The Era of Magical Thinking: SOFA Smokescreens and Presidential Power - by Chris Floyd

[kpete]

The Era of Magical Thinking: SOFA Smokescreens and Presidential Power
Written by Chris Floyd

..............

Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Listening for the new-told lies

We could get a lot farther if we could just declare that the last eight years involved an illegitimate government - because under international law, a nation isn't responsible for the actions of an illegitimate government. Chris Floyd on The Era of Magical Thinking: SOFA Smokescreens and Presidential Power:

The American media is by and large swallowing the propaganda line that the Iraqi cabinet's acquiescence to a "Status of Forces Agreement" (SOFA) with the U.S. occupation force means that the Iraq War will be over in 2011. This will further cement the conventional wisdom that the suppurating war crime in Iraq is now behind us, and the topic will be moved even further off the radar of public scrutiny.

(...)Of course, going this far into the weeds on the details of the "agreement" ignores the fact that the entire process is actually a brutal sham. Disregarding for a moment the murderous nature of the Hitlerian war crime perpetrated on Iraq by the American government -- which removes the situation from any kind of "normal" considerations of diplomacy -- what we have here are negotiations dealing directly with the very essence of a nation's sovereignty, and America's continuing, intimate -- and armed -- involvement in that nation's life. It is absurd in the extreme to pretend that this is not a treaty-level matter, requiring full debate and a vote in the Senate, but simply a side issue to be left up to the President's discretion.

Yet that is the case. Bush makes the deal alone -- after all, as Obama continually reminds us, "we only have one president," and even if he is a twerpish, murdering, nation-gutting son of a bitch, we should all defer respectfully to his judgment. All Obama asks is that any agreement to extend the war crime in Iraq will provide "sufficient protections for our men and women in uniform." As for "sufficient protections" for the Iraqi men and women -- and children -- out of uniform, who have been killed and displaced by the millions, our singular president and his successor have little to say. As always, they play no part in these high affairs of state. And neither, apparently, do the American people, or their elected representatives.

But all of this is entirely in keeping with our cowed and craven post-Republic era, where in the end, all must yield to the prerogatives of the "commander-in-chief." The constant use of this title as a synonym for "the president" is yet another mark of our democratic degradation. For of course the president is only the commander-in-chief of the armed forces in wartime -- not the military commander of the entire country. It has been astonishing to see the erasure of this distinction not only in the popular mind but also among our powerful elites. It is one of the clearest expressions of the true state of the Union: a nation that has willingly submitted itself to rule by a military junta, surrendering, without a shot, the liberties it once claimed as its very raison d'etre.

more at:
http://sideshow.me.uk/snov08.htm#11191627

[Demeter]

1. We Might Have Gotten Away With Claiming an "Illegitimate Government"

if we demonstrated any Legitimate attempts to boot the bastard out. Thanks a heap, Nancy!

[truedelphi]

2. I'd rather thank Cindy Sheehan for her bravery in taking on Pelosi this year

Too bad she could not have won.

[Demeter]

3. Agreed

She did the public a great service, but it will take multiple attempts to crack that particular egg.

The House is supposed to be the entity most fluid and adaptable, responsive to the public, and an example of social Darwinism. If anything, the Senate is more flexible than the House nowadays. Although Harry has got to go. I'm wild about Harry, and not in a good way.