Space Coast Progressive Alliance

On February 15, 2003 millions of us said no to the immoral and illegitimate Bush regime invasion of Iraq. For almost 9 years we continued our opposition protesting the Iraq war which was based on false pretenses, nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and lies.

On Dec. 15, 2011, President Obama and the American military formally ended its mission in Iraq. We leave behind thousands of Halliburton and Blackwater-Xe mercenaries. 

For most Americans the Iraq war is over. For the 4,487 US soldiers killed, the 32,226 wounded in action, the one million who served and their families, it is an understatement to say their lives will never be the same. For many military families the Iraq war will never be over.

Since 9-11 American Muslims have been unfairly associated with the criminal actions of a few radical extremists who declared war on America in the name of Islam. We were not attacked on 9-11 by a religion, we were attacked by 19 radicals that hated the United States. There is a big difference between people who hold the Islamic faith and those who radicalize it to harm to others.

On May 19, 2011, President Obama said a Palestinian state must be based on 1967 borders, and 'the dream of a Jewish democratic state cannot be fulfilled with permanent occupation.' For a sitting U.S. President, this was bold, clear language addressing the festering sore that poisons all of the mideast. A compilation of news items here.

In 1870, Julia Ward Howe distressed by the realities of war called for women to rise up and oppose war in all its forms. She wanted women to come together across national lines, to recognize what we hold in common above what divides us, and commit to finding peaceful resolutions to conflicts.

“We’ve shot an amazing number of people and killed a number and, to my knowledge, none has proven to have been a real threat to the force,” said General McChrystal. “To my knowledge, in the nine-plus months I’ve been here, not a single case where we have engaged in an escalation of force incident and hurt someone has it turned out that the vehicle had a suicide bomb or weapons in it and, in many cases, had families in it.”

Osama bin Laden is dead. Are we supposed to celebrate? "Ten years, over 6,000 US soldiers killed. Trillions of dollars wasted. Hundreds of thousands of civilians killed. Tens of thousands imprisoned. Torture as a part of foreign policy. And we are supposed to celebrate the murder of one person? I am not excited. I am not happy. I remain profoundly sad." -- Matt Daloisio, co-ordinator of Witness Against Torture Campaign.

Are we to look into the bottomless pool of blood, gore, death, suffering and devastated economies, isolate one raid that killed Osama bin Laden …and then celebrate that... “Justice has been done?”

Two justifications were given for invading Iraq. Both were lies. Eight years later, the 'criminal, immoral and depraved endeavor' is still raging, with a foreign occupation force of 50,000 US soldiers and tens of thousands of foreign mercenary contractors. War business is booming. Excerpts from Foreign Policy Journal.