MEMORIAL DAY, 2006

Deaths in Iraq of US military personnel, according to today's World News Tonight on ABC:

2,467

I would personally go so far as to say that these young men and women have been murdered by the Bush administration. You can quibble if you want, but, if you're a Christian, I refer you to King David's sin: he murdered Uriah by sending him to the front.

From Wikipedia:

David, infatuated with the beautiful Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite, commits adultery with her. Bathsheba conceives, and David tries to cover up his sin. Uriah is brought home from the army in order to report to David. David then sends Uriah home, so that he might have sex with his wife and claims of adultery would never surface. However, Uriah refuses to go home, and sleeps with David's servants in the palace, as it would be unfair for him to enjoy the comforts of home when his comrades are still at war. David tries getting Uriah drunk the second night, but this ploy fails as well; Uriah still retires in the servant quarters of David's palace. Finally, David sends Uriah back to the front, with orders to the commanders that they should abandon him in the midst of the enemy. And so it is done, Uriah dies in battle, and David marries Bathsheba and has a son by her.

Click here for more about King David.

David, for his own personal gain, with secrecy and lies, knowingly sent a man to die in battle, which is exactly what the neo-con cabal in the White House has done to 2,467 US service men and women. As longtime Real Art readers know, I'm certainly no Christian, but I'd be a fool to assert that there is no wisdom in the Bible. It's one thing to defend the nation, and by that I mean really defend the nation, not this bullshit in Iraq where they say we're fighting for freedom even though it's all just a bunch of imperial gaming, but it's quite another to send troops into harm's way for crackpot theories about American dominance, glory, and oil. Let's not euphemize: the White House didn't make mistakes, they rolled the dice with some very special American lives and lost bigtime; further, they knew we were going to lose troops and did it anyway, all to advance American, and therefore their own, power. It doesn't matter that this is war. It doesn't matter that most Americans thought it would be a good idea at the time. It doesn't matter that Saddam Hussein was a ruthless dictator. 9/11 doesn't matter. Bush and his cronies are fucking murderers thousands of times over. The only thing that can save this country's soul after all this isn't just an impeachment, it's hardcore time in prison for the people who instigated it.

Murderers belong behind bars.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$