Apology For The Iraq War: The Disrespect, Humiliation And Dishonor Of War

By Mary Hamer, Countercurrents.org

*DISRESPECT: I am going to take a new approach to War & discuss the Disrespect, Humiliation & Dishonor of the Iraq War. I will discuss how War causes not only physical injuries, but war causes mental injuries such as disrespect for & humiliation of the people. Guns & bombs cause physical injuries, but disrespect & humiliation cause spiritual wounds. Why do people including governments & the media usually talk about the Weapons & noises of war & Yet not many people talk about the disrespect of war? You can see & hear & smell & taste the Hard violence of guns & exploding bombs; But disrespect is Soft, silent violence; You can not see or hear or touch disrespect – But you can Feel it’s negative, destructive force. Gun violence kills the physical body. But disrespect kills the mind & the spirit. In this paper I will discuss the Disrespect, Humiliation & Dishonor of the Iraq War that has occurred quietly in between the gunshots & the bomb explosions.

*HUMILIATION & WAR: How relevant is Humiliation to War? “An increasing number of scholars see humiliation as the number one cause of violence & suffering around the world. According to humiliation scholar Evelin Lindner, the power of humiliation to destroy everyone & everything in it’s path makes it ‘the nuclear bomb of the emotions’”. (1) How does the Soft violence of Humiliation compare to the Hard violence of War? An old Somali proverb states: “Humiliation is worse than death; In times of war, words of humiliation hurt more than bullets”. (2)

*DANGEROUS INTERNATIONAL CONSEQUENCES of HUMILIATION:

*JIHAD: “Thomas Freeman … pinpoints ‘Humiliation’ & ‘Dignity’ as being the issue in the Middle East & the driving force behind Jihad”. (3)

*REVENGE: “Humiliation without hope leads to despair & to the nurturing of a yearning for revenge that can easily turn into an impulse toward destruction”. (4)

*TERRORISM: Jessica Stern has studied people who join terrorist groups & she has observed that “They start out feeling humiliated, enraged that they are viewed by some Other as second class”. Stern explains regarding the causes of terrorism: “The variable that came up most frequently was not poverty or human rights abuses but perceived humiliation”. (5) (6)

PURPOSE: This essay on the Iraq war is Not about Criminalizing those responsible for the 2003 invasion & occupation of Iraq; Rather this paper Is about acknowledging the Ethical issues, the Human rights violations & the Negative Outcome of the Iraq war including: the Pain & suffering and the Disrespect of this aggressive act. This article is Not about indicting people for War Crimes or conducting a Nuremberg trial; Rather this essay is about acknowledging the failures of this Tragic historical event. This article is Not about judging U.S. troops – I highly respect the American troops; Rather this essay Is about the failures in leadership. Ultimately, this paper is an Apology for the Iraq War.

The Key Sections to this paper are: I. Definition of Humiliation & Disrespect. II. Illegal War of Aggression. III. Shock & Awe in Iraq. IV. Operation Iraqi Freedom: Deaths & Other Costs of War. V. Depleted Uranium. VI. Abu Ghraib. VII. The Iraq War: Facts –vs- Fiction. VIII. The Status of Iraq circa 2010. IX. The Saddam Hussein Hanging. X. Final Comments.

I. DISRESPECT & HUMILIATION:

*DEFINITION of DISRESPECT: The definition of Disrespect includes: A rude expression intended to offend or hurt, language or behavior intended to mock or humiliate, communication that belittles, to hold in contempt (the attitude or feeling of a person towards a person or thing that he considers worthless or despicable, the state of being despised or dishonored), to violate (to treat irreverently), to offend (to cause displeasure, anger, resentment or wounded feelings in). (7)

*DEFINITION of HUMILIATION:

*LINDNER: Lindner defines Humiliation as: “The enforced lowering of a person or group, a process of subjugation that damages or strips away their pride, honor or dignity”. “Humiliation means to be placed against one’s will in a situation where one is made to feel inferior”. (8) Lindner states: To be humiliated is to be placed against your will & often in a deeply hurtful way … It often involves acts of force. At it’s heart is the idea of pinning down, putting down or holding to the ground … Made helpless”. (9)

*The Emotional Competency website includes the following definitions & forms of humiliation: To “Fail to recognize the dignity of another”, “Loss of honor & induce(d) shame”, “Assault, attack or injury”, “Denigration of a person’s values, beliefs, heritage, race”, “Being forced to submit” to a dominant force, “Violating … human rights”, “Diminished competency” resulting from being disabled” etc., “Diminished resources” resulting from being defrauded” etc., “Having safety or security reduced”, “Dismissing, discounting or silencing your story”, etc.. (10)

*”Humiliations are always communicative acts; They communicate the radical disrespect of an actor towards the addressee” (11)

*”Humiliation is the emotional response of people to their perception that they have been unfairly lowered, debased, degraded, ‘dised’ or reduced to inferior positions in situations in which they feel powerless”. (12)

*HUMILIATION & OPPRESSION: “Humiliation of one person (over) another is often used as a way of asserting power over them & (it) is a common form of oppression (e.g.) bullying or abuse used in a police, military or prison context during legal interrogations or illegal torture sessions”. Humiliation “Can be brought about through bullying, intimidation, physical or mental mistreatment … or by embarrassment”. (13) ”Humiliation involves … unequal power in a relationship” where a person is treated inferiorly. “People in power use humiliation as a form of social control; It is a common tool of oppression.” (14)

*CONSEQUENCES: The personal consequences of humiliation include: “Academic failure, low self-esteem, social isolation, underachievement, delinquency, abuse, depression, etc.. (15) Hartling states “It appears that the social pain induced by humiliation makes individuals more likely to engage in aggressive behavior or (it makes them) more vulnerable to depression”. (16)

*RESPECT –vs- DISRESPECT & HUMILIATION: “The opposite of humiliation is respect”. “Treating people with respect is key to conflict transformation. When they are denied respect, people tend to react negatively, creating conflicts or escalating existing ones.” (17)

*MISSION STATEMENT: I will now analyze the Iraq War in terms of these definitions of Disrespect & Humiliation. Note: I will use the terms humiliation & disrespect interchangeably in this essay – Since there is some overlap in their meaning. (18) Also, while the Hard crimes of war including killing are tragic, it is the Soft crimes of disrespect & humiliation that are the hidden, core element of War. It is humiliation & disrespect that form the fractal units of violence that by the butterfly effect manifest themselves in the more visible forms of aggression such as: guns, bombs, killing & war.

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Jan. 25: Take Action to Protest FBI and Grand Jury Repression!

Join the National Day of Action on Tuesday January 25, 2011

In December 2010, under the direction of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the FBI delivered nine new subpoenas in Chicago to anti-war and Palestine solidarity activists. Patrick Fitzgerald’s office is ordering the nine to appear at a Grand Jury in Chicago on January 25.

In response we are calling for protests on Jan. 25 across the country and around the world to show our solidarity. Hundreds of organizations and thousands of people will be protesting at Federal Buildings, FBI offices, and other appropriate places, showing solidarity with the nine newly subpoenaed activists, and with all the activists whose homes were raided by the FBI.

Fitzgerald’s expanding web of repression already includes the fourteen subpoenaed when the FBI stormed into homes on September 24th, carting away phones, computers, notebooks, diaries, and children’s artwork. In October, all fourteen activists from Chicago, Minneapolis, and Michigan each decided to not participate in the secret proceedings of Fitzgerald’s Grand Jury. Each signed a letter invoking their Fifth Amendment rights. However, three women from Minneapolis—Tracy Molm, Anh Pham, and Sarah Martin—are facing re-activated subpoenas. They are standing strong and we are asking you to stand with them – and with the newly subpoenaed nine activists – by protesting Patrick Fitzgerald and his use of the Grand Jury and FBI to repress anti-war and international solidarity activists.

Defend free speech! Defend the right to organize! Opposing war and occupation is not a crime!

* Tell Patrick Fitzgerald to call off the Grand Jury!
* Stop FBI raids and repression!

Take Action!

Please organize a local protest or picket in your city or on your campus on Tuesday Jan. 25 and e-mail us at stopfbi@gmail.com to let us know what you have planned.

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression www.StopFBI.net

Please e-mail stopfbi@gmail.com or call 612-379-3585

Musical Innerlube: Disturbed – Land of Confusion

Sinister Sites: The Georgia Guidestones

The Georgia Guidestones is an enigmatic granite monument situated in Elbert County, Georgia. Also known as the American Stonehedge, the gigantic structure is almost 20 feet high and is made of six granite slabs, weighing in total 240,000 pounds. The most astonishing detail of the monument is however not its size but the message engraved into it: Ten rules for an "Age of Reason". These guides touch upon subjects that are associated with the "New World Order", including massive depopulation, a single world government, the introduction of a new type of spirituality, etc. The authors of those rules have requested to remain totally anonymous and, until now, their anonymity has been duly preserved. However, this mysterious group left a text explaining the reasoning behind the rules, a text that was not discussed online before. With this new information, the purpose behind the Guidestones become very clear, leaving little room for hypotheses. The Guidestones describe the ideal world, as envisioned by occult Secret Societies. The monument is therefore proof of an existing link between secret societies, the world elite and the push for a New World Order.

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Made of Pyramid blue granite, the Georgia Guidestones are meant to withstand the test of time and to communicate knowledge on several levels: philosophically, politically, astronomically, etc. It consists of four major stone blocks, which contain ten guides for living in eight languages: English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian. A shorter message is inscribed at the top of the structure in four ancient languages' scripts: Babylonian, Classical Greek, Sanskrit, and Egyptian hieroglyphs. It is important to note that those last four ancient languages are of a great importance in the teachings of occult mystery schools, such as the Freemasons and the Rosicrucians, organizations I will discuss later.

The four major stones are arranged in a giant "paddlewheel" configuration which are oriented to the limits of the migration of the sun during the course of the year and also show the extreme positions of the rising and setting of the sun in its 18.6 year cycle. The center stone has two special features: first, the North Star is always visible through a special hole drilled from the South to the North side of the center stone; second, another slot aligns with the positions of the rising sun at the time of the summer and winter solstices and at the equinox.

At the base of the Guidestones lies an explanatory tablet listing some of the details of the structure. It also mentions a time capsule buried underneath it. The contents of this time capsule (if it exists) are a total mystery.

Astronomical features are of a great importance in the design of the Guidestones. In a relatively "new" nation such as the United States, monuments that are aligned with celestial bodies are often the work of secret societies, such as the Freemasons. Drawing their teachings from the Mystery schools of Ancient Egypt, Greece or the Druidic Celts, they are known for embedding into monuments some of their "sacred knowledge".


The 10 Commandements

The ten guides for a new Age of Reason are as follows:

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely – improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion – faith – tradition – and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth – beauty – love – seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth – Leave room for nature – Leave room for nature.

As you can see, the guidelines call for a drastic reduction of the world population, the adoption of new a world language, the creation of a world court and a vague allusions to eugenics. In other words, a blueprint for a New World Order.

Depopulation, Planned Parenthood and Eugenics

The first "commandment" is particularly shocking, since it basically stipulates that 12 out of 13 people on Earth should not exist; basically, that would mean everybody in the world would disappear except half of India. If today's world population is 6,7 billion, then that is a 92.54% surplus. To consider these figures is mind-boggling. But then, how many people survived in the movie 2012? Not many. Who were they? The earth's wealthiest people. Is this predictive programming?

The last rule of the Guidestones, "Be not a cancer on the earth – leave room for nature – leave room for nature" is particularly disturbing as it compares human life to cancer on earth. With this state of mind, it is easy to rationalize the extinction of nearly all of the world's population.

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10 Modern Methods of Mind Control

By Nicholas West, Activist Post

The more one researches mind control, the more one will come to the conclusion that there is a coordinated script that has been in place for a very long time with the goal to turn the human race into non-thinking automatons. For as long as man has pursued power over the masses, mind control has been orchestrated by those who study human behavior in order to bend large populations to the will of a small "elite" group. Today, we have entered a perilous phase where mind control has taken on a physical, scientific dimension that threatens to become a permanent state if we do not become aware of the tools at the disposal of the technocratic dictatorship unfolding on a worldwide scale.

Modern mind control is both technological and psychological. Tests show that simply by exposing the methods of mind control, the effects can be reduced or eliminated, at least for mind control advertising and propaganda. More difficult to counter are the physical intrusions, which the military-industrial complex continues to develop and improve upon.


1. Education -- This is the most obvious, yet still remains the most insidious. It has always been a would-be dictator's ultimate fantasy to "educate" naturally impressionable children, thus it has been a central component to Communist and Fascist tyrannies throughout history. No one has been more instrumental in exposing the agenda of modern education than Charlotte Iserbyt -- one can begin research into this area by downloading a free PDF of her book, The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America, which lays bare the role of Globalist foundations in shaping a future intended to produce servile drones lorded over by a fully educated, aware elite class.

2. Advertising and Propaganda -- Edward Bernays has been cited as the inventor of the consumerist culture that was designed primarily to target people's self-image (or lack thereof) in order to turn a want into a need. This was initially envisioned for products such as cigarettes, for example. However, Bernays also noted in his 1928 book, Propaganda, that "propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government." This can be seen most clearly in the modern police state and the growing citizen snitch culture, wrapped up in the pseudo-patriotic War on Terror. The increasing consolidation of media has enabled the entire corporate structure to merge with government, which now utilizes the concept of propaganda placement. Media; print, movies, television, and cable news can now work seamlessly to integrate an overall message which seems to have the ring of truth because it comes from so many sources, simultaneously. When one becomes attuned to identifying the main "message," one will see this imprinting everywhere. And this is not even to mention subliminal messaging.

3. Predictive Programming -- Many still deny that predictive programming is real. I would invite anyone to examine the range of documentation put together by Alan Watt and come to any other conclusion. Predictive programming has its origins in predominately elitist Hollywood, where the big screen can offer a big vision of where society is headed. Just look back at the books and movies which you thought were far-fetched, or "science fiction" and take a close look around at society today.

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