End U.S. occupation now (USA Today)

Harry Targ

The great folksinger Pete Seeger sang in 1967 of the U.S. sinking deeper and deeper into ''the Big Muddy'' that was Vietnam, while ''the big fool,'' President Lyndon Johnson, said, ''Push on.''


For those of us who remember Vietnam, Iraq (news - web sites) seems more and more like ''the Big Muddy,'' as U.S. troops are targeted for assassination and Iraqis are killed indiscriminately in retaliation.

--more--
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=679&ncid=742&e=1&u=/usatoday/20030710/cm_usatoday/5311676

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another snip>>

"U.S. leaders just never seem to get it. When the U.S. engages in brutal economic strangulation, sends covert operatives to terrorize populations and launches air and land war on targeted populations, the victims of these actions do not regard the aggressors as liberators."

Excellent article!

:kick:

so I gave it one.

How can men, so educated make such a big blunder? During the viet nam war, we talked about the best and the brightest who got us involved, now it is the Cabal.

In Viet Nam, there was the promise of oil off the shore of the Mekong delta, and the tons of Tungsten to be mined, in Irag, there is oil, and a strategic location for further expansion of the empire.

My guess that unless we get out now, a new wall will have to be built. If any memorial is to be built, these words must be included.


"If we let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely, and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy but just wage total war, our children will sing great songs about us years from now." --Richard Perle

Last sentence says:
The interests of the Iraqi people and the increasingly vulnerable young men and women of the U.S. military occupation would best be served if the United States negotiates the complete withdrawal of coalition troops and allows them to be replaced with a true international peace force under the aegis of the United Nations.

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time to cut to the chase, whether * will admit his admin's failure and bring in the U.N. is another matter entirely . . . admit a mistake? responsibility? oh well . . . we can keep voting on Yahoo!

WAIST DEEP IN THE BIG MUDDY

It was back in nineteen forty-two,
I was a member of a good platoon.
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna,
One night by the light of the moon.
The captain told us to ford a river,
That's how it all begun.
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure,
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place.
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim."
"Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie,"
The Captain said to him.
"All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I'll lead on."
We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

All at once, the moon clouded over,
We heard a gurgling cry.
A few seconds later, the captain's helmet
Was all that floated by.
The Sergeant said, "Turn around men!
I'm in charge from now on."
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone.

We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand.
I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper
Than the place he'd once before been.
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
'Bout a half mile from where we'd gone.
We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on.

Well, I'm not going to point any moral;
I'll leave that for yourself
Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking
You'd like to keep your health.
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.

Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on!

Words and music by Pete Seeger (1967)
TRO (c) 1967 Melody Trails, Inc. New York, NY

I'm also glad it's from USA Today. Thousands of businessmen waking up in their hotel rooms this morning read the USA Today slipped under their door during the night while drinking a cup of coffee. The discontent is spreading beyond the anti-war crowd.