buzzflash “memorial day” editorial ….. 

Alas, the massacre at Haditha -
in which women, children and men - were executed by U.S. Marines will be the My
Lai for Iraq. 

That means war hawks will argue
that the Marines were under intense pressure - which they were - and these
"sort of things" are to be expected in war. They will excuse the
horrific actions as an inevitable outgrowth of a war without rules. 

And they are right, you know. 

Not that these GIs should be
excused from accountability, but the real people who should be tried and
sentenced are Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush and Rice. They, like Kissinger, Nixon and
Johnson, put the Marines in this modern version of Dante's inferno for reasons
that defy logic and honesty. 

With Vietnam, My Lai was a real event
that became a symbolic battle over whether U.S. soldiers should be held
accountable for atrocities. They should, but, more importantly, the people who
put them in an untenable position should be legally charged for war crimes -
and for misleading the men and women of the U.S. armed forces and the American
people. 

My Lai was only the tip of the
iceberg in Vietnam. It was one atrocity among many, but it was the one where
the soldiers got caught. 

We have reviewed and recommended
the painful, powerful 1971 documentary, "Winter Soldier" (just
released on DVD and made available to the viewing public for the first time in
decades), because it details how commonplace the outright murder, torture and
rape of Vietnamse was by American military personnel. It was very simple to
hide these murders. Any Vietnamese who ended up dead was identified as a member
of the Viet Cong, whether they were or not. 

The "Winter Soldier"
film website notes: "In February 1971, one month after the revelations of
the My Lai massacre, an astonishing public inquiry into war crimes committed by
American forces in Vietnam was held at a Howard Johnson motel in Detroit. The
Vietnam Veterans Against the War organized this event called the Winter Soldier
Investigation. More than 125 veterans spoke of atrocities they had witnessed
and committed. 

"Though the event was
attended by press and television news crews, almost nothing was reported to the
American public. Yet, this unprecedented forum marked a turning point in the
anti-war movement. It was a pivotal moment in the lives of young vets from
around the country who participated, including the young John Kerry [although
his appearance is just a brief visual image]. Their courage in testifying,
their desire to prevent further atrocities and to regain their own humanity,
provide a dramatic intensity that makes seeing Winter Soldier an unforgettable
experience." 

This is a raw, searing film that
rubs salt on an open wound. It is profoundly moving, sad and a powerful
indictment of those who lead us into conflicts that are cul-de-sacs of horror. 

And it offers a comparative
window that opens our minds to the macabre realities of what the U.S. military
is doing in Iraq. 

Despite Bush's tiresome and
dishonest lofty rhetoric of contrived patriotism and ironically phony words of
his love of freedom, the reality on the ground in Iraq is seen in the
indiscriminate torture and killings carried out by U.S. troops or their Iraqi
militia proxies. Abu Ghraib, Falluja, Sadr City, Ramadi: These are just a few
locations where "everyone was a Muj (insurgent)," just as in Vietnam,
every civilian was a Viet Cong sympathizer, once they were dead. 

Drilled holes in the head of a
12-year-old child who was then shot to death. Babies "executed."
Detainees tortured with dogs, electroshock and drownings. Massive bombardments
of the civilian population. The detonation of mosques. 

No, Haditha was not an isolated
incident. The Pentagon tried to cover it up for months, according to
Congressman John Murtha. 

The war crimes committed everyday
in Iraq run up to the desk of George W. Bush. 

Yes, BuzzFlash does honor our
troops this Memorial Day. 

They deserve better, much better,
than the failed and criminal leadership that sent them to a war that they could
never win. Now, they are just there as sitting ducks because the Bush
Administration doesn't want to "lose face" or appear
"unmanly" by bringing these soldiers home to safety. 

Bush said that their mission was
accomplished several years ago. 

Then, what are they still doing
in Iraq? 

And why is George W. Bush - a man
who has done great harm to our military, put our soldiers in harm's way for a
fool's dream, and authorized crimes against humanity - still in office and not
in a docket? 

Think about this question when you
are horrified by Haditha. 

Haditha was not an aberration. It
is the rule of conduct in Iraq, not the exception, as was the case in Vietnam. 

The responsibility for Haditha
and all the other inhumane crimes in Iraq begins with Bush and Cheney and work their
way down. 

Remember our troops in Iraq this
Memorial Day. 

They deserve to be home, now. 

They should not be the foot
soldiers - dutifully following orders - of a megalomanic, lying, incompetent,
evil cabal.

They, do indeed, deserve better.

Yes, as do the people of Iraq & Afghanistan, for whom every day is a "memorial day" ....