[Please welcome Dr. Todenhofer and Host Siun - bev]
Why Do You Kill? is the most important book I’ve read on our occupation of Iraq. Written by Dr. Jürgen Todenhöfer, this book finally provides a voice to the people of Iraq, a voice we never hear in the Western media, a voice our government silences rather than engages.
Sweeping aside the usual political debates on Iraq and the paternalistic views of even so many on the progressive side of the debate, Dr. Todenhöfer takes us along on his 2007 trip to Ramadi and allows us to hear what Iraqis say – about the occupation and about why they fight against it.
This is a very human book. From celebrations of the victories of the Iraqi soccer team to the sorrows so many of his hosts speak about, we see life as it is lived in the midst of occupation – and we have a chance to see that occupation from the perspective of the Iraqis who fight against it, fighting for freedom and the security of their communities and their families. We meet families and young men who had no desire to become insurgents as well as leaders of that insurgency and even one member of Al Qaeda.
The stories shared in Why Do You Kill are devastating. The suffering of these families, the brutality of the occupation and the grinding conditions of daily life in a destroyed Iraq are told simply, in the words of the people Dr. Todenhöfer met. This is not a book of polemic, but a book of meals shared and hearts opened. For all that they have suffered, the Iraqis’ voices still reach out to us, asking us to see how very wrong our actions have been – and how much those actions harm us all.
During his time in Ramadi, Dr. Todenhöfer spends time with a 21 year old Iraqi resistance fighter named Zaid and it is his story, told over several days, that speaks to us most directly:
Zaid talks very slowly and deliberately today. He is clearly trying to keep his emotions under control. He often breathes deeply, pauses, purses his lips.
Zaid is the oldest of three brothers. Haroun is one year younger, and Karim two. In July 2006, Haroun spends a few nights at his uncle’s house in the center of Ramadi. He is 19 at the time and studying engineering. It is summer break, and he is trying to enjoy it as best he can, given a war is underway.
Like his two brothers, he has little to do with the resistance. Though like all the youngsters in Ramadi, he helps the resistance fighters when they are looking for a hideout or need information. But Haroun does not play an active part.
On July 14, 2006, Haroun sets off early in the morning, before it gets too hot, from his uncle’s house to go back to his family in Al-Sufia. He turns into the narrow street where his family lives just after seven. He is dribbling a ball he found on the way.
In his right hand he is carrying a white bush rose which he picked for his mother at sunrise. He sees a young neighbor, Jarir, coming the other way, and calls out to greet him, salam – peace.
Just as he utters the word salam, a shot rings out. Haroun touches the back of his head in disbelief, sinks to his knees in what seems like slow-motion, and falls forwards with his face in the dust.
His lifeless body lies there in the dirt, the small white rose for his mother in his right hand.
As we learn the rest of Zaid’s story, as we see the war as Dr. Todenhöfer writes “through a Muslim’s eyes,” we begin to see the real horror of our actions in Iraq.
When Dr. Todenhöfer was leaving Iraq, Moussa who drove him back to Syria, summed it up in this message to us all:
“Tell your American friends that they have not only destroyed our country but also broken our hearts.”
Following the account of his trip to Ramadi, Dr. Todenhöfer presents Ten Theses, which he also published as 3 ads in the New York Times in March 2008. Developed from both his reading and his experiences traveling in Algeria, Afghanistan and Iraq, these point to a way for us to enter into a genuine dialogue with the Muslim world. They are a critical corrective to the western perspective and deserve our attention and discussion. (The Theses and a full .discussion of each can be read at Dr. Todenhofer’s website)
As he did with his previous bestselling books, Dr. Todenhöfer will donate the royalties from Why Do You Kill? to finance medical aid for Iraqi refugee children and an Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation project in the Middle East.
Dr. Todenhöfer writes “Our horizon is not the end of the world.” Why Do You Kill invites us to move beyond our limited horizon and meet the world with open hearts and with respect. The next step is up to us.
Related posts:
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Dahr Jamail, The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Dr. Steven Miles, Oath Betrayed: America’s Torture Doctors
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes William Greider: Secrets of the Temple
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Adam Gopnik – Angels and Ages: A Short Book About Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Frank Schaeffer: Crazy For God
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Dr Todenhofer, Welcome to the Lake.
Siun, Thank you for Hosting today’s Book Salon.
Hi Beverly
Welcome Dr. Todenhofer, it is such a pleasure to have you here with us today.
Hi Siun, thank you for having me on program
As we get started, I wanted to begin by asking about what led you to decide to visit Ramadi?
Siun, Dr. Todenhofer, thank you for sharing today. I am a fan of both of you! Just learning about you, Dr. T. and intend to read your book.
Dr. T, how do you dis-embed yourself to write while in Iraq? It must be pretty dangerous. Or were you embedded part-time?
When I decided to go to Iraq, Ramadi was the hottest place in this country
When I was in Iraq I was never embedded. I spent most of my time in Iraqi families to understand what occupation means for them
Yes, you certainly picked your location well for a view of the heart of the resistance!
Did you witness and experience any military violence? How did you coax trust from the resisters to confide. Were you able to publish their accounts without risk to them now?
I found the description of the drive to Ramadi quite frightening in many ways – you convey a very good sense of the tension that seems to be everywhere in Iraq.
Was it dangerous for your hosts to bring you in?
I would like to clarify what the difference between resistance fighters and terrorists is: resistance fighters defend their country against the occupation forces. They would never attack civilians. Terrorists like Al Qaeda kill civilians
At nighttime, I saw several times fighting in Ramadi and near Ramadi. I saw helicopters shooting. When I came back to Germany, I changed the names of the people who told me their stories. Nevertheless, I know that my book is a big risk for them and especially for Zaid.
What are the numbers of terrorists to resisters in Iraq? I rarely think of “resisters” as a group I am ashamed to say. I think of “terrorists” as a group and “civilians” passively in the cross-fire, as victims and refugees.
Are “insurgents” used to combine both groups of terrorists and resisters for propaganda purposes by the western media? What does the US military say and think about the “resisters”? Do they discern the differences?
I think it was dangerous for me, but it was even more dangerous for my hosts. They just risked to be arrested and unfortunately – as we all know now – they also risked to be to tortured and killed.
This is such an important distinction – and a crucial point that your hosts make often.
Could you perhaps say a bit about the ways western media focus on Al Qaeda and ignore the resistance? I found that a very helpful point.
I would say that we have roundabout 100.000 resistance fighters and perhaps between 1.000 – 2.000 Al Qaida terrorists. And everyday we have between 50 and 100 military actions from the resistance fighters and between 1-3 actions committed by Al Qaida. But when you listen to the Pentagon, all the military actions in Iraq are committed by Al Qaida. The Pentagon uses Al Qaida to justify this unjust war.
Those statistics are STUNNING!!!!
And the US probably initially had the hopes, hearts and minds of the resisters before they were resisters during the immediate post-Saddam period.
Humanitarian aid and structuring infrastructure was not a priority with our military/corporate intentions?
How do the Iraqi non-resisters feel about the resisters?
How hard is it for a civilian to get into Iraq? The borders must be closed and patrolled.
Dr Todenhofer is joining us from Germany – rather late at night and on a connection that may have some hiccups. I’m very grateful for his willingess to do this and am sure our readers will understand if there are pauses in our conversation.
Welcome to FDL this afternoon Dr Todenhofer.
I think most of us here at FDL understand that the Pentagon (and the previous administration) have long been making the (non-existent) case that Iraqi resistance equals al-Qaeda. Unfortunately for all the dead and wounded across the board, that connection really only existed in the little minds of the Bush Admin and enablers.
I had a lot of discussions in Iraq, last year in Ramadi and also three months ago in Bagdad, Falluja and Ramadi and also many talks in Syria and Jordan. My impression is that a big majority of more than 70 % supports the National resistance. And more than 90 % of the Iraqi people want the withdrawal of the American troups. You would have the same poll results in the US if you had Iraqi tanks in your streets and if Americans would be tortured or killed in the US by the Iraqi occupiers.
If and when the US leaves Iraq, will there be a major shift of political power? If so, which groups stand to benefit from the withdrawal and which groups will lose strength? Will there be groups who will be in great danger after the withdrawal due to “collaboration” or other reasons? Will the quasi democracy likely continue?
It was almost impossible to go to Iraq nearly two years ago, now it is easier. But nevertheless the situation for the average Iraqi is worse than before the war. There are less job opportunities, less electricity, less potable water, less medical care and, above all, less security than before the war. The emancipation of women has been thrown back by years. The Iraqis of 2009 can elect freely, but they can no longer move freely. The U.S. of America has not liberated Iraq, it has broken it.
… but the corporate media pounded the drums with that message, echoed the talking points. Not to mention giving any realistic estimates of number of Iraqi deaths.
Dr. Todenofer, I have only just learned about your book, so haven’t read it. (But of course, I will!) I’m wondering if it also deals with the more subtle–i.e. quasi-military–actions of the US in Iraq. For example, the Provincial Reconstruction Teams routinely give out micro-loans to small businesses, but they are loans in the Western sense–bearing interest–which is an affront to Muslim business practices, where sharia business loans are a partnership from which the lender gradually withdraws as the money is paid back. Are there socio-economic dissonances driving the resistance as well as the obvious military ones?
It is the business of the Iraqis to decide what to do after the withdrawal of the US troops. They want the Americans to leave and that´s it. Iraq is a tribal country and the tribes in the Arab countries always found solutions and they always will – also after the departure of the American GIs. But I cannot exclude that there will be heavy conflicts in Iraq.
What an interesting question! The role of the PRTs is definitely underreported but so important to understand – particularly as we increase their use in Afghanistan.
Monday morning in NYC an explosive device went off on a bench in front of my neighborhood Starbucks. It was 3:30am, and no one was injured but as I watched the modest destruction of the coffee shop on t.v. with all the police swarming about it gave me a molecular but sobering taste of what the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan must go through every moment in terms of the spectre of malicious or crazymakingly amoral, random, violence.
Is there significant reactionary zealotry among the resisters inspired by their sense of betrayal and confusion by the U.S.?
Dr Todenhofer, I have not had an opportunity to read your book but based on Siun’s write-up and your responses, did you have any dealings with the US military during periods you were interviewing the resistance folks?
Welcome to the Lake, Dr Todenofer and thank you for providing America a view different than what most Americans see on TV. I look forward to reading your book. It promises to be useful in our local peace activities.
The military occupation and the fact that probably over 1 million Iraqi civilians have been killed is the main reason for the resistance. But the fact that probably more than 80 % economic aid goes into the pockets of American companies is another big reason for the disappointment of the Iraqis.
What I think we often miss is that so many of the tensions between groups in Iraq have been created and nurtured by the US to enable the occupation. I was curious reading Why Do You Kill? whether there was a sympathy or connection between, for example, the resistance leaders you met and those of the Sadrists?
Thank you Siun, and welcome Dr. Todenhofer.
This is very much akin to Molly Bingham’s documentary that nobody wanted to see either — we don’t want to hear what Iraqis think, we’d rather live in our “greet us with flowers” dementia.
About once a week some journalist asks me how I expect bloggers to perform the valuable service that they do for democracy.
I tell them their profession is thoroughly discredited and it doesn’t matter what I think, the only reason we exist is because they suck.
The conversation never ends well.
Can you discuss a little the story of your NY Times ad? I am sorry, I did not see it when it appeared. What was your motivation? What was the reaction?
Jane – I am so glad you mentioned Meeting Resistance, Molly Bingham’s wonderful film. I so often wish we could make everyone view it – and now I would add, then read Dr. Todenhofer’s book.
Meeting Resistance can be ordered as a DVD here.
Which American companies? Are they ones that were there before, or ones that have been granted contracts since the invasion?
Yes, it is certainly up to the Iraqis—which groups stand to gain and lose the most from withdrawal?
Dr. Todenhofer, welcome to FDL. Thanks for finding the time to join us here and thanks to Siun and Bev for making this possible today.
If this question is intrusive, I hope you will ignore it and accept my apologies for such an intrusion.
But if possible – can you give us a sense of what inner strength(s) and capacities enable you to sit face to face with such great suffering and not be overwhelmed by the pain and misery in the accounts you heard and in those providing the accounts?
Thanks!
The New York Times ads can be viewed and downloaded here.
Since the American invasion I have been three times unembedded in Iraq and every time I felt ashamed and very sad. For six years, I have now been taking care of a young Iraqi girl, who lost her leg on the April 7th, 2003 through an American bombardment. She lost her little sister, she lost one of her legs and she lost all her dreams she had for the future. I met her three months ago in Bagdad and to see this hopeless little girl in her poor house, made me cry. She is for me the symbol of what we have done to the Iraqi people.
When I was in Ramadi, I saw American tanks, I saw American helicopters, I saw American GIs,but I did not have the opportunity to talk to them. This would have been too dangerous for my hosts.
Dr. T,
Can you also speak about the bullet proof gated communities housing and enabling contractors, consultants and corporate servicers that are springing up in Iraq and Afghanistan? In Afghanistan 71% of people don’t have clean water, but these huge compounds for consultants are going up with suites with private bathrooms. Isn’t there a huge expensive embassy now going up in Afghan or is it Pakistan?
How would a civilian feel about that. And how would US taxpayers or other international supporters feel knowing money is not going for infrastructure and humanitarian aid but for civilian-killing weaponry and/or protection for carpet bagging profiteering corporatists? Not dissing all civilians living over there, but there has got to be a profound resentment for such self-protection and obvious “exceptionalism” of foreigners moving into one’s country.
The motivation for my ads in the New York Times was that we in the Western countries have a completely wrong perception about the Muslim world. Western policies towards Muslim coutries suffer from a shocking ignorance of the simplest facts. For many westeners, Muslims are fanatics, but when you go and visit those countries, you will find an incredible kindness and hospitality. I have never been received as kindly in a Western country as I have in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt and other Muslim countries.
I want to make sure we take some time to speak as well about the Ten Theses but before asking about those, I am very curious whether you have been able to stay in touch with your hosts in Ramadi – and particularly whether there is news of Zaid and how he is doing?
I think that the American companies who got the best contracts in Iraq had quite good relations with the former American administration. I don´t need to say the names of those companies every American knows.
Sometimes I was just silent and bit my lips. When I wrote certain parts of my book, I was crying like a child. This is one of the reasons why I think we should punish the politicans who were responsible for this war and all the suffering of the Iraqi people.
As a former judge and honorary Colonel of the US Army I will offer one million Dollar to the one, who brings George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Tony Blair in a fair and legal procedure before an American or an international court on the grounds:
of the wounding and killing of thousands of American GIs and
of the torture, dismemberment and killing of hundreds of thousands innocent Iraqi civilians.
As the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal stated: “To initiate a war of aggression is not only an international crime, it is the supreme international crime – differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within it the accumulated evil of all crimes of war.” The chief U.S. prosecutor Robert H. Jackson said: “We must never forget that the record on which we judge these defendants today constitutes the record on which history will judge us tomorrow.” Or as the famous British writer and actor Peter Ustinov once noted: “Wars are the terrorism of the rich.”
A true democrat and a firm believer in the rule of law cannot hang the little thieves and let the great ones escape.
And multiply her tragedy by so many others. How good of you to help her. Where is she now if I may ask? How do you stay sensitized to such massive horror, as Dr. Kirk asked? You are trying obviously to build a critical mass of consciousness in the world.
What is your take on these wars? Is it about the pipeline? Imperialism? The horrifying Bush doctrine?
What about what happened in Gaza? Are you involved in any of that travesty, too, or focusing on Iraq?
Bravo!
I believe many of us here would be happy to contribute as well!
How can we help? Voices, yes, for sure. How? And what else?
I have also been several times in Afghanistan and I found that the corruption of the Western contractors is muc worse than any governmental corruption. In front of my hotel in Kabul, there was a park that was surrounded by a metal fence. The contractors charged 10 million dollars, but a governmental commission found out that the true value of this fence is only 70.000 dollars. This kind of corruption outrages the Afghan people and should also outrage the tax payers in the Western countries.
Someone charged $10 million dollars for a fence and the government paid that amount and you think that the government was cheated by the contractors and not a part of the scheme?
Many of us have been discussing the recent decision by Obama to block the release of torture photos from Iraq. The reason given is that the photos would enrage Iraqis and so be dangerous to US soldiers. Yet I am quite certain that Iraqis are well aware of the horrific things that have been done to detainees and while photos have a strong impact, the idea that we are hiding the reality from the victims is absurd.
I am wondering if any of your hosts and interviews mentioned torture and Abu Ghraib in your conversations?
This is horrifying, and the kind of compensatory insanity that is bankrupting the globe. The haves and the have nots. The haves are so exponentially over the top. Oliogarch, military industrial profiteering. Power and competition, not partnership and cooperation.
Corporation as psychopath. Profit motive gone berserk.
You can help me in two ways:
1. Please tell all your friends and family that I am offering this huge amount of money for the simple reason that I cannot accept that hundreds of thousands Iraqis have lost every hope whilst at the same time, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Tony Blair play Golf together without paying for what they have done to the Iraqis and also to the Americans.
2. I will donate all the royalties of my book to injured Iraqi children and to an Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation project in Jerusalem. Therefore I will ask you to buy not only one book, but three copies. One for you, one for your best friend and one for your senator. Those people who have read this book, can no longer vote for war.
This is only one example, but it is a famous one on Afghanistan. President Karzai himself asked the commission to find out the real value of this fence. I fear that we have similar cases in Iraq.
I’d love to see us all also share the ten theses to everyone we can and start conversations about them. And for RevBev, I could certainly see them as a very good discussion topic for a church group – they open eyes in very important ways.
Distributing the NYT ads as well as copies of the book seems like a very valuable way for us to change minds.
Thank you for your work and for your sane voice. Can you say more about the I-P Jerusalem project?
Thank you so much for your powerful and moving answer.
In reminding me of the greater issues we face, you’ve inspired me to try to delve into the torure memos oozing out of the Pentagon and Beltway: Ihave been avoiding them because they are so profoundly disturbing.
Sincere thanks for the example you live and share with us today: I hope to find the strength to follow it in some small fashion.
I think I would question where the money went, JT. Nobody is going to pay ten million dollars for a fence unless half the money is going into their own pocket.
I would look on this as the Afghani government helping to steal international aid money, not an example of money being stolen from the Afghanis.
Yes, almost all the young people I interviewed in Ramadi had been tortured in prisons, and some of them in Abu Graib. There I heard unbelievable stories, that unfortunately were probably true. For example, a young Iraqi woman told me and two friends of mine in Damascus that she was forced to watch the rape of a young Iraqi prisoner by American soldiers. I have recorded the story of this girl in my book. And it seems as though this was not a single case.
As I said before – I am ashamed about what we Westerners have done in the name of democracy and human rights to this country Iraq. And this is also the reason why I am aksing to punish those who are responsible for this war.
In this project, 15 year old Christian, Muslim and Jewish Israelis and Palestinians study together on computers after school. They enroll in a sponsored three year programm where they learn of each others culture in a very subtle way. The organisation is called MEET. You can find the link and more information on our website at http://www.whydoyoukill.com
There are alot of smart people here. I wonder what more we can do to generate the war crimes case. The reward $$ would do alot for both Marci and for the ACLU
Thank you. I will certainly look.
I can only repeat – for me the main problem is the corruption of the private donors. When they get a contract, they give a subcontract to a subcontractor and this subcontractor gives another contract to another subsubcontrator and so on. Like this, all of them get good money and sometimes probably also some Afghan officials.
RevBev and all, I will be sending copies of Dr. Todenhofer’s book to both of my Senators here in Illinois. Perhaps some other FDL readers would like to commit to doing the same?
What is your view of Obama on the punishment question? Some folks here have thought he may be genuinely afraid of the powers (Bushes et al) involved….or a strategy to just move on or waiting for a big enough public outcry. What do you think of what he may be doing?
Dr Todenhofer,
Your ten theses are very important – they really do shake up our conventional thinking. Just before the book salon, I was walking my dog outside and a neighbor and I were talking about this discussion. I mentioned the first thesis:
1. The West is much more violent than the Muslim world. Millions of Muslim civilians have been killed since colonialism began.
As well as your comments that Al Qaeda has killed 5,000 civilians while we have killed uncounted hundreds of thousands in Iraq and as we discussed, just those facts alone led to a very powerful conversation.
I am wondering how these theses have been received around the world?
You can write – to your deputies and to your newspaper and ask the question why we only put before court people like Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosovic, Robert Taylor, and perhaps one day the president of Sudan, Al Bashir and why never Western politicians. Does international law not apply to Westerners? I think if we believe in democracy, in the rule of law and in the fact that all people have the same rights, we have to raise this question as loudly as possible.
I recommend giving the book to the Congressperson during a townhall meeting, where you can look them in the eye and say this is important.
thanks Siun, will read and distribute the ad and the book!
Very good advice!
Before we close, I am wondering if you have been able to remain in contact with your hosts in Ramadi – and if so, how Zaid is doing these days?
Thanks for the inspiration and information, Dr. T!
We received Emails on our wesite http://www.whydoyoukill.com from over 150 countries all over the world. The book has been published not only in Germany (where it was on the best selling lists for over 7 months), but also in the US and in many Arab countries. Right now, we are working on a documentary about the 10 theses with an award winning director in the US. So I hope that we have initiated and will further enhance a worldwide discussion. Our horizon is not the end of the world.
Zaid is still alive. I went to Ramadi again unembedded in March of this year. This time, we decided to meet each other as it would have been too dangerous for him. Some of the people I met in Ramadi two years ago have been arrested, and have spent several months in jail. And the brother of the man who brought me into the country, to Ramadi two years ago, has died in an Iraqi jail for unknown reasons.
I think this is not enough. I think all Western politicians, who vote in favor of war, should be obliged to spend 30 days on the battle-front.
That would mean: German politicians on reconnaissance patrol in Kunduz and U.S. politicians on patrol in Mosul and Kandahar, so that they at least once look into the eyes of the very people who fall victim to their “patriotic and pathetic” decisions.
It is good to know he is alive but so sad to hear the other news. I hope that some day we may have some way to reach back to Iraq and express both our shame for what our country has done and also our wish for a better way in the future.
As we come to the end of this Book Salon,
Dr. Todenhofer, Thank you for stopping by the Lake and spending your evening with us discussing your new book and experiences.
Siun, Thank you for Hosting this great Book Salon.
Everyone, this is a must – read and share it book, if you haven’t bought a copy yet, here is a link.
Thanks all.
One of my reactions to reading Why Do You Kill? – and I should mention that it is also a very well written and fascinating read which kept me up late as I wanted to keep reading – is the sanity and humanity of your words. We get so caught up in the debate and politics and all – and forget the people who live through all of this and those who don’t. We all need to look into their eyes – and you give us a small glimpse.
Thank you Dr Todenhofer so much for your time today and for your work and important book.
I hope you will keep us informed about your activities so we can share them with our readers and work in support of these important efforts.
Your work certainly inspires and reminds us of how much there is to do to return justice to our world.
A special thank you as well to Yvonne Jarchow for assisting us in this conversation.
And thank you Bev for once again bringing us a book that is so good and so important!
It gives me strength what you say and I will report to the people in Iraq about this discussion. But unfortunately, many wounds that were caused by this aggression will never heal. Millions of children have been turned into orphans, they will never again be able to hug their fathers, who were either shot or tortured to death. The children that were bombed to cripples will not run the way they used to, even if provided with the most advanced prostheses.
I now wear a black armband to keep myself and maybe my network more awake to the tragedy going on and in our name. It is a modest gesture but it is mourning for what cannot be recovered and the horror continuing to go on. A loss of our collective heart and soul. I will think of your Zaid and the little girl and the others you speak of. Tell them I am wearing the band in support for them.
I will also be more proactive and follow advice above. Thanks, again.
Thanks for that reminder…..I kept trying to think of any ways to make amends, offer healing, reparation…Certainly not anything at all near the appalling tragic damage.
emptywheel is upstairs!
The Politics of Car Dealers
Thats wonderful. Thank you!
A wonderful idea!
Thank you for joining us today and for your work in the world.
And thanks again to Siun and Bev for their work.
Thank you Dr Todenhofer,
We can never undo what we we done. I continue to hope that we can one day learn how to share the world with “our brothers and sisters in humanity” as some friends from Iraq have expressed it.
And acknowledging what we have done and demanding prosecutions is the first step.
I appreciate the feeling, RevBev. Hopefully those of us embracing peace will reach a critical mass. We will all more and more “walk the walk.” It is humbling to witness those committed to truth and humanity so deeply. Hope those ripples of inspiration travel far and wide.
I wonder, is the next step as easy as voting Democrat, even when they continue the horrific policies that are taking such a terrible human toll in the occupied lands?
maybe the victims of the Bush/Cheney/Obama wars and occupations deserve harder choices from us, beginning with our withdrawing support from any politician who continues these crimes against peace?
same thing I’ve been saying for years, and events are doing nothing but bearing me out.
.
If only every human in the world could learn this one line and its full meaning – - to the extent possible.
Thank you for your work, Mr. Todenhofer.
All this is the result of the poor decision by the Supreme Court in 2000. I wonder how they sleep at night knowing the entire world is in a mess.
I know BO was given a world of hurt when he took office, but if in 6 months he has not announced the withdrawal of Iraq and Afghanistan and the closure of Quantonimo then I also will refer to those wars as you did.
the ‘withdrawal’ plans seem to all be euphemistic – leaving 10,000s of troops and mercenaries in place, bases all over the country, etc. plus, BO has spoken of nothing but expansion in Af-Pak.
but OK, we will see in 1 Freidman Unit (6mo).
In respect to Dr. J. Todenhofers’ work
thank you for showing us our arrogance, and ignorance. By the Fall of 2004,
I recall a public radio report on a proffessors’ work in getting an accurate count of civilian deaths in Iraq, since the Pentagon was saying, ‘That’s not our job’. I thought it was a Princeton study, anyway it was already very well firmed up at around 1,000,000 deaths in a very well documented, and proven method, with even articulate detail to any deviation. Then all of a sudden the US media had more accurate figures of 30,000 to 35,000 deaths from the White House somehow, from a Secretary of War who did not want his troops to be bothered counting any civilian deaths. The truth be known, I think, the Bath Party since the early sixties held that country together, even though the US was picking on them then too. The provincial leader, Saddam Hussein had to rule that land (carved up by ol’ Lawrence of A.) with an iron fist, similar to Tito in Yugoslavia post WWII till his death in 1980. I hope digital TV fails in the US next month, so Americans have time to figure out how to pull their heads out of there asses.
lead by example. iron fist first.