Deja Vu all over again by Cindy Sheehan

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Déjà vu all over again

Cindy Sheehan

Dateline: September 27, 2017, Wasilla, AK.

Speaking from the Far-Western White House, President Sarah Palin today declared that combat operations “are over” in Iraq.

“I want to thank the American troops and their families for the heroic roll they have played in freeing Iraq from a violent dictator and in protecting American interests in the Middle East,” President Palin continued. “The troops that are not redeployed in Af-Pak, Korea or Yemen or Columbia, and remain in Iraq will now and forever be known as ‘Enablers’ and Operation New Dawn will now be known as Operation High Noon,” the jubilant President, mother of eight, and grandmother of 12, finished.

“The Palin administration feels confident that this will be one of the final times that ‘end to combat operations' in Iraq will be declared, and this will be a robust withdrawal” a release from the White House press office stated.

Is the above scenario far-fetched? I don’t think so—I have spent all week thinking that the rhetoric around the “end” to the combat mission in Iraq has to be satire from The Onion. I feel that nothing could be so bizarre.

Barack Obama called Iraq the “dumb war” in 2003—as is: “I am not against all wars, I am just against dumb wars,” and from that tiny, lukewarm, and essentially hostile statement, he was called “anti-war.” Indeed, when I found out that Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 2009—I accused the Swede (I was in Sweden at the time), who gave me the odd news, of lying, or reading another satire from The Onion.

My son, Casey and at least 4000 more troops have been killed in Iraq since George Bush’s famous Captain Codpiece moment when he flew onto the deck of the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier near San Diego and declared an “end to major combat” in Iraq. At that point, my son’s division, the First Cavalry’s, imminent deployment to Iraq was canceled (but later rescheduled). I remember the day that happened on May 1^st, 2003 Casey called me from Ft. Hood and we I discussed the fact that the war was over.

Now, in a stultifying display of déjà vu, the Obama administration is declaring another end to combat in Iraq seven years, three months, and 18 days after BushCo’s declaration. Not only is this an astounding display of re-framework, many people are going to believe it. I just saw a commentator on MSNBC(GE) telling everyone that President Barack Obama ended the war in Iraq ahead of schedule.

Dozens of Iraqis were killed this past week and I think that they didn’t get the memo about the war being over, either. People are still going to die—soldiers will still be killed because the Iraqis have always seen them as oppressors and occupiers, not saviors.

If the troops aren’t combat troops any more, then let’s take away their guns, tanks, drones, airplanes, helicopters, humvees, bases, body armor, etc and have them live in apartments in Baghdad—and speaking of that, why don’t we de-fortify the Green Zone (that was also just rebranded to “International Zone) if everything is so hunky-dory. Also, the 3^rd Armored Cav that is leaving for Iraq from Ft. Hood soon should refuse to go since the war is over!

The 4^th Stryker Brigade from Ft. Lewis, Washington returned home a few days ago and they yelled: “We won,” as they left the country. The US has won nothing in Iraq and what we have done to the Iraqi people (and are going to do to them) should be our infinite national shame.

Even when/if the US troop count ever truly equals zero in Iraq—the so-called war will never end for millions of people. Iraq is a hot zone of depleted uranium contamination as Vietnam is still a hot zone for Agent Orange. Empire is the curse that never stops defiling.

Even though this past week has been Bizzarro World, I know what I am going to do. I am going to pretend like the wars are still relevant and the people who are in danger have precious lives that are worth saving.

I only believed the “Mission Accomplished” BS on May 1, 2003 because I so desperately needed to.

Not this time.

Not ever again.

We'll leave Iraq when the last drop of oil and the last nickel is squeezed out of that most unfortunate of countries with some of the richest natural resources--not a second sooner.