The Iraqi people have been waiting with bated breath for this exciting moment. One Iraqi woman who lost a husband, two brothers, a son and a daughter to Bush’s War said that that President Bush changed the face of Iraq—in the way sulfuric acid changes a person’s face.
I’m sure President Bush was pleased at the big turnout. Thousands of people who had lost parents, children, spouses, siblings, grandparents, and friends showed up wearing photos of their love ones lost in Bush’s War, also known as George Bush’s Iraqi Horror Show.
To get in the mood for the exhibits visitors were required to remove their shoes and walk over a carpet of broken glass and tacks. No one without bloody feet would be allowed in the museum. Some visitors went that extra mile and crawled over the carpet. Fortunately, reporters were excused from the bloody ritual.
Instead of the usual opening performances jugglers, mimes, and other performers, a half-dozen or so young men and women wearing THANK YOU, PRESIDENT BUSH! tee-shirts set themselves on fire. When one young Iraqi man who had lost his eyes when his house was destroyed by an American bomb was asked if he thought the immolations were an excessive show of feeling for the American president, he said he thought they were appropriate.
They reminded him of the monks who set themselves on fire during the Vietnam War to protest the cruel dictatorship supported by the U.S. Government. Then he pulled out a copy of the famous photo of the Napalm Girl burned in an American fire bombing. He said he can no longer see the photo but that it’s dear to his heart and reminds him of Bush. Then he said he considered burning himself to honor the opening of the Bush Memorial Horror Museum but changed his mind because when his home was blown up his parents, grandparents, two sisters and brother were killed, and he believed he was obligated to live as the sole survivor of his family.
He was hoping he could meet with the man who was responsible for the destruction of his family and let him know that though he hated him he understood that men like Bush and Hussein have their own agenda—like Mr. Hyde in the story Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He did say he was confused that Saddam had to stand trial for his crimes against the Iraqi people but Bush has not had to stand trial for his crimes against them. “Might makes right, I suppose,” he said. Then he removed his shoes and proceeded over the bloody carpet.
President Bush Unable to Attend
The curator of the George Bush Memorial Horror Museum had invited the ex-president to the opening—offering the usual $150,000 honorarium, but Bush said that additional funds would be required for the equipment and personnel required for his oversea visits, including but not limited to an refurbished Air force One, a C-5 Galaxy, a transport helicopter, armored vehicle and contingent of Blackwater bodyguards. Disappointed, the Iraqi president apologized to Bush, explaining that the cost was beyond what Iraqi’s devastated economy could afford. But he hoped Bush could watch the ceremony on television. Bush promised he would, adding that he would throw a big pig-roasting barbecue the day of the opening in honor of Iraq and its people.
The museum is divided into various sections. What one hears as he or she walks, limps, or is pushed in a wheelchair into the various sections is not music but recorded screams of the tortured and dying, which is much more fitting than music. Here are just a few of the rooms.
The Torture Room
The Torture Room, which is divided into various compartments, at least a dozen devoted to various forms of torture. The Waterboarding Room is a big favorite. Above the entrance to the room are the words of George Bush:
“Because the lawyer said it was legal. He said it did not fall within the anti-torture act. I’m not a lawyer. But you gotta trust the judgment of the people around you, and I do.”
You may recall that the Church said it was legal to torture and burn people. Remember Joan of Ark?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Joan_of_arc_burning_at_stake.jpg
See the priest in the bottom left-hand corner? Looks a little like Rove. If he says burning Joan is legal then that means it’s okay. Grab some smores and enjoy the spectacle.
And so Bush was following in the footsteps of the Church, his favorite footsteps to follow ever since he gave up drinking.
If you are unfamiliar with the process, it works like this: “Water is poured onto the face over the breathing passages, causing an almost immediate gag reflex and creating the sensation that the captive is drowning. Waterboarding can cause extreme pain, dry drowning, damage to lungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, lasting psychological damage and, if uninterrupted, death.”
Come on, how bad is that. Really no worse than the hazing that goes on in frat houses across the U.S. And like Bush said, if you can find a lawyer to support it, then it’s not wrong. Then he added off the recorded that he was told by Dick Cheney that Arabs are like lobsters; they don’t feel pain. But it’s always good to have the law on your side, and Bush had support from two of the finest legal minds in the country: John Yoo and Alberto R. Gonzales, whose photos hang at the entrance.
One Iraqi spoke to me through an interpreter. The man knows English but needed an interpreter because his jaw had been shot off by an American sniper. “He was a very good shot,” said the man. “And a good man because he spared my life.”
The man complained, “They ain’t even American. One’s a Mexican and the other is a Chinaman.” I told him that he wasn’t a Chinaman but a Korean. Then the man said that it was too bad that there are no more Americans in America, that they are all in his country. I reassured him that there are still a few Americans left in America. Then he gargled “How is that possible when your president is a Kenyon? And why do you fight the Iraqis when the Mexicans and Koreans are taking your country away from you?”
I didn’t answer because the man started coughing up blood causing it to splatter on my tee-shirt, which has Bush’s face on it. I thought was appropriate. Now his face is covered with Iraqi blood, which I supposed is also appropriate. Seeing the man in such anguish I was glad to notice a photo of Karl Rove with the caption: “I’m proud of waterboarding.” To reassure the jawless Iraqi, I pointed to the photo and said that this man is an American. “That’s good,” he said. “I was worried because I thought it was a picture of a pig.”
There are a number of videos taken by proud American soldiers and released on the Internet for the hometown people.
Talking about enjoying the spectacle, our service men and women had a good ol time playing Let’s Torture a Raghead. So of course there is a room called the Torture Funhouse, fun for the torturer, of course, not the torturee.
The idea that torture can be fun was inspired by Donald Rumsfeld and Vice (as in wickedness) President Dick Chaney. Apparently members of the illustrious 320th Military Police Battalion concluded from Donald and Dick that if war can fun, why not torture. ;-) . So Pvt. Lynndie Rana England grabbed a dog leash and said something to the effect “I wanna drag one of those Araab niggers just for the fun of it.” You see Lynndie is from the South where fun is dragging a black man behind a pickup or lynching him from a tree. In the Torture Funhouse hangs a photo of Lynndie having fun with an Araab nigger given the name of Gus”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Abu-ghraib-leash.jpg
Obviously Gus isn’t enjoying the fun as much as Lynndie is, but he’s not supposed to. That’s way torture works. Here’s another one of Lynndie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AG-10.jpg
Torture is not only fun but can be sexy. Looking at all those Araab penises probably gave Lynndie her first organism. You know some girls are into S & M sex. My favorite photo of her is the taken with the American flag in the background. I think it says a lot about the country and America’s brave fighting and torturing men and women.
Lynndie didn’t keep all the fun for herself. He had some torture-is-fun friends. One was Megan M. Ambuhl. She’s a Southerner too. She got a degree in biology at a community college. They didn’t offer a degree in torture, but knowing biology helps. There’s a photo of the two girls having fun with Gus:
http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=megan_ambuhl
By the way Megan is married to another torture-is-fun guy, Charles A. Graner. A photo of him shows him kneeling over one of Gus’s friends:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AbuGhraibScandalGraner55.jpg
You can tell Charles is having a great time. And apparently he got turned on by torture as well because “allegedly” he got Lynndie pregnant. Can you imagine the child—something like out of Aliens. The doctor doesn’t have to perform a cesarean. Baby Charlie just rips his way out of the womb and the doctor and nurses make a run for safety.
An interesting biographical note, Charles had been married earlier and apparently he practiced the torture thing at home, in spite of the military’s advice not to take the job home. We’re told that,
In May 1997, Graner's [first] wife and mother of their two children filed for divorce and sought a protection order, saying Graner had threatened to kill her. Graner had come to her house, thrown her against some furniture, thrown her on the bed, grabbed her arm and hit her face with her arm. Three years later... Graner came to her house and attacked her... [His wife] said Graner had “yanked me out of bed by my hair, dragging me and all the covers into the hall and tried to throw me down the steps.” Afterwards, Graner... said, "I have nothing if she's not my wife, she's dead."Obviously Graner is a barrel of fun, an all-American boy.
Here’s a few more fun photos from the hundreds that line the walls in the Torture Funhouse:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AbuGhraibAbuse-standing-on-box.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Abu_Ghraib_53.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Abu_Ghraib_48.jpg
I know you would like to see more as any proud America would, but this is a blog, not a book. But before I close I must point out that apparently America’s brave men and women in uniform have inspired the Iraqi government to continue the torture tradition. Now you understand why America is a guiding light to the rest of the world.
Following in America’s Bloody Footsteps
Iraq
In fact, a recent newspaper article revealed that elite security forces under the control of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki are operating secret detention sites in Baghdad where prisoners are being abused. Obviously Nouri’s a big fan of President Bush’s.
Former prisoners told some sissy human rights outfit that detainees were regularly abused by being hung upside down, beaten and given electric shocks to various body parts, including the genitals. Good show! That just proves that America does leave its mark on the countries it invades.
Iraqi officials did not respond to requests for comment. Good for them. Why should they when U.S. officials never did. NO COMMENT is part of America proud military tradition. Apparently there are torture centers all over Iraq. Sounds like Nouri has outdone of Saddam. ;-)
Egypt
But Hosni Mubarak, a close and faithful friend and ally of America, has tried very hard to live up to the high standards of torture set by President Bush:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwR47pUmPZA
Bush must be gratified to know that he is a member (pardon the pun) of a not-so-elite club of fellow torturers. But humiliation runs in the blood of Egyptian men. There is probably not a single Egyptian male who has not molested a female adult or child. Of course Islam takes great pride in abusing and mistreating women. Didn’t Mohamed say that an abused woman is a happy woman? Here some of the Egyptian boys having a little fun with the girls:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItPSPx9gutQ&feature=related
And most recently the holy men of Egypt had a little fun with Lara Logan:
On Friday February 11, the day Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS Correspondent Lara Logan was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square for a 60 MINUTES story when she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration. It was a mob of more than 200 people [think men] whipped into a [sexual] frenzy.What can one say except “Allahu Akbar!” Apparently all Egyptian men are more like Mubarak than they let on.
In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers. She reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning. She is currently in the hospital recovering.
America’s Destroying a Country is to Save It Policy
After I left the Museum and was out in the street a boy with a scarred face approached me and asked I would take him out of the country. I asked why he would want to do leave Iraq now that it is free. He said, “Free, yes in the way chaos is free. So if this is freedom, I do not want it. It is too dangerous. No, Iraq has been destroyed. I understand that America’s military philosophy toward Iraq is the same as the one it used in Vietnam, that it’s necessary to destroy the village in order to save it. So yes, perhaps it was necessary to destroy Iraq to save it, just as it is necessary to destroy Afghanistan to save it. Still, it is no good here. There is no hope here. Now everyone wants to leave just as they did when Hussein was in power. There are ghosts everywhere. And people are not so sure things will get better, not for a very long time. It is a very unhappy place. So if I could go with you...”
To America? I asked. “No,” he said, “I do not want to go to America. My mother, father and brother were killed by American soldiers. My sister as well, but first she was raped, so I cannot go to America. I would feel too guilty. No, I wish to go to Egypt. I am Sunni and they are as well, and I know they will welcome me. There is hope in Egypt. Perhaps it would have been better if you Americans had waited until the Iraqi people had taken to the streets as they did in Egypt. But I was hoping that because you are a reporter that you might be able to help me. I have no one here.”
“Travel by road,” I said. “It’s not that far.”
“That’s impossible. There is no way to cross through Israel. It is like North Korea for Arabs. Besides the Israelis have contaminated the soil of Palestine. No that’s impossible. But thank you for listening to me.”
I watched him as he walked off into the distance. I thought about his loss of family and his not so bright future. Suddenly there was a terrific explosion and he disappeared in the fire, dust and smoke. But then I saw something rolling toward me like a soccer ball. It was the young man’s head. It rolled right up to my feet and stared at me as if the explosion was my fault. I decided then I would fly back to America that very day to write this article. I was sick and tired of Iraq. Like the boy said, life there is too dangerous.
Another American Legacy
My next assignment will be to report on the Vietnam War Holocaust Memorial, which has not yet been completed. As you probably know it was inspired by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., which has inscribed upon it 58,175 names of Americans killed in the war. The memorial was designed by Maya Lin, a Chinese woman born in America. I thought that very strange, you know that the Chinese seem to make everything in America. A Vietnamese visitor saw the memorial and decided that Vietnam should have a similar memorial.
Of course, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial doesn’t have any civilian deaths unrelated to the war effort. America engages only in wars in which the only the other side suffers death of innocent civilians, what the military calls Collateral Damage, which the U.S. Government doesn’t bother to keep track of because doing so would require a small army of bureaucrats. I suppose the attacks on 9-11 gave Americans a taste of their own medicine. But I digress.
The Vietnam War Holocaust Memorial will take a number of years to complete and is expected to be about a mile in length in order to accommodate the approximately 4 million military and civilian deaths. The Cambodians and Laotians requested that the names of their combined 400,000 dead be included, but were told to build their memorials.
The Memorial will be located in My Lai, where occurred the mass murder conducted by a unit of the U.S. Army on March 16, 1968 of 347–504 unarmed citizens in South Vietnam, all of whom were civilians and a majority of whom were women, children (including babies) and elderly people. Many of the victims were sexually abused, beaten, tortured, and some of the bodies were found mutilated. And of course the human rights people had to make a big deal out of what happened so now it’s referred to as the My Lai Massacre. Come on, those American boys were just having some fun with the locals. No harm intended.
Anyways, the location is ideal. Take a look:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:My_Lai_massacre.jpg
Quite a few babies. Probably thrown into the air and caught on bayonets. It’s a proud wartime tradition. Of course that mess in the road has been cleaned up. Here’s a photo that’s a real favorite with the soldiers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:My_Lai_massacre_woman_and_children.jpg
What a bunch of sissies. We all have to die sometime, and what better way than to be killed by a U.S. soldier? The following photo shows that it wasn’t just women and children killed during that massacre... I mean incident:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dead_man_and_child_from_the_My_Lai_massacre.jpg
Here’s one of a mother and baby called the Madonna and Child:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dead_woman_child-My_Lai.jpg
Here’s another one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dead_woman_from_the_My_Lai_massacre.jpg
Did you notice she was wearing an earring? I got to pull myself together.
The Vietnam War Holocaust Memorial will have a food court and a souvenir store. American visitors will be able to purchase little G.I.s with babies on their bayonets. A collection set of all the U.S. soldiers involve will also be available. And a Lieutenant William Calley doll holding a dead baby. When you pull the string at its back, the doll chuckles.
It does make you wonder a little about the war when you think that of the 4 to 5 million Asians were killed, each one an individual. And you can see why the Vietnamese decided to call it the Vietnam War Holocaust Memorial. Those numbers are pretty close to the number of Jews Hitler killed.
And what if America had told the French to get the hell out of Vietnam and helped the Vietnamese build their country instead of all the killing? But they were communists. But so is China, America’s biggest trading partner. Of course, then there wouldn’t have been a war, which can be a lot of fun if your not killed, wounded, tortured, maimed, or damaged in some other way.
And the war made a lot of money for the Military Industrial Complex. And no American civilians were killed unless they were dumb enough to go to Vietnam. And there wouldn’t be those memorials. So I guess the war was the right thing to do.
