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“The ironic twist of not just Powell’s career but also the careers of so many American generals is that they abjectly lacked, when the moment called for it, the one thing that soldiers are supposed to possess in abundance: courage. The history of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is filled with U.S. generals who were lauded as heroes but lacked the guts or honesty to stand up to the whims and dictates of their superiors. Millions of people have been killed and injured on their failed watch since 9/11.”

“And oh, what they did! Their geopolitical dreams couldn’t have been grander or more global. (Let’s avoid the word 'megalomaniacal.') They expected to pacify the Greater Middle East, garrison Iraq for generations, make Syria and Iran bow down before American power, 'drain' the global 'swamp' of terrorists, and create a global Pax Americana based on a military so dominant that no other country or bloc of countries would ever challenge it.

“It was quite a dream and none of it, not one smidgen, came true.”

“Oh God! They made the battle of Falluja as a video game? It was the worst memory in our mind after 2003 invasion. How many innocents were killed. How many deformed kids were born after that war on Falluja? How much destruction they done to the infrastructure of that city? And why? Because they show their resistance to the invasion and Abo Graib prison scandal! Who will accept this story and have fun playing it as a game? It is shame on the group who designed and marketed this game. I guess all activists in the US should stand together and refuse the marketing of this game. It will ruin the minds of American youth. ...”

“You are - as I usually [] think - spot on here Yusha. ...”

“Thank you for sharing Rolla Peace Newsletter. I did not know it exist. ... I also wanted to mention that the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq was not only illegal but it fell within the definition of Crimes Against Peace that Nazi German leaders were tried for at Nuremberg in 1946. ...”

“The only thing the people of Fallujah did was defend their city against imperialist thugs . . . I remember being particularly horrified at the US Marines use of white phosphorus — ‘shake and bake’ they called it paired with artillery. That was just one more war crime. The legions of Rome were no more brutal.”

“Yes. I guess somewhere in this world, we should build a museum of war crimes. And add the story of Falluja to it. Then we can add war crimes committed in Gaza, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, ... long list!”

“Yes, that museum would cover acres. I wonder if there has ever been a country of any power that did not commit what we now consider war crimes.”

“I was in Falluja with Iraq Water Project a few months before the second invasion. This was the one and only place we Americans encountered obvious hostility from the locals. Unlike in other parts of Iraq, here we felt decidedly unwelcome and were the none too grateful recipients of universally understood obscene gestures. The US had some time before accidentally (I believe) bombed the Falluja market place and killed a lot of people. Relatives of these collaterals did not forget. ...”

“It was always my guess that Colin Powell, in spite of grievous doubts about the integrity of US intelligence, succumbed at last to the prevalent military obligation to obey chain of command priorities. I assume that in every military, ours no exception, the model soldier salutes and dutifully carries out the assigned task. ... [He] brought shame upon himself and the rest of us. How Colin Powell dealt in the recesses of his heart with this omission only he himself knew.”

“Colin Powell was the famous face of the Bush administration. But he was only one part of a bigger deeply involved team that formed Project for the New American Century in 1997 in DC, where ten of the 25 founding members of the above-mentioned think tank became essential figures of the George W. Bush Administration, promoting US global leadership by means of what they called [preventive] wars.”

“Nothing was achieved from these dreams. None of them makes America more powerful or more happy!”

“Who will keep these people accountable for the crimes they done?”

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