Antiwar.com On Memorial Day

Antiwar.com

This Memorial Day takes on added significance in light of recent history. As an example of how the War Party operates – unloading a fusillade of lies followed by a massive cover-up – the Iraq war is only the most recent in a long line of American interventions across the globe that were based on systematic deception.

During World War I, Americans were told that the Germans were bayoneting babies, and Western newspapers were certain that the kaiser was plotting to parachute German troops into Montana.

In the run-up to World War II, FDR said "the Yanks are not coming" – while working tirelessly behind the scenes to drag us into the conflict. The wars in Korea and Vietnam were supposedly fought for democracy against "godless communism," in spite of the fact that the authoritarian regimes we supported were brazenly repressive of their people.



Not much has changed since then. Today, we are told that we must fight the "terrorists" – defined as anyone who opposes the U.S. government and its plans to manage the world – and that this must be a war without end, without a definable enemy, and without the moral and legal constraints that have governed warfare and international relations in the modern era.

To buttress its case, the War Party claims that the 9/11 attacks changed everything, thus anything is permitted: torture, preventive detention, denial of habeas corpus, obsessive secrecy, spying on American citizens – the list of abuses disguised as defensive measures goes on and on.

Throughout our long post-9/11 nightmare, we've heard very little dissent from the American media, which has been cowed by our hectoring rulers into virtual silence and, often, active complicity. But Antiwar.com has been exposing the lies of the War Party since 1995 – and it's essential that we continue our work as the "war on terrorism" escalates, albeit under a new name.

Remember the war dead this Memorial Day, and recall the lies they died for. The best way to honor the fallen, both soldiers and civilians, is to ensure that the tragedy is not repeated again, by making your tax-deductible contribution to Antiwar.com right now.

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