Truth and Illusion

Mike Whitney at The Smirking Chimp gives a summary of the conditions in Iraq appropriately entitled ‘Kicking open the gates of Hell’ The horror and chaos reported gives the lie to Republican administrations message of ‘alls well’ and exposes the futility of ‘staying the course'.

Whitney gives a couple of quotes that help illustrate the disconnect between the reality of Iraq and the official explanation.

“There's no plan!" Murtha said on Meet the Press. "You open up this plan for victory. There's no plan there. It's just, 'Stay the course.'
“The war in Iraq is not going as advertised" Murtha said. "It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion”

He also quotes from Robert Fisk

"Sometimes I wonder if there will be a moment when reality and myth, truth and lies, will actually collide. When will the detonation come? When the insurgents wipe out an entire US base? When they pour over the walls of the Green Zone and turn it into the same trashed blocks as the rest of Baghdad? Or will we then be told -- as we have been in the past -- that this just shows the 'desperation' of the insurgents, that these terrible acts only prove that the 'terrorists' know they are losing?" (Robert Fisk, "What does Democracy really mean in the Middle East" Aug, 2005)

Meanwhile Fisk's moment of truth and illusion comes closer as the Iraqi government calls a state of emergency and a curfew while troops battle insurgents within earshot of the green zone. Back in the USA illusions continue to be spun when Rick Santorum announces that WMD’s have been found in Iraq.Although the story was quickly debunked the lie has served its purpose. Unclaimed Territory provides links to some right wing blogs that feverishly maintain the WMD illusion, and news sources that obscure the truth of what they are reporting.

The Republicans have decided on their stratergy but it addresses their election chances not the actual conflict they have caused. Expect their hired lackeys and the willingly duped to increasingly pump out this illusionary fog in the the run up to November.