Is that a shrub in your pocket...
or are you just a corporate profiteer?
Friday, December 31, 2004
Good Riddance to 2004 In less than four hours, we'll be saying so long to 2004. Not everything was bad this year, I guess, but, overall, '04 pretty much sucked. Iraq Then-presidential candidate Howard Dean caught a lot of flack when he said the capture of Saddam Hussein in Dec. 2003 didn't make us any safer. He was right, of course, as 2004 turned ever deadlier. By April, - the deadliest month to date for US soldiers (with Novermber a close second) - numerous uprisings spread throughout the Sunni triangle and in Shiite-dominated southern Iraq. Suicide bombings, kidnappings, and beheadings targeted civilians, Iraqi security forces, foreign workers, and coalition soldiers. In the month of September alone, there were 2,300 attacks by insurgents. Today, more than 1,300 U.S. troops have died and some 10,000 have been wounded in action (it's difficult to tell, since our government has gone out of its way to hide US casualties from the American people). No official tally of Iraqi casualties exists, but a study published in the Lancet medical journal estimates 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died who otherwise wouldn't have as a result of our 'liberation.' Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo As if our actions in Iraq weren't shameful enough,worldwide outrage erupted following the release of photos depicting the appalling physical abuse and sexual degradation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison (described in a U.S. military report as acts of “purposeless sadism”). 94 more suspected or confirmed cases of abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan were identified, and at least 39 prisoners were killed. Despite attempts to pin these abuses on 'a few bad apples,' the Pentagon-sponsored Schlesinger report rejected the idea that the abuse was simply the work of a few aberrant soldiers, and asserted that there were “fundamental failures throughout all levels of command, from the soldiers on the ground to Central Command and to the Pentagon.” WMD? What WMD? The Senate Intelligence Committee released a unanimous, bipartisan “Report on Pre-War Intelligence on Iraq,”” evaluating the intelligence assessments that formed the basis for the Bush administration's justifications for the war. The report told us what we already knew; no WMD, no ties to terrorists, no justification for invading, occupying, and killing. Jobs, the Economy, Tax Cuts, and the Deficit The federal budget deficit reached a record $413 billion in 2004. The nonpartisan CBO also estimated that two-thirds of the 2004 deficit were the result of tax cuts (for the impoverished uber-rich). The number of Americans living in poverty had increased by 1.3 million in 2003, those without health insurance increased by 1.4 million (the third straight annual increase in both categories). For the first time since Hoover, there was net loss of jobs during this administration, after eight years of growth and a steady decrease in unemployment. Global Terrorism Spain. On March 11, 2004, 202 people were killed and 1,400 were injured in bombings at Madrid's railway station. Russia. Terrorists blew up two planes, killing all 90 passengers, and killed nine at a Moscow subway stop. On Sept. 1–3, guerrillas seized a school in Beslan and held about 1,100 young schoolchildren, teachers, and parents hostage. At least 335 hostages were killed, including about 156 children. Saudi Arabia. A variety of terrorist attacks scaused the deaths of about 100, mostly foreign workers; some attacks were also aimed at Saudi government targets. In December gunmen attacked a U.S. consulate in Afghanistan. Attacks on American forces intensified in Afghanistan as the Taliban and al-Qaeda continued to regroup. Global Brutality Sudan Some good news, in that the 20-year-long civil war between the Arab-Muslim government of the North and the black Christian and animist South is perhaps coming to an end. Two million people have died, mostly due to starvation and disease; some four million more have been displaced. The war has also led to a resurgence of slavery, with Arab raiders from the north enslaving thousands of black southerners. A final peace agreement is slated to be signed within a few days. Unfortunately, the conflict in the Western Darfur region has intensified. The Janjaweed has massacred more than 70,000 Darfuris and displaced another 1.5 million. Darfur has been deemed the world's worst humanitarian disaster by the UN, and labeled genocide by the US. Tsunami 2004 has ended in what has to be the worst way possible. As I sit here, in the comfort of my home, some 125,000 are confirmed dead as a result of the earthquake and ensuing tsunamis in Asia. They're predicting 150,000, and that number may double due to disease. Millions of people are homeless. Oh, there's more bad news out there. Israel and Palestine. Nuclear proliferation. Some really crappy Supreme Court Decisions. Bush got, whatever you want to call it, elected, re-appointed, whatever. I really fear the Fascist States of America, and my gut instict tells me to get the hell out of here before the borders are closed and our rights are taken away. But, maybe 2005 will be a better year. Maybe the mainstream media will wake up - or become irrelevant. Maybe the people will wake up. Keep your fingers crossed. Happy New Year.posted by pjs 8:11 PM
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