US Government tells lies, kills people, tells more lies

Have you followed the story about the slaughter of a wedding party in the village of Makr al-Deeb?

This is the lead paragraph from a Washington Post article:

U.S. ground forces and aircraft attacked a village in Iraq's western desert before dawn Wednesday, striking what Iraqi witnesses said was a wedding celebration but U.S. officials called a way station for foreign infiltrators. More than 40 civilians, most of them women and children, were killed, according to witnesses, Iraqi police officers and provincial health officials.

Dozens Killed in U.S. Attack Near Syria; Target Disputed

So you now have two stories: (1) A wedding party massacre, and (2) US officials will say just about anything to cover up their misdeeds. What the officials say doesn't match the facts at all, and the fact of the massacre we can be reasonably sure of, as ascertained by many credible witnesses, including local officials, and, oh yeah, there's video footage of the aftermath, which the reporters tell us is being broadcast all over the Arab world. That of course becomes another story, "Arab Media fail to give credence to blatant lies, broadcast footage from massacred wedding party," or as the shock-and-awe chorus line would have it, "Arab media inflames passions...."

At this point in the narrative, I'm like, well, okay, why should I listen to those bozo US officials at all? If I want the truth, maybe I should learn to speak Arabic and check into Al Jazeerah or Al Arabiya. And instead of having multiple lies and stories to keep track of, I could just pay attention to actual events.

But that's exactly what I don't get from the Post. Their reporters go on to tell me about some other announcements from CENTCOM, and some other statements from US officials--which I should believe because? Then why report them?

If you knowingly tell a lie that a known liar told you and you don't bother to mention that you know it's a lie told by a liar, but here it is for your amusement, how does that make you a credible source of news and information? How does that make you anything but a liar?

why they send reporters to the WH or CENTCOM at all

Our govt could be telling the truth this time. Ya never know.

On one side: Named eye witnesses, police officers, health officials, video footage.

On the other side: Statements by US officials.

The US officials trotted out a cache of evidentiary items, but in truth, those items could be consistent with either version of events. In this context, producing the items becomes another deciet.

It does not fit their profile. In any event, we are the invaders, the war is illegal. It doesn't matter what they were trying to bomb. We have no business bombing anything in Iraq.

More than 40 civilians, most of them women and children, were killed, according to witnesses, Iraqi police officers and provincial health officials. I bet it will push the shrub's numbers up . . .

how the army thinks they can lie in the fact of the video is, well, astounding. But they ain't too smart, are they?

Paying $500 for Iraqis to turn in RPG launchers, when said launchers will fetch ten times that amount on the black market over there.

Duh.

it was a meetin of insurgents. the same thing happened in afghanistan a while back. sneaky folks.

--sarcasm off--

Cultural differences, I'm just not used to people having a wedding reception that early on a Tuesday morning.

later they admit it, or make no comment. Latest example of this is the Powell confession about the hydrogen balloon trailers.

The balloon trailers stank from the git go, and almost every wmd story coming out of Iraq was like that. How many times did you see headlines like "WMD Found"?

Let's not forget when Bush insisted that wmd had been found. As evidence he cited the trailers and Powell's UN presentation. See? Illegal weapons. But when Bush released that statement on May 29, 2003, preliminary examinations showed no evidence of weapons agents, and the story was several weeks old. There was contention and scepticism all around. Said Peter Jennings on the 22nd:

"U.S. intelligence officials say they have concluded that the two tractor-trailers, which they found in northern Iraq during the war, are laboratories for making biological weapons. But they have found absolutely no trace of biological agents in them. Nine weeks after the war began, there is no tangible evidence of any biological or chemical weapons in Iraq at all.”

So it's the game. Officials lie, but, Jennings tells us, there's no substance to their claims. There is "no tangible evidence of any biological or chemical weapons in Iraq at all."

Charlie Brown syndrome?

Meanwhile, the cycles of forgetfulness and attention kick in, new spectacles come into view, and if you poll the public, a frightfully large percentage believe that Iraq illegally possessed weapons of mass destruction. Funny that.

Police and thieves in the street....
oh yeah
scaring the nation with their guns and ammunition

Police and thieves in the street....
oh yeah
fighting the nation with their guns and ammunition

From Genesis to Revelation
the next generation
will be, hear me

From Genesis to Revelation
the next generation
will be, hear me

And all the crowd come in
Day by Day
Noone stops it
in any way

All the peace makers
Third World officers
Hear what I say...hey hey hey hey hey hey!