even by those standards =E2=80=93 there was no public outcry, no fresh que=
stioning of American strategy in Iraq or whether that ongoing war furthers =
U.S. interests or homeland security. There was nothing.</font></span></p><d=
iv style=3D""><font face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4"><img src=3D"https://=
consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/The_Pentagon_US_Department_of=
_Defense_building.jpg" alt=3D"" width=3D"472" height=3D"298" style=3D"color=
:rgb(0,0,0);box-sizing:border-box;border:0px none;margin:0px;padding:0px;di=
splay:inline-block"></font></div><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font f=
ace=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"></s=
pan></font></p><p id=3D"m_-8148809178198271127gmail-caption-attachment-2004=
8" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px 4px 5px"><span sty=
le=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif=
"><b>The Pentagon.=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">(Defense Depa=
rtment)</span></b></font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><spa=
n style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><strong style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><=
font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4">Cursory Justifica=
iton=C2=A0</font></strong></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><sp=
an style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia,=
 serif" size=3D"4">Naturally, the Defense Department and senior administrat=
ion officials did treat a Corona-cowed-citizenry to cursory justifications =
for the strikes. Nothing too immersive, of course =E2=80=94 after all, ours=
 is a Pentagon that has at times gone=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizing:border=
-box"><a href=3D"https://www.newsweek.com/pentagon-press-briefing-doesnt-an=
swer-questions-1445061" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1px do=
tted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank">over a year</a></span>=C2=
=A0without holding an official press briefing =E2=80=94 but just enough Orw=
ellian explanation to soothe their consciences and reassure a blinded popul=
ace that there=E2=80=99s nothing-to-see-here. Still, as one who, despite it=
 all, happens to believe that words matter, I found the language of said ra=
tionales both instructive and chock-full of arrogance and unexamined assump=
tions.</font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span style=3D"b=
ox-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif" size=
=3D"4">For example, the Pentagon=E2=80=99s written statement=C2=A0<span sty=
le=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><a href=3D"https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/poli=
tics/coalition-airstrikes-retaliation-iraq/index.html" style=3D"box-sizing:=
border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_b=
lank">explained</a></span>=C2=A0that =E2=80=9CThese strikes were defensive,=
 proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed=
 Shia militia groups=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D Defensive=E2=80=A6now there=E2=80=99=
s the rub. Yes, U.S. and British-little-brother coalition troops were, quit=
e unfortunately, killed, once again, in Iraq. That seems certain. Only, dar=
e I ask, what=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">exactly</em>, is =E2=
=80=9Cdefensive=E2=80=9D about the actual foundation of U.S. policy in Iraq=
: i.e. maintaining some 5,000 troops in that country for nearly 17 years in=
 the face of mass, and long-standing, opposition from significant quarters =
of two =E2=80=94 Sunni and Shia Arab =E2=80=94 of the three main ethno-sect=
arian communities therein?=C2=A0</font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:bo=
rder-box"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" fac=
e=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4">Fascinating, isn=E2=80=99t it, that hardly =
anyone =E2=80=94 and almost no one in a position of real influence =E2=80=
=94 questions the underlying reality of American military occupation in Ira=
q. Instead, the national-security-wing Trumpeteers =E2=80=94 and the Obamai=
tes and Bushies before them =E2=80=94 deliberately erase any semblance of c=
ontext and pretend the Iraq conflict began with whichever latest attack the=
se supposedly=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">Iranian</em>-=E2=80=
=9Ccontrolled=E2=80=9D militias unleashed on innocently Iraq-ensconced Amer=
ican soldiers.</font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span st=
yle=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, seri=
f" size=3D"4">Yet, in all the obligatory, almost obsessive, inclusions of t=
he prefix =E2=80=9CIranian-backed,=E2=80=9D lost is any and all recognition=
 or sober analysis of the=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">Iraqi</e=
m>=C2=A0agency and motives behind the recent =E2=80=94 but wholly consisten=
t (since at least the April 2004 Shia=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizing:border=
-box"><a href=3D"https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/05/03/the-uprising=
" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-l=
ine:none" target=3D"_blank">uprising</a></span>=C2=A0against U.S. occupatio=
n) =E2=80=94 spate of attacks. That=E2=80=99s by design; a sleight-of-hand =
meant to erase any acknowledgment of Iraqi nationalist =E2=80=94 even among=
 America=E2=80=99s promised (since 2003), and current, purported Shia allie=
s =E2=80=93 grievances against a lengthy military occupation. We the People=
 are meant to forget, or ignore, the pesky, inconvenient fact that they =E2=
=80=94 the Iraqi people through their parliamentary representatives =E2=80=
=94 fairly recently=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">asked</em>=C2=
=A0(via that cherished American method of=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:bord=
er-box">voting</em>) the U.S. military to=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizing:bo=
rder-box"><a href=3D"https://www.wsj.com/articles/iraqi-parliament-votes-in=
-favor-of-expelling-u-s-troops-11578236473" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;=
border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank">leave=
</a>.</span></font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span styl=
e=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><strong style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font c=
olor=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4">Rejecting Iraqi Parliam=
ent=C2=A0</font></strong></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><spa=
n style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, =
serif" size=3D"4">In response, it was the U.S.=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing=
:border-box">empire</em>=C2=A0=E2=80=93 in this case, its Trumpian spokesme=
n =E2=80=93 which flatly=C2=A0 <span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><a hre=
f=3D"https://www.wsj.com/articles/iraqi-parliament-votes-in-favor-of-expell=
ing-u-s-troops-11578236473" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1p=
x dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank">refused</a></span>=C2=
=A0to respect the originally (and ironically)=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:=
border-box">U.S.-installed=C2=A0</em>Iraqi parliament=E2=80=99s prerogative=
, in a bout of hegemonic imperial arrogance that beggars belief. The presid=
ent reflexively responded with the threat of sanctions =E2=80=94 and Secret=
ary of State Mike Pompeo added the unsubstantiated, hardly scientific=C2=A0=
<span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><a href=3D"https://www.politico.com/n=
ews/2020/01/05/mike-pompeo-iraq-iran-troops-093961" style=3D"box-sizing:bor=
der-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blan=
k">claim</a></span>=C2=A0that he was =E2=80=9Cconfident that the Iraqi peop=
le want the United States to continue to be there.=E2=80=9D That demonstrat=
ed, once and for all, that national sovereignty has serious limitations. Th=
ereby, Iraq is sovereign only to the extent that it bends to the will of Wa=
shington and the Pentagon=E2=80=99s militarist proclivities =E2=80=94 speci=
fically, the U.S. desire to utilize Mesopotamia as a proxy battleground wit=
h Iran.</font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span style=3D"=
box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif" size=
=3D"4">All of which illustrates just how far off-the-rails the U.S. militar=
y mission in Iraq has run. Remember how this all=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizi=
ng:border-box">began</em>, after all, this crusade in Babylon. In 2002-03, =
the American people were told =E2=80=94 patronizingly lectured to, really =
=E2=80=94 that a hasty military invasion to depose Saddam Hussein was neces=
sary in order to protect the homeland from the imminent threat of Iraq=E2=
=80=99s (nonexistent) WMD arsenal and to counter the regime=E2=80=99s (imag=
inary) collusion with Al Qaeda. The Iraqi=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:bord=
er-box">people =E2=80=94=C2=A0</em>especially the embattled Shia =E2=80=94 =
the public was assured, would welcome said invasion with open-arms and rose=
-petals. When both primary justifications for the invasion were proven (at =
best) epically mistaken, or (at worst, and more likely) deliberate, bold-fa=
ced lies, and after even significant Shia elements rose up against the U.S.=
 military occupation with nationalist vehemence, well, then, the Bush-team =
pivoted to the moralizing fraud of =E2=80=9C<span style=3D"box-sizing:borde=
r-box"><a href=3D"https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/freed=
omagenda/" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-dec=
oration-line:none" target=3D"_blank">Freedom Agenda</a>,</span>=E2=80=9D ne=
cessary-dictator-removal, justification rhetoric.</font></span></p><p style=
=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font colo=
r=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4"><br></font></span></p><div=
 style=3D""><font face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4"><img src=3D"https://co=
nsortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/obama-isis.jpg" alt=3D"" width=
=3D"472" height=3D"266" style=3D"color:rgb(0,0,0);box-sizing:border-box;bor=
der:0px none;margin:0px;padding:0px;display:inline-block"></font></div><p s=
tyle=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4"><sp=
an style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"></span></font></p><p id=3D"m_-8148809178=
198271127gmail-caption-attachment-26250" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;mar=
gin:0px;padding:0px 4px 5px"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font co=
lor=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif"><b>President Barack Obama announces=
 latest U.S. bombing of Iraq on Sept. 10, 2014.</b></font></span></p><p sty=
le=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font co=
lor=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4">Later, when President Ba=
rack Obama reentered =E2=80=93 in a decidedly open-ended mission =E2=80=93 =
Iraq in force, the prevailing rationalization was ISIS-defeat. Then, when I=
SIS was decisively crippled, Obama pivoted to the use of Iraq as a basecamp=
 for apparently equally requisite and vital operations in Syria. Trump, ele=
cted (not unlike Obama) on a promised=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:border-b=
ox">anti</em>-war platform, then relied on the ostensible Iranian bogeyman =
next-door when he, too, decided to maintain a substantial military footprin=
t in Iraq. Unquestioned, and left to their own nefarious devices (with a cu=
rrent assist from Corona), it seems that bipartisan foreign policy elites p=
ossess a bottomless bag of ready rationales for an Iraq War gift that keeps=
 on giving.</font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span style=
=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif" =
size=3D"4">Lost in the fog of apathy, context-erasure, information-suppress=
ion, and alt-media-exclusion, is any sense of the shaky legal, strategic, a=
nd ethical underpinnings of America=E2=80=99s second (after Afghanistan) lo=
ngest war in its history. Time and again, many others and I have diligently=
=C2=A0 <a href=3D"https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/10/01/backfires-a=
nd-more-blowback-generation-american-folly" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;=
border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank"><span=
 style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">diagnosed</span></a>=C2=A0the a-strategic =
counter-productivity and moral=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><=
a href=3D"https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-u-s-militarys-metoo-reckoni=
ng-that-wasnt/" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;tex=
t-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank">bankruptcy</a></span>=C2=A0of bot=
h major U.S. wars. Tabling that, for present purposes, it is the ostensible=
=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">legal</em>=C2=A0foundations of, i=
n this case, the current manifestation of the Iraq War, that are most plain=
ly absurd.=C2=A0</font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span =
style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, se=
rif" size=3D"4">Here=E2=80=99s a related, and instructive, question: under =
what domestic or international sanction, precisely, is the current U.S. mil=
itary presence in =E2=80=94 and consequent bombing of =E2=80=94 Iraq based?=
 After all, there have been only two congressional authorizations for the u=
se of military force (AUMFs) during the last two decades of forever war. Th=
e=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><a href=3D"https://www.congres=
s.gov/bill/107th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/23/text" style=3D"box-siz=
ing:border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=
=3D"_blank">first</a>,</span>=C2=A0in September 2001, authorized the presid=
ent to =E2=80=9Cuse all necessary and appropriate force against those natio=
ns, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed,=
 or aided the [9/11] terrorist attacks=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D. Well, there were =
no Iraqis (and certainly not any Shiites) on those hijacked planes, and Sad=
dam Hussein =E2=80=94 who, incidentally, was long ago hanged to death =E2=
=80=94 had no role in the terror attacks in question, so AUMF option No. 1 =
can=E2=80=99t reasonably apply.=C2=A0</font></span></p><div style=3D""><fon=
t face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4"><img src=3D"https://consortiumnews.com=
/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/20021016-1_p22623-10-pm-515h.jpg" alt=3D"" widt=
h=3D"472" height=3D"314" style=3D"color:rgb(0,0,0);box-sizing:border-box;bo=
rder:0px none;margin:0px;padding:0px;display:inline-block"></font></div><p =
style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4"><s=
pan style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"></span></font></p><p id=3D"m_-814880917=
8198271127gmail-caption-attachment-44833" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;ma=
rgin:0px;padding:0px 4px 5px"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font c=
olor=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif"><b>President George W. Bush signin=
g resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq,=C2=A0Oct. 16, 2002.=
=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">(White House)</span></b></font>=
</span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span style=3D"box-sizing:bor=
der-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4">Okay, b=
ut what about the=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><a href=3D"htt=
ps://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-joint-resolution/114/text" =
style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-lin=
e:none" target=3D"_blank">second</a>,</span>=C2=A0more clearly Iraq-focused=
, October 2002 AUMF? Problem is, even that one only authorized the presiden=
t to =E2=80=9Cuse the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to=
 be necessary and appropriate in order to=E2=80=A6defend the national secur=
ity of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq.=E2=80=
=9D No mention of Iran; nothing about (then nonexistent) subnational (Shia)=
 militias. Furthermore, unless the linguistic meaning of =E2=80=9Cself-defe=
nse=E2=80=9D is farcically stretched beyond the definition in=C2=A0<a href=
=3D"https://legal.un.org/repertory/art51.shtml" style=3D"box-sizing:border-=
box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank">A=
rticle 51</a>=C2=A0to the United Nations Charter, the fact that the AUMF=E2=
=80=99s stated =E2=80=9Cthreat=E2=80=9D =E2=80=94 the Saddam regime of Iraq=
 =E2=80=94 has been deposed and replaced, indicates that even the second po=
tential legal sanction is quite obviously inapplicable to the current circu=
mstances.=C2=A0</font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span s=
tyle=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, ser=
if" size=3D"4">In sum, litigious reasoning aside, anti-occupation Iraqi nat=
ionalists =E2=80=94whether they choose to align, or not, and to whatever ac=
tual extent, with neighboring Iran =E2=80=94 have a point. The U.S. militar=
y defiantly sits on their turf, despite parliamentary calls for its departu=
re, and continues to wield violence according to Washingtonian whims. Furth=
ermore, characterizations of the alleged Iranian threat (within Iraqi borde=
rs, or otherwise) as =E2=80=9Cexistential=E2=80=9D to U.S. national securit=
y are blatantly preposterous. It is, at certain times, helpful to review fo=
reign adventures from the viewpoint of an uninterested alien observer. Such=
 an extraterrestrial policy wonk might cogently question how the United Sta=
tes has sent its troops 6,000 miles away, kept them there for nearly two de=
cades, fighting=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">whom=C2=A0</em>exa=
ctly, and just what threat =E2=80=9Cthey=E2=80=9D pose to the homeland? Rec=
ent history suggests that our alien friend wouldn=E2=80=99t receive very sa=
tisfying answers =E2=80=A6 would probably be treated to just another writte=
n statement from the Pentagon.</font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:bord=
er-box"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=
=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4">Deliberate erasure by a bipartisan political=
-media alliance, and the consequent languor of a frightened, exhausted, and=
 uniformed populace, may serve a power elite which=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-si=
zing:border-box">requires</em>=C2=A0as much to maintain unchallenged preemi=
nence (whilst counting the profits). However, it does not, by any measure, =
benefit the (<a href=3D"https://epdf.pub/the-casualty-gap-the-causes-and-co=
nsequences-of-american-wartime-inequalities.html" style=3D"box-sizing:borde=
r-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank"=
>statistically</a>) underprivileged U.S. troops doing the killing and dying=
 in the People=E2=80=99s name, their countless foreign=C2=A0<em style=3D"bo=
x-sizing:border-box">victims</em>, or the remaining institutions of America=
n Democracy.</font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span styl=
e=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif"=
 size=3D"4">Most of the populace will likely survive the Coronavirus. Shoul=
d these absurd, endless wars continue even a little longer, the republic ma=
y not=E2=80=A6</font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span st=
yle=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, seri=
f" size=3D"4"><strong style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">Danny Sjursen is a re=
tired U.S. Army officer and contributing editor at=C2=A0</strong><span styl=
e=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><a href=3D"http://antiwar.com/" style=3D"box-si=
zing:border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=
=3D"_blank"><strong style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">antiwar.com</strong></a=
></span><strong style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span style=3D"box-sizing:b=
order-box">.</span>=C2=A0His work has appeared in the=C2=A0<em style=3D"box=
-sizing:border-box">LA Times</em>,=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"=
>The Nation</em>,=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">Huff Post</em>, =
T<em style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">he Hill</em>,=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-si=
zing:border-box">Salon</em>,=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">Truth=
dig</em>,=C2=A0<em style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">Tom Dispatch</em>,=C2=A0=
among other publications. He served combat tours with reconnaissance units =
in Iraq and Afghanistan and later taught history at his alma mater, West Po=
int. He is the author of a memoir and critical analysis of the Iraq War,=C2=
=A0<span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">=E2=80=9C</span></strong><span sty=
le=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><a href=3D"https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Riders=
-Baghdad-Soldiers-Civilians/dp/1611687810" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;b=
order-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank"><stron=
g style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">Ghostriders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilia=
ns, and the Myth of the Surge</strong></a></span><strong style=3D"box-sizin=
g:border-box"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">.=E2=80=9D</span>=C2=A0=
His forthcoming book,=C2=A0=E2=80=9CPatriotic Dissent: America in the Age o=
f Endless War=E2=80=9D=C2=A0is available for=C2=A0</strong><span style=3D"b=
ox-sizing:border-box"><a href=3D"https://www.amazon.com/Patriotic-Dissent-A=
merica-Age-Endless/dp/1597145149/ref=3Dpd_rhf_ee_p_img_1?_encoding=3DUTF8&a=
mp;psc=3D1&amp;refRID=3DVNEJXPE1HG5DW7NPPR6R" style=3D"box-sizing:border-bo=
x;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank"><st=
rong style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">pre-order</strong></a></span><strong s=
tyle=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">.</spa=
n>=C2=A0Follow him on Twitter at=C2=A0</strong><span style=3D"box-sizing:bo=
rder-box"><a href=3D"https://twitter.com/SkepticalVet" style=3D"box-sizing:=
border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_b=
lank"><strong style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">@SkepticalVet</strong></a></s=
pan><strong style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><span style=3D"box-sizing:borde=
r-box">.</span>=C2=A0Check out his professional=C2=A0</strong><a href=3D"ht=
tps://skepticalvet.com/" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1px d=
otted;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank"><strong style=3D"box-siz=
ing:border-box">website</strong></a><strong style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"=
>=C2=A0</strong><strong style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">for contact info, s=
cheduling speeches, and/or access to the full corpus of his writing and med=
ia appearances.</strong></font></span></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:border-box=
"><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"geo=
rgia, serif" style=3D"" size=3D"4"><em style=3D"box-sizing:border-box">This=
 article is from=C2=A0</em><span style=3D"box-sizing:border-box"><a href=3D=
"https://original.antiwar.com/Danny_Sjursen/2020/02/26/first-they-came-for-=
assange/" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;border-bottom:1px dotted;text-deco=
ration-line:none" target=3D"_blank">Antiwar.com</a>.</span></font></span></=
p></div></div>

<p></p>

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