Sunday, April 02, 2006

When it comes to the Iraqi War – Tiahrt just doesn’t get it!


Once again Rep. Todd Tiahrt has tried to sure up support for a war that was never needed, has killed thousands of both Americans and Iraqis and is nothing more than an ambitious scheme by Whitehouse officials to gain full control of the Middle East and its oil.

Congressman Todd Tiahrt’s
U.S. Capitol Update
March 31, 2006

Back from Iraq

Last week during the Congressional recess, I joined other members of the House Intelligence Committee on a fact finding mission to Iraq and other countries in the region. This was my second trip to Iraq and noticeable improvement has been made. There are conflicting reports about what is actually happening in Iraq, and being on the ground talking to our troops and visiting with Iraqi government officials is the best way to discover the truth.

Despite reports of civil war, both our top military official in Iraq, General Casey, and senior Iraqi government officials disputed that claim. They indicated that terrorists are actually attacking both the Sunni and the Shii people to provoke attacks on each other. Fortunately, religious leaders of both groups have called for peace and restraint.

The most exciting part of our mission was talking to our troops. I had a chance to visit with several Kansans while I was there, including Aaron White of Wichita, Eric Page of Wellington and Matt Clemens of El Dorado. Their morale is high because they understand and believe in their mission, and they are proud to serve the people of the United States of America. We should be even more proud of them.

Another view of this is:

Revolution #040, March 26, 2006:

From March 12-27, throughout neighborhoods across Tijuana, San Diego, Santa Ana, Los Angeles, and San Francisco—covering over 241 miles—the Caminata por la paz (March for Peace) is protesting the war and bloodshed in Iraq and the escalating attacks on immigrants. Some of their stops include the border region between Tijuana and San Diego, Camp Pendleton, several high schools in East L.A., the March 18 anti-war demonstration in L.A., farmworker communities in Fresno and Watsonville, and the Mission District in San Francisco.

The initiators for this march are Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose son Jesus was the first Latino to die in the current U.S. war in Iraq after stepping on an illegal U.S. cluster bomb; Pablo Paredes, naval officer who refused to board an Iraq-bound naval ship; Camilo Mejia, a National Guard war resister who was jailed for nine months for his opposition to the war; and Aidan Delgado, who is a conscientious objector of the Iraq war who served at Abu Ghraib. March 27 is the third anniversary of Fernando’s son's death.

At the opening press conference in Tijuana, Pablo Paredes said, “We live in a country where 2/3 of the population is against the war, and we want to give people the opportunity to express their opposition. We want to do this not just through polls or on the internet, but we want this to be seen on the streets and have the people’s voices to be heard. This is the call that we are making today and will make these next few days.”

Gaining strength from the recent outpourings of hundreds of thousands of immigrants in Chicago stepping forward against the intensifying anti-immigrant climate in this country and bills like HR 4437 (that could make it a felony to be undocumented and a crime to provide any kind of service to an undocumented person), the March for Peace aims to rouse resistance to put an end to the war and the anti-immigrant attacks.

Protesters in the UK

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