Truthout 3/20

Vanity of Vanities: The Iraq War Seven Years Later | Truthout Staff Editorial
In a staff editorial marking the seventh anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, the editors of Truthout write: "We are still shocked. We were never awed. We have not adjusted. The senseless waste of our blood and treasure, our honor and our reputation continue. Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom - the latter unleashed seven years ago today - have morphed into a single Operation Enduring Occupation, set to bankrupt this country financially as well as morally, to destroy our own security as it has that of the over 31 million people who populate Iraq."
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House Democrats Draw Closer to Having Votes for Health Bill
William Douglas, David Lightman and Margaret Talev, McClatchy Newspapers Newspapers: "Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives continued scouring for votes Friday among reluctant anti-abortion and conservative Democrats in search of enough "Yeas" to triumph in Sunday's historic vote on a $940 billion health care overhaul — and they appeared tantalizingly close to their goal."
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Obama Supports Bipartisan Blueprint for Immigration Reform
Yana Kunichoff, Truthout: "President Barack Obama backed a bipartisan immigration proposal on Friday. The plan, sponsored by Sens. Charles Schumer (D-New York) and Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), would require biometric identity cards, increased border security and a "tough but fair" path to legalization for undocumented immigrants."
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A Civilized Riot: A Movement for Health Care Justice
Jeanine Moloff, Truthout: "Congressman Alan Grayson (D-Florida) has been waging his own war on corporate insurance forces determined to maintain the fiscal "slaver's whip" by proposing a straightforward public option plan through the existing Medicare network. Rather than the 2,000-plus-page proposal endorsed by the president; Grayson's bill is a robust ... 4 pages."
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No Dissent in Guantanamo Detainee Review, Senate Told
Carol Rosenberg, The Miami Herald: "All US intelligence agencies agreed unanimously on which war-on-terror captives now held at Guantanamo can be let go and which alleged terrorists must be held — with or without trial, President Barack Obama's national intelligence director and attorney general told the Senate on Thursday."
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Cultural Cleansing in Iraq
Lieven De Cauter, Truthout: "With the anniversary of the war waged on Iraq, I think of what I wrote seven years ago: that this illegal invasion had nothing to do with the war on terror, but was planned well in advance, and was not about democracy but about the destruction of Iraq. I was openly taunted for it. At best, I was considered endearing or pathetic in my anger, but not on the level when it came to world politics."
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The Late Lamented Culture
Mario Roy, La Presse: "Handwriting disappears. Reading, classical music, and the theater are abandoned. French is rejected in favor of English in popular culture. Comedians make do virtually alone on the podium of artistic popularity. The company of video games little by little robs teenagers of all their free time ..."
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Groups Discuss Soldiers' Conscience Issues
Mary Susan Littlepage, Truthout: "On Sunday, more than 80 national religious, academic, advocacy and veterans' leaders will lead a discussion titled, Truth Commission on Conscience in War. The discussion, centering on issues of conscience facing service members in war, will launch the commission's eight-month campaign to bring national attention to decisions of moral and religious conscience facing American service members.
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