Cherchez la Verite: Author and activist David Swanson speaks in Washington on the subject of war in general and in particular the U.S. government lies used to justify the Iraq war. Saddam Hussein was claimed by the Bush White House to have weapons of mass destruction (UN inspectors repeatedly found none, even when told by the State Department where to look) and he was depicted as repressing the Iraqi people (yes, he was a despot, but the country's infrastructure was modern, the citizens had civil rights, and sectarian violence was held in check). The result of the war was about 1.5 million Iraqis killed, similar numbers of Iraqis injured or displaced, thousands of deformed babies due to extensive use of spent-uranium munitions, and deliberate triggering of now-irreversible Sunni-Shite internecine violence. Swanson's research caused him to conclude that not only was the supposed justification for attacking Iraq based on lies, but so too have been all other wars.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Author and activist David Swanson speaks in Washington on the subject of war in general and in particular the U.S. government lies used to justify the Iraq war. Saddam Hussein was claimed by the Bush White House to have weapons of mass destruction (UN inspectors repeatedly found none, even when told by the State Department where to look) and he was depicted as repressing the Iraqi people (yes, he was a despot, but the country's infrastructure was modern, the citizens had civil rights, and sectarian violence was held in check). The result of the war was about 1.5 million Iraqis killed, similar numbers of Iraqis injured or displaced, thousands of deformed babies due to extensive use of spent-uranium munitions, and deliberate triggering of now-irreversible Sunni-Shite internecine violence. Swanson's research caused him to conclude that not only was the supposed justification for attacking Iraq based on lies, but so too have been all other wars.

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http://youtu.be/cEjVHW5OUk4
Iraq 10 Years Later: Still Shocked, Not Awed

StoryofAmerica

Published on Mar 19, 2013
David Swanson's remarks were filmed March 18, 2013 at Busboys and Poets in Washington DC.

From Wikipedia:

In May 2005, Swanson was instrumental in making the Downing Street memo known in the United States and discussed in Congress. He co-founded After Downing Street (now War Is A Crime .org) and led an ongoing campaign to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.[2] Swanson continues to work closely with the peace movement and often leads campaigns to end the Iraq War and punish those involved in launching that war.

In 2009, he wrote Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union[3] and the introduction to Dennis Kucinich's The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush.[4][5] He wrote War Is a Lie in 2010.

Swanson is the Washington Director of Democrats.com;[1] a board member of Progressive Democrats of America[6] and VotersForPeace;[7] a convenor of the legislative working group of United for Peace and Justice, and the chair of its working group on Accountability and Prosecution;[citation needed] a member of War Is A Crime.org's Robert Jackson Steering Committee;[8] and a blogger for the Backbone Campaign.[9] Swanson does paid work for various peace and justice groups, including creating websites and organizing campaigns. Most recently, Swanson has been working on Velvet Revolution's campaign to oppose the United States Chamber of Commerce and its CEO Tom J. Donohue,[10] and October 2011.[11][12]

In January 2012 Swanson offered a "peace lily" to the Charlottesville City Council after it passed its "anti-Iran war" resolution (which he helped to author).