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Fraggin'

By Bill Shunas

Look what Clinton started. Like a distraught sinner, he's going around confessing to anyone who'll listen about how he got it on with Monica. Or did he do something with her which wasn't exactly, but sort of was sex. It's similar to his marijuana smoking, when he sort of did it, but didn't go all the way. Lucky thing he's not gay, or he'd be going around saying, "Don't ask me." Anyway, praise the Lord. Another sinner has confessed and apologized endlessly to anyone who would listen.

Maybe Bobby McNamara got the ball rolling when he confessed he shouldn't have sent all them boys to die in an unwinnable war. Then Clinton picked it up and started his confessions. Who could be next?

Why, here comes George Bush with his national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft. They wrote Bush's memoirs. I thought a memoir was supposed to be your memories of your career that you're supposed to do yourself. I could understand if Reagan needed help with his memoirs, but why Bush?

Anyway, in the book Scowcroft talks about the Gulf War and how the United States decided to invade Iraq in order to control oil in the region. That, of course, is not what they said at the time. Back then they sang a different tune - actually, four or five times, if I remember right. They were going to rescue Kuwait, protect Saudi Arabia, eliminate the new Hitler (Saddam Hussein), and a few other things. Like a salesman at your door trying to sell you the great books of the Western world, Bush searched around until he found something that struck a chord with the American public. So he lied to get the okay for his war.

Meanwhile, protesters went around wearing buttons that said NO BLOOD FOR OIL. Now Bush confesses. It was blood for oil. GI blood was shed, vets have Gulf War Syndrome, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children died for oil. But we have a confession. Big deal. Say two Hail Marys, George, and write NO BLOOD FOR OIL one hundred times on the blackboard.

Wait, there's more. It's not only presidents confessing now. The CIA? Praise the Lord! Fred Hitz, who is Inspector General of the CIA, is making confessions too. And the lamb shall lie down with the lion. Back when the United States was promoting the Contra war in Nicaragua, there were charges that the Contras were dirty with drugs. President Reagan and the CIA denied that. They said our guys were pure of heart and pure of motive, sort of like Boy Scouts with M-16s.

Well, Inspector General Hitz came out with his report. Yes, the CIA concealed from Congress and other government agencies that at the time they knew the Contras were smuggling drugs into the United States to help finance their little war. In fact, a CIA informant was present at a meeting in September 1981, where the Contras were brought into being. At that meeting, the Contra leadership decided to begin their war against the legitimate government of Nicaragua. And they decided to finance the war by smuggling drugs into Los Angeles, Little Rock, and Louisville. And our government knew it.

So these guys lied and deceived and are now in retirement enjoying the good life. Of course Clinton didn't get away with his lies. He's had to face Hillary, Chelsea, and self-righteous Republicans. Don't feel sorry for him, though. He's got blood on his hands too. I guess the moral of this story is that the hippies in the anti-war movement were wrong when they raised the slogan MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR. Clinton made all sorts of love and got burned. McNamara, Bush, Scowcroft, and the CIA leaders made war and got the best in marlin fishing and the choicest golf courses.

Bill Shunas is a Vietnam veteran, author and editor of the newspaper for the American Postal Workers Union at AMC-O'Hare. He's a member of VVAW's Chicago Chapter.