no, no to the occupiers

Two full years after the statues toppled in Iraq, tens of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to protest the continuing occupation of their country by American forces. They want the US out of Iraq, and they want it now...and who can blame them? Bush himself said he wouldn't like being occupied. What's even more interesting than the protests themselves is how the US media is trying to spin them. NBC is basically saying, "keep in mind that they were told to do this by that bad guy, Al-Sadr...so don't really think of this as the will of the Iraqi people. It just means that Al-Sadr is trying to exert his political power to the new government." This excuse is not only wrong (tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to protest the presence of the occupying force is NOT just a shouting cry from the radical cleric--it's the very voice of the Iraqi people!!), but it is dangerously misleading. It's an attempt by the media to prevent an honest discussion of the presence of American soldiers in Iraq two years after they did what they were called to do, beat the crap out of Iraq. They are there longer than they were told they would have to stay. Many of them are still dying, and they're not helping the Iraqi people!! The US's response (of course) is that they aren't leaving until they get the oil...er, um...I mean, until it's secure. The problem with this security claim is that the only reason that the insurgents are fighting and making Iraq a dangerous place is because the US is still there!!! Is it that hard to see?!? If the US leaves, then there is no reason for the insurgents to attack people. US and Iraqi lives will continue to be in danger over there until we realize that it's time we left and let them govern on their own. The US government and media are totally unwilling to consider the possibility that we might still be part of the problem in Iraq. Once we consider that possibility, then it'll be much easier to start coming up with real solutions to the violence and crap that's going on over there. I would say the best and easiest solution to the problem is to leave. We need to realize that Iraq is not the US's property, and we have no right to assume that it is or that we can just stick around as long as we are.

The mass media in this country just doesn't get it...