WHY IRAQ?

There were no weapons of mass destruction. There was no connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11.

Years of effort - and human torture - have produced no evidence that Saddam Hussein was in possession or close to possessing nuclear weapons. And the "weapons of mass destruction" obfuscation, designed to allow liars in the Bush administration to talk about poison gas in one sentence and mushroom clouds in the next, didn't even save them. No stockpiles of nerve gas were ever found; no weaponized infectious agents were ever discovered. That hasn't stopped right wingers from continuing to spew lies like "The nerve gas was hidden in Syria!" But sane people realize that there was no imminent threat from Iraq.

Years of effort -and human torture - have produced no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the Al Qaeda attack on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. This makes perfect sense. Saddam Hussein was a dictator, who remained in power only by intimidation and violence. He was a ruthless murderer, and although that is not a technical disqualification from being a religious zealot these days, he was not, in fact, connected with any religious movements. For him to be working with Al Qaeda would be like Ralph Reed to be working with Jack Abramoff - oops, bad example. But, despite the vicious and criminal efforts of the Bush administration to manufacture evidence of a connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11, there has been nothing added to the false claims that were being made many years ago. There was no connection between Saddam Hussein and the attacks of 9/11.

Well, there is a connection, now. The tragic attacks of 9/11 have been used - cynically and falsely - as an excuse by the Bush administration to pursue their own fascist agenda and to expand executive powers far beyond all legal and Constitutional limits. It is worth asking whether the utter failure of the Bush administration to protect our nation from these attacks was the result of incompetence - certainly supported by an abundance of other examples - or treason - if warnings were ignored so that greater powers could be seized in a crisis.

So what was the reason for the U.S. invasion of Iraq?

It wasn't retaliation for the attacks of 9/11. Our intelligence services knew then - as we all know now - that there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda.

It wasn't protection of our national interest from a rogue state. Our intelligence services knew then - as we all know now - that there were no nuclear weapons in Iraq and that there was no cooperation between the atheistic dictator and the religious mujadeen.

The answer can be found, finally, now http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/11/20071126-11.html

Here is another Bush administration attempt to subvert the Constitution, this time by writing a treaty that isn't a treaty, that somehow binds our country to an agreement with Iraq that will never be ratified by Congress.

What does it say?

Permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq and preferential treatment for U.S. corporations.

That's what it was all about.

First, relocation of American military forces out of Europe where they are no longer needed and out of Saudi Arabia where they are endangering a friendly Saudi government. Second, as always with the corporate whores of the Bush administration, protection of the economic interests of their corporate sponsors.

Blood for oil; government of, by, and for people who have sold themselves out to Halliburton or Blackwater or other corporate criminals.

That's what is was all about. That's what it has always been about.

Disgrace is too mild a word.

WHAT REALLY MATTERS

Have you noticed it too?

We live in a world that bombards us with information - images, noise, logos, celebrities, pundits, graphics, jingles, on and on and on.

And yet, it feels empty.

Over the past few months, we have been treated to the usual sports coverage of the election process by prating fools who cover polls and percentages more than the real choices facing us.

Over the next few months, we will be treated to show trials from Guantanamo, leading to death penalties just before election day, just as Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death three days before the last national election.

And in the meantime, our national leaders send our jobs and especially our children's jobs overseas, as our industrial base is modernized and rebuilt on foreign shores. And in the meantime, the nuclear arms race is being rekindled as our country pursues billion dollar boondoggles to pour federal dollars into the pockets of defense contractors. And in the meantime, any realistic plans to seek energy independence and respond to global warming threats are thwarted by cynical oil company connections within the government. And in the meantime, our American ideals and heritage - freedom, human dignity, government of the people, by the people, and for the people - are being savaged by the intellectual heirs of Jefferson Davis and Nathan Bedford Forrest.

And yet, our media still finds time for OJ and Britney and Paris and, still, once in a while, poor Princess Di.

What really matters anyway?

What matters to me is that we humans could make this world a better place to live if we all agreed to seek peace through justice, and prosperity through fairness. Sadly, there are predators among us who seek power by intimidation and violence, and wealth by conquest and theft.

It may be that the decent among us will ultimately prevail; that the meek will truly inherit the earth. Or it may be that the sky is darkening and the future we are about to experience will be fearsome indeed.

Perhaps it would help if those of us who care about peace and justice and decency and honor decided to focus our thoughts on finding a hopeful vision for the future, and to join forces in moving towards this dream. Whether we succeed or fail, it might make our brief journey through this life a little brighter, and in some small ways the world that we live in a better place. It might make the time we spend on this earth worthwhile.

And isn't that what really matters?