| Submit your comments on this article |
| Fifth Column |
| Wimp out for peace! |
| 2007-11-23 |
| Chris Hedges, former Middle East bureau chief of the New York Times, writing in The Nation: I will not pay my income tax if we go to war with Iran. I realize this is a desperate and perhaps futile gesture. Not to mention a felony. But an attack on Iran--which appears increasingly likely before the coming presidential election--will unleash a regional conflict of catastrophic proportions. This war, and especially Iranian retaliatory strikes on American targets, will be used to silence domestic dissent and abolish what is left of our civil liberties. Mr. Hedges knows full well that his civil liberties haven't been abolished. The secret police will not be rounding him up along with the other "brave" "dissenters"--but it's fun to pretend otherwise. It will solidify the slow-motion coup d'état that has been under way since the 9/11 attacks. "Inside job . . . controlled demolition . . . fire doesn't melt steel . . . " It could mean the death of the Republic. Let us hope sanity prevails. But sanity is a rare commodity in a White House that has twisted Trotsky's concept of permanent revolution into a policy of permanent war with nefarious aims--to intimidate and destroy all those classified as foreign opponents, I'm cool with that. to create permanent instability If by "stability" you mean leaving tyrants (Kim Jong Il, Saddam, Arafat, the Taliban, the Burmese thugocracy, and so forth) alone to pursue their oppression in peace, or even propping them up, then I'd say "stability" is highly overrated. and fear and to strip citizens of their constitutional rights. . . . George W. Bush has shredded, violated or absented America from its obligations under international law. He has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, I hate to keep having to point this out, but Presidents don't ratify treaties, the Senate does. President William Jefferson Clinton declined to present Kyoto for ratification after the Senate voted 98-0 on a resolution which basically said, "Don't bother submitting the treaty, we're not gonna ratify it." But don't let the facts get in the way of a good rant, Chris. backed out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, as specifically permitted by the treaty itself tried to kill the International Criminal Court, walked out on negotiations on chemical and biological weapons and defied the Geneva Conventions and human rights law in the treatment of detainees. Most egregious, he launched an illegal war in Iraq based on fabricated evidence we now know had been discredited even before it was made public. He seeks to do the same in Iran. This President is guilty, in short, of what in legal circles is known as the "crime of aggression." And if we as citizens do not hold him accountable for this crime, if we do not actively defy this government, we will be complicit in the codification of a new world order, one that will have terrifying consequences. . . . We must as citizens make sacrifices to defend a world where diplomacy, broad cooperation and the law are respected. If we allow these international legal systems to unravel, we will destroy the possibility of cooperation between nation-states, including our closest allies. . . . . . . Our long row of candles is being snuffed out. We may soon be in darkness. Any resistance, however symbolic, is essential. There are ways to resist without being jailed. What the hell? Are you afraid of a little jail time? The long row of candles is being snuffed out! We may soon be in darkness! We must as citizens make sacrifices--but only if it doesn't involve any, you know, actual sacrifice. Is that it? If you owe money on your federal tax return, refuse to pay some or all of it, should Bush attack Iran. "Don't you dare start a war before April 15!" If you have a telephone, do not pay the 3 percent excise tax. If you do not owe federal taxes, reduce what is withheld by claiming at least one additional allowance on your W-4 form--and write to the IRS to explain the reasons for your protest. Many of the details and their legal ramifications are available on the War Resisters League's website. I will put the taxes I owe in an escrow account. I will go to court to challenge the legality of the war. Maybe a courageous judge will rule that the Constitution has been usurped and the government is guilty of what the postwar Nuremberg tribunal defined as a criminal war of aggression. Maybe not. I do not know. . . . Okay, hold it, wait a minute, Chris, let me get this straight. The Bushitler Haliburton NeoKKKon Zionazi regime has been shredding the Constitution, spitting on Kyoto, staging 9/11, committing the "crime of aggression"--and all this time, you've been cheerily paying your taxes--yes, financing the Bush Death Machine--as if nothing happened. Now, you're saying if, and only if, Iran is attacked, you're gonna stiff the IRS for the 3% phone tax--but only if you don't personally have to go to jail for it. Know what you are, Chris? A wimp. A wuss. A weenie. A poseur. A sissy. A pantywaist. A hypocrite. A chicken. Buck-buck-braaaawk! |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #15 I will not pay my income tax if we go to war with But an attack on This war, and especially And if that crap above wasn't enough, this next line would tell us everything we need to know about the author. But sanity is a rare commodity in a White House that has twisted Trotsky's concept of permanent revolution.... |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2007-11-23 22:51 |
| #14 But an attack on Iran ... will unleash a regional conflict of catastrophic proportions. And standing idly by whilst Iran acquires nuclear weapons will not? Hell, I've met more than a few parrots who were incapable of producing anything like Hedge's prolonged screech. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-11-23 22:39 |
| #13 I guess Mr. Hedges has forgotten the taking of US Embassy hostages and holding them for 444 days, something that would have been declared an act of war by any other nation. I guess he doesn't understand that half the terrorist attacks against the United States in the last 30 years have been carried out or funded by Iran. He refuses to acknowledge that Iranian arms supplies and training are being used to increase the death toll of American servicemen and women in Iraq AND Afghanistan. Mr. Hedges should move to Europe - maybe Brussels - where his ideas about "honor" and "security" are considered important. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-11-23 22:00 |
| #12 blow it on a Prius or something. Stick it to The Man and get a car that will help you score with hippie chicks! Just not in the back seat... |
| Posted by: badanov 2007-11-23 20:08 |
| #11 unless HIllary gets elected and she wants to go to war with Iran. Then he will be behind it 110% and anyone who isn't for it is an evil, racist, oil grubbing, woman hating, genocide loving nazi. Hey Chris, you are a mindless hack. |
| Posted by: Woozle Grereck5422 2007-11-23 16:06 |
| #10 No, he's not smart enough to be a loon. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-11-23 15:15 |
| #9 And he's evidently a damn loon. |
| Posted by: Thomas Woof 2007-11-23 13:41 |
| #8 From NRO's The Corner: Who is Chris Hedges? Not only was he a New York Times reporter for 15 years, he was its Middle East bureau chief in the 1990's. Yikes. Figures... |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2007-11-23 11:35 |
| #7 So Chris is it preferable to have Iran attack Israel or the US? Why are these guys always so myopic? Why do they always think they know what is best for the rest of us? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-11-23 10:45 |
| #6 What kind of a "tax rebel" puts money owed to the guvmint into an escrow account? Be a real man, Chris.....blow it on a Prius or something. Stick it to The Man Maybe a courageous judge will rule that the Constitution has been usurped and the government is guilty of what the postwar Nuremberg tribunal defined as a criminal war of aggression. Maybe not. I do not know.... Why do I think he never got over hearing the truth about Santa? |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2007-11-23 08:01 |
| #5 Hey Hedges---far as I'm concerned, you and all your friends are just as implicated in the death of my countrymen at the hands of the Paleos as the Saudis who send them money per Jew killed. And you know, Christopher, we Jews have very long memories. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2007-11-23 07:55 |
| #4 I will not pay my income tax if we go to war with Iran. I realize this is a desperate and perhaps futile gesture. Not to mention a felony. And premeditated. Like the Envirowennies who talk but fly their personnel jets around the world, when you walk the walk, talk to me. May I recommend that you follow the model of literally 10s of millions of illegals in this country. If you can't stand the situation where you're at, get up and leave. No one is stopping you. It's only you, in your parasitic narcissism that seems to actually want to wallow in the 'corrupt and unjust' society that you seem to think is America. Less talk. More action. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-11-23 07:41 |
| #3 By this rationale, millions of other Americans would be within our rights not paying taxes because we refuse to support affirmative action, or fund multi-culti pomo hatespeech and indoctrination at publicly funded universities, or to name yet another highway overpass after Kleagle Byrd. That OK with you, Mr Hedges? |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2007-11-23 06:46 |
| #2 A real man would offer to join a fight against Iran because they are responsible for the slaughter of countless American servicepersons. |
| Posted by: Angumble Brown1256 2007-11-23 04:42 |
| #1 The IRS prosecutes 100% of tax cheats, and they almost all go to jail. And they seize and sell personal assets to recover duties. Lots of luck. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2007-11-23 03:33 |