With fully one Ukrainian soldier confirmed dead and several others wounded in myriad clashes, world leaders seem agreed that the Russian annexation of Crimea is the worst thing to happen within their collective memories. Then someone, likely just to bum everyone out, brought up Iraq.
Speaking in Brussels today, President Obama went on a lengthy diatribe about how the decade-long US occupation of Iraq, which left roughly a million people dead and the entire region awash in al-Qaeda factions, was nowhere near as bad a thing as Crimea.
“America sought to work within the international system. We did not claim or annex Iraq’s territory,” Obama insisted, going on to praise Iraq as a “fully sovereign state” that “could make decisions about its own future.”
Which is to say the US forced a puppet government into power before it left, despite Prime Minister Maliki losing the last election, and put in place an election system so crooked that even the Maliki-appointed election commission resigned en masse yesterday rather than take part in April’s planned vote.
The US left Iraq, but the war did not, and even today the US is throwing military aid at the nation in ever-increasing numbers to fight off al-Qaeda, which has seized significant chunks of the country.
Obama went on to praise the “vigorous debate” which surrounded the US invasion of Iraq, which mostly centered on the Bush Administration lying about the “threat” until they invaded.
The Russian annexation of Crimea is indeed apples and oranges to the US occupation of Iraq, in that Russia acquired a small peninsula populated mostly by ethnic Russians with few casualties involved, and the US obliterated the nation of Iraq in the bloodiest war of the current century, killing enormous numbers of people and accomplishing virtually nothing before meandering off in search of new dragons to slay.
Wow, the Obama is being not only stupid but obtuse. Nifty trick no doubt.
I guess Harvard and Yale don't do a very good job of teaching either geography or history. And we know what his constitutional law education was worth.
This isn't not knowing, this is lying.
It's not "lying" – it's bullshîtting, as defined by Harry Frankfurter in his slim-but-magisterial tome "On Bullshît".
That is, Obama – like all political parasites – says things with no regard whatsoever for their truth value; the only concern in their minds when they speak, is to advance their own interests. Whether what they're saying is true or false is a matter of absolute indifference – so it really is qualitatively and cognitively different from lying (where one is conscious that one is saying something known-to-be-untrue).
Also, in Obama's case he's just reading whatever is on the teleprompter: it's the cognitive equivalent of using Microsoft Text-to-Speech to read your emails… the voice doing the speaking has no connection to the brain who writes the material.
(Antiwar's "naughty filters" will 'asterisk out' the open-throated rendition of bullshît… that is really pretty weak sauce there, guys – especially considering Frankfurter's book is available on Amazon and they don't asterisk-out the phükking title).
"we did not claim or annex Iraq's territory"
Fascinating distinction, given it was a territory under US rules of engagement for years. And we found out helicopters would whack anybody apparently 'armed,' camera or not…with extra special attention payed to mutilated belly squirmers who might eventually be armed, as well as any spontaneous child laden ambulance services… …one soldier mentioned confiscating firing pins from household AK-47s and it occurring to him later that it left them defenseless in a war zone…how odd that the 'tyrant' left them with automatic rifles before foreigners did this to them.
But you're saying Iraq wasn't yours? Was it just a rental?
I guess he never noticed Paul Bremer as the imperial pro-consul ruling Iraq.
Putin should have hired Bremer to run a Coalition for the Ukrainian people. LOL
And actually the one death in Crimea is not attributed to Russia. Source unknown.
I really hope this extraordinarily evil, evil statement by Obama has the opposite of the propaganda effect he intends, and makes more people see what a freak he is.
I guess Obama would have to agree, logically, if Putin said "yeah, good point. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan wasn't as bad as our annexation of Crimea, either, because we didn't acquire any territory."
Obama fully supports annexation if it benefits US elites, and opposes it if it benefits deterrents to US domination. Palestine, Diego Garcia, Guantanamo, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the entire USA.
I plead guilty to voting for him in 2008 (as what I thought would be the antidote to PNAC Bush-Cheneyism).
The speech yesterday was simply disgraceful by any standard worth maintaining.
Same here.Obama is worse than Bush.
maybe a worse hypocrite, but not a worse idiot.
Doesn't matter who you vote for. Both parties are owned by the same bad people.
The mendacity of our rulers knows no bounds. It is matched only by the eagerness of our public to be told comforting lies.
I know within 48 hours I'm going to run into some idiot on some other comment board repeating this tripe back at me again. And that person won't have the slightest idea how ignorant they'll sound as they type.
Not lies but murder on a grand scale.
The really, really scary part would be to discover that Obama believes what he says is true.
It could be that all this really is is an agreement between media & gov't that the USg can't tolerate the stigma of being uniquely aggressive; AFAIK it's the only gov't that's invaded anybody else in 20 years, apart from NATO partners dragged along for the ride. If they call Crimea an 'invasion' long enough, there'll at least be idiots you cant point that out to.
It could be that all this really is is an agreement between media & gov't that the USg can't tolerate the stigma of being uniquely aggressive; AFAIK USrael's the only gov't that's invaded/occupied anybody else in ~20 years, apart from NATO partners dragged along for the ride. If they call Crimea an 'invasion' long enough, there'll at least be morons you can't point that out to. Next US war, count on those people appearing most vocal.
Israel and Georgia have both staged invasions. You might be able to count some of the "peacekeeping" in Africa as invasions, France in the north and various nations invading Somalia.
You're right. Coulda gotten away with Israel, NATO, and NATO wannabees I suppose.
Just for a while-I'm-at-it (that is, I don't believe you missed a point) the purpose of calling Crimea an "invasion" probably is just to confuse the popular view of the word. Sorta like Syme, Newspeak Dictionary writer: "You think, I dare say, that our chief job is inventing new words. But not a bit of it! We're destroying words". Guaranteed it'll be a source of confusion…next war we'll have to start referring to US actions as "infestation" just to be clear.
But he does my brother.
Amen! In the spring of 2008, based on interviews with the Chicago Tribune and speeches at AIPAC, I wrote that candidate Obama has the mindset of an imperialist for which I was lustily booed. Imperialists can be magnanimous when things go their way which happened to President Obama for a short while. He even got a Nobel Peace prize. The wheels began to come off with the disaster of the 2010 elections. Then Iraq refused to prolong SOFA-Iraq in 2012. There were the troubles in the Northwest of Pakistan, the Horn of Africa and Yemen which required "correction by droning". The mini-surge in Afghanistan designed to save Karzai produced a Karzai who now refuses to sign a SOFA-Afghanistan. Then came Libya. Next Syria. And now the secession of Ukraine plus all of America South of our border standing with the government of Venezuela. The emperor has not only lost his clothes, he knows that he has lost them and is desperately trying to prove that he had some spare armor in his closet. It is called NATO.
The guy is delusional. Sure is comforting to know that the person with his finger on the nuclear button is completely unhinged from reality.
Apparently Obama has given up cigarettes in favor of smoking crack laced with PCP.
After what He and the other western leaders fed the public on libya and stress “this is not regime change”. I don’t believe a word this man says anymore, nor of any western leader.
Great summary, Mr Ditz. It's a scary thought that some people might actually believe Obama's delusional nonsense.
Obama knows he can get away with making such a
ridiculous statement, because the (stenographers)
in the US corporate media lack the gonads to
challenge his stupidity.
The arrogance and stupidity of the President Of The USA
Is now on display for the whole world to see.
What have the people put in the food and drink of this man who leads the free world???????
Fluoride!
Incredible,unbelivable,that any human would link the carnage/destruction/murder,torture/rape/buggery/robbery sanctions/depleted uranium/ phosprous munitions to any country in living memory that was thrust upon the worlds oldest civilization"".Well he is an American "president".
Can someone reminds Obama that he is on planet earth? What a asinlne comparison.
I can't believe what I just read. I truly believe the United States has a majority of the world hypnotized in some way.
money does that…
Obama sounds like a fool. The US (illegal) invasion of Iraq
(murdered) 1,000,000 Iraqi citizens, displaced 4,000,000
others, and destroyed a sovereign nation.
There is (NO) comparision between the Crimea and the crimes
the US inflicted upon Iraq. Anyone who believes otherwise
is drinking the same dumbwater as Obama.
I have lost (all) respect for this man. I voted for him twice.
I expected (change)…
Perhaps I was drinking dumbwater also.
Oh yeah? Hoe many people have ion Crimea vs. Iraq?
One drone strike is worse than the Crimea secession.
The British Government knew in advance that President Bush II would invade Iraq no matter how the UN would vote. It was actually queasy to participate without a vote of the Security Council. Apparently our President has never been told that or if he has been told conveniently ignores this evidence.
The invasion of Iraq was largely justified by the testimony of a forger known as "Curveball". The secession of Crimea was based on a referendum (1).
And so on. And so on. It is truly astonishing how this man can massage history.
Some defenders of the President aver that he voted against that war when he was in the Senate. Actually he voted to give President Bush funds to continue the war with one exception which was not a fundamental but a procedural vote and which was turned around the next day. Giving a President funds to wage a war, no matter what the justification, is a vote for the continuation of that war. The US Supreme Court came close to ruling that to be he law of the land in a case that involved President Clinton and the bombing of Serbia.
(1) Ukraine participated in the "Coalition of the Willing" with a relatively large contingent.
This is akin to saying the Pastry War was much more than World War Two!
In fact, Obama didn't believe his own lies, he's just a clown acting in favor of those elites that controls the US policies… and he volunteer himself to do such a disgusting propaganda. Only a stupid can compare Crimea with Iraq and conclude that Crimea is worst than the Iraq genocide!……
Hey the global travel/vacation perks for him and Moochelle don't come cheap!!
OK – so since the lie was blatantly obvious…how many of the world's press in attendance bothered to point out the inaccuracy of his statement? One? Two? Nope. None-nada-zippo. They all sat there, rewriting history so it fit the current USG meme. Even the media outlets usually anti-everything-Obama were silent. Could that be because they didn't want to blow up their "access" by asking relevant and truth-seeking questions? And this is how Lies of the Leaders become acceptable.
It's too bad the media outlets of the world are so averse to hiring and supporting real journalists. Well paid staff stenographers are so much easier to manage – and there is usually no need to defend them in court.
Which anit-everything-Obama outlet, Faux News? They LOVED the destruction of Iraq, why would they ever contest what O said?
Court stenographers all.
because Obama said it…
If the man's usual go-to-hell corner is silent…
(cover my eyes to guess): It seems that'd be when he's either whacking folks or running a Hate Week for a current witch.
(open eyes to read): Pretty close. He's simultaneously rahabbing a USg mass murder project, and trying to preserve the attempted PR build-up for the 'new' witch.
I wonder if this sez anything about who's running those outlets; Iraq 'stung' certain people, after all. And Putin's Syria effort 'stung' some very similar people…
Speaking of witch-hunts, by my count Putin is the sixth "new Hitler" in the past 20 years: Milosevic, Saddam, Ahmadinejad, Qaddafy, Assad and now Putin. Can the world sustain this pace of Hitler-production?
If the GWoT-Sucker can sustain the rate of Hitler-consumption…
Though, kind of like blow-up dolls, it's not like they 'consume' per se. 'Swallow' would work…
A million dead vs one dead…… Gee, that's a tough one…….. Let's see….???????
Some of the "blowback" of Shucks an Awhhh ….????? I guess dead bodies don't count, only "intentions to "werk within the international system"….. rimes with victim…….
Who was it who said: "One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is statistics"?
That would have been Joe Stalin…
Jason – Obama's statement is so obviously a stupid, mindless lie that I wonder why it deserved so many paragraphs to debunk it.
The man has become delusional. The world knows how much of a f-ing liar Obama is and that he really is just a figure head for a tyrannical national security state which really controls things behind the scenes. Obama say: “America sought to work within the international system. We did not claim or annex Iraq’s territory,” Obama insisted, going on to praise Iraq as a “fully sovereign state” that “could make decisions about its own future.” HUH? I like how he says America "sought" meaning hey we were trying to work within the IS but hey we are exceptional and since you would not approve our war of aggression we decided to do it without your approval but hey we tried. Um Iraq could make decisions on its own future even with Saddam prior to our belligerent war. Obama, you are an utter disgrace.
All true.
This is a new religion in US. We are the good ones, we are the best ones, we are the chosen people. If we kill or maim few millions of brown or yellow, or for that matter even with white skins but definitely not Americans it is good for them to be martyrs of a New World Order with US leading it. It looks like stupid and hopeless religion, but hatred of US elites around the globe is growing with their arrogance and lies. No military superiority can stop this hatred once people unite against the common enemy. This way the great Roman Empire fell, this way all other empires were erased from the pages of history. So thank you Mr. OBAMA for uniting the people of the world. Please, be your best in arrogance, ignorance and lies to hasten the end of your emire.
This man is worse then Bush and his regimes of far right Neo fascist, at least Bush lies were about his policies, so did got that he was lying and some didn’t, this man double standard is beyond that policies. Iraq was under the UN sanction recommended by far right democrat Bill Clinton, Madeline Albright, Tony Blair and UAE tyrants regime, although Obama didn’t vote for Iraq invasion but only this part of his current policies toward other nations are true, yet, if it was Bill Clinton wanted to invade Iraq, Obama would have voted for Iraq invasion as many of his time democrats did. The new “Obama” concept is not using the direct militarism but rather using the closest allies to do the job, Ukraine USG and EU governing body closest allies are the Ukraine Neo fascism, in Syria the Saudis barbarians the USG allies.
The dude (Obomba) is positively Orwellian in his logic. I think he has taken one too many trips "abroad"… perhaps we should go ask Alice if Wonderland is missing the Mad Hatter.
The dumbness of this administration has now spread to its Ambassador in the Netherlands. There is a politician in the Netherlands named Wilders who is an extreme right-winger. His party, the PVV, has participated in elections for many years now. Wilders has recently made racist remarks about Moroccans living in the Netherlands for which he was roundly criticized by numerous politicians and other well-known persons. He has made nasty remarks about foreigners before but has never crossed the line of calling for their eviction from the country except for those who have committed crimes. Now our Ambassador has chimed in with his criticism of Wilders. I am not saying that the statement of our Ambassador was wrong because it was spot on. The dumbness of making the statement at this time is that it appears that the Ambassador is mingling in the very recent local elections in which the PVV did alarmingly well in the seat of government of The Hague. He has also ignored the fact that Wilders did not call for actions against Moroccans currently in the country but has in essence demanded, albeit in a very racist manner, that immigration of Moroccans to the Netherlands be stopped. Followers of Wilders who might stop voting for his party may now have second thoughts.
I hope that the State Department tells him to get wiser.
If the Ambassadors to our nation would respond publicly to every racist, homophobic, anti-women, etc. statements of our politicians they would not have time to do anything else.
What is there left to say about this douche that has not already been said? Either he is dumber than Shrub, or simply has smoked too much crack.
Washington is nothing but evil and forked tongue.
Obama, the jerk for whom nothing is impossible.
One would have thought it was impossible to be more evil than Bush, bit that was to be the mission impossible accomplished for Obarman.
let's see, In Crimea the Russians once owned it, were invited in and I would have to say it was a pretty orderly thing. In Iraq we invaded, killed thousands and thousands, destroyed a great part of it, and now, have a country that is a basket case. Oh yes by all means it is the same.
Obama’s FIRST drone strike killed more children than Adam Lanza did at Sandy Hook. (Al-Majalah, Afghanistan)