We Watch Them Lie

We watched the White House lie about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and al Qaeda's ties to Iraq, and we knew were were being lied to.

We watched Press Secretary Scott McClellan lie about the White House's role in leaking CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity, and we knew we were being lied to.

Yesterday, we watched State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey lie about the US's role in attempting to over throw the democratically elected Hamas-led Palestinian parliament, and we know we are being lied to. Read Casey's hollow words, punctuated by transparent attacks on the credibility of the source, Vanity Fair:

The story alleges that there was some kind of secret plot on the part of the U.S. government to create an internal conflict within the Palestinians, specifically an armed conflict. That's absurd. That's ridiculous. I said this morning that I think Vanity Fair should stick to arty photos of celebrities since clearly, at least in this instance, their efforts at serious journalism leaves something lacking.

We know it is Tom Casey, and the US State Department, that has no credibility. We are living in a failing state, when power of legitimacy has given way to the use of force. Hamas knows that all too well. Hamas knows that the US and Israel have intentionally provoked the home-made missile attacks, to break Hamas's unilateral cease fire and be able to point at Hamas and say, "We have a right to defend ourselves," another hollow statement. Because the US and Israel provoked the rocket attacks, the Hamas rocket attacks have a logical basis of legitimacy, as in "You asked for it," literally.

I for one am tired of watching them lie. It's for that reason, and the logic of stopping impunity, that I devote some of my time to ensuring that Bush, Rice, Rumsfeld, Cheney, and a long list of others live the rest of their lives fighting off war crimes charges. They can run, but they can't hide. We'll smoke them out. They won't rest until they meet their maker.

Sources:

Voice of America, US Denies Plotting Hamas Overthrow, David Gollust, State Department, March 4, 2008.