by Stephen Lendman

A previous article called Obama a war criminal. Tyrant. Torturer. Racist. Corporate Tool. World-class thug. A serial liar and then some.

Ruthless by any standard. Governing extrajudicially. Presiding over a homeland police state apparatus. Hardening what Bush instituted.

Serving monied interests exclusively. At the expense of beneficial social change. Using America's resources for war-making. Corporate handouts.

Running the world's largest gulag. At home and abroad. Filled with thousands of political prisoners.

Spying on everyone. Torturing innocent victims. At home and abroad. Unreported. Out of sight and mind.

What Intelligence Committee senators didn't explain, is that torture remains official US policy. Overall ruthlessness persists.

Fundamental freedoms are disappearing in plain sight. Permanent war on humanity rages. Possible nuclear war on Russia. Madness if launched. By false flag or other means.

On Monday, Obama spoke at Fort Dix, NJ. Where this writer entered military service in summer 1956.

When it was mandatory. Thankfully after Korea. Before Vietnam heated up. Fortunately served only domestically.

No overseas deployments. Especially to conflict zones. US forces always involved worldwide. Directly or indirectly.

From its global empire of bases. Far more extensive now than earlier. Using them to deploy special forces. In over two-thirds of world nations.

Not as good will ambassadors. As covert and overt operatives. They're trained killers. Obama didn't explain.

Or about America in Afghanistan to stay. Permanent occupation planned. Obama claiming he's ending the nation's longest war is false.

His latest Big Lie. Including earlier saying "(t)he United States did not seek this fight. "We went into Afghanistan out of necessity, after our nation was attacked by al Qaeda on September 11th, 2001."

"We went to war against al Qaeda and its extremist allies with the strong support of the American people and their representatives in Congress; with the international community and our NATO allies; and with the Afghan people, who welcomed the opportunity of a life free from the dark tyranny of extremism."

"(W)e have struck significant blows against al Qaeda's leadership, we have eliminated Osama bin Laden, and we have prevented Afghanistan from being used to launch attacks against our homeland."

"We have also supported the Afghan people as they continue the hard work of building a democracy."

It's hard imagining more mumbo jumbo rubbish. Afghanistan is Bush's war. Obama continues it.

Naked aggression. Premeditated. A war of choice. Planned months before 9/11. Showing no signs of ending.

Not about striking "significant blows against al Qaeda's leadership." Or eliminating bin Laden.

In December 2001, he died of natural causes. Kidney disease and other ailments. BBC and other major media reported it at the time. The New York Times months later.

Obama didn't kill Osama. His Afghan war has nothing to do with US security. Or defeating Al Qaeda. Or other nonexistent threats.

It's like all US wars. Advancing America's imperium. Colonizing strategic territories. Controlling them. Installing puppet regimes. Subservient to Washington.

A previous article called Afghanistan a geopolitical prize. Strategically located. In Eurasia's heartland. Near its vast oil, gas and other resources.

Straddling the Middle East. South and Central Asia. Perhaps the world's largest land-based aircraft carrier.

Part of Washington's plan to encircle Russia and China with US bases. Exploit Afghanistan's extensive gas and mineral resources. Worth an estimated $1 trillion.

Plus the world's largest opium supply. Flooding global markets with heroin. Providing enormous profits for Wall Street. Giving CIA access to billions of dollars in illicit drug money.

US state-sponsored 9/11 was a convenient pretext. The mother of all Big Lies. Bush and Obama wars followed.

Naked aggression by any standard. Killing millions. From violence. Deprivation. Disease.

Afghans are long-suffering. Perhaps worse off now than ever. From adversity. Poverty. Unemployment. Malnutrition. Lack of basic services. Extreme deprivation.

Largely on their own. With one of the world's lowest life expectancies. Around 44 years. One of its highest maternal mortality rates.

Extremely high infant mortality. Over 20% of children perish before age five.

No one's sure from day to day who'll live or die. US drone attacks kill mostly noncombatants. Claims otherwise are Big Lies.

Millions are vulnerable to preventable diseases. Epidemic levels of malnutrition persist.

Vital infrastructure is lacking. Severe poverty overwhelming. So is environmental contamination.

Mass unemployment goes unnoticed. Healthcare, housing, education, proper sanitation and other vital needs are sorely lacking.

Human misery is a growth industry. So is hunger. Thousands starve to death for lack of food.

Millions suffer chronic malnutrition. Tens of thousands of children have protruding bones. Distended stomachs.

Begging in streets for whatever help they can get. Most Afghans can't afford minimally healthy diets. Conditions media scoundrels ignore. America's deplorable legacy.

Afghanistan democracy is fantasy. None whatever exists. Washington tolerates none. Elections when held are farcical.

Fraud substitutes for a free and open process. Voters have no say. Like in America. Powerful interests control things.

What they say goes. Expect no change end of December. "(M)arking an important milestone," according to Obama.

"(T)ransiion(ing) (to let) Afghans…take full responsibility for their security," he claimed. Saying "after more than 13 years, our combat mission…will be over."

"America's war in Afghanistan will come to a responsible end. (D)ecimating…core Al Qaeda leadership. (D)elivering justice to Osama bin Laden."

"Push(ing) back the Taliban. (T)raining Afghan forces to take the lead. (M)aking a historic election (possible. Afghanistan's) "first (ever) democratic transfer of power."

Despicable Big Lies. One after another. Polar opposite hard truths. Afghanistan is a dystopian wasteland. America's longest war. Continuing. Without end.

Despite Obama claiming otherwise. With thousands of US combat forces remaining. More deployed as needed.

Obama lied claiming "(t)he time of deploying large ground forces with big military footprints to engage in nation-building overseas, that's coming to an end."

"Going forward, our military will be leaner," he added. Revealing America's real intentions at the same time.

Saying he'll "make sure we keep you ready for the range of missions that we ask of you."

"We are going to keep you the best trained, the best led, the best equipped military in the history of the world because the world will still be calling."

Continuing war without end in Afghanistan. Perhaps another decade or longer. In Iraq. Syria. Ukraine. Somalia. Yemen. Other areas.

Permanent war is official US policy. Peace is a convenient illusion. When America has no threats. Except ones it invents.

Justifying its war machine. Using it irresponsibly. Lawlessly.

Against humanity. Obama's so-called "turning point" signifies possible global war.

Perhaps with nuclear weapons. For the first time since WW II. Risking the unthinkable. Possible armageddon.

Unnoticed by media scoundrels. Supporting all US wars. Others planned. No matter how lawless. Destructive. In lockstep with might makes right.

America left Afghanistan in ruins. Killed millions of its people. Many more daily. Caused unspeakable human misery.

Washington's deplorable legacy. Polar opposite claims of success. Obama saying otherwise one of his many Big Lies.

Responsible for genocidal high crimes against peace. Continuing global wars. Risking direct confrontation with Russia. Possibly with nuclear weapons.

Impeaching him remains a national imperative. Prosecuting him in an independent tribunal.

Holding him accountable for high crimes too grave to ignore. Making world peace possible.

Needed more now than ever. Humanity's fate hangs in the balance.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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