The Iraq War & The Rest of the American Revolution

THE IRAQ WAR  & THE REST OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Open Letter by Richard Koltlarz 2/5/11 Rev. Copyrighted Material (Feel free to circulate, but not for profit)
Richard Kotlarz 1605 Arundel St. Apt. D, Saint Paul, MN 55117  218-828-1366     rkotlarz@hotmail.com
Topics are linked within the page to facilitate easier reading. To request this document in other formats (MSWord, PDF or print-copy), email Richard and state preference. There is a charge for print versions to offset costs, but online versions are free for the asking. . 1.  Prologue . 2.  Shock & Awe . 3. Out of the Garden   . 4.  Historical Origins of the Money Game . 5.  “Nomisma” in Ancient Greece . 6.  Rome . 7.  The Dark Ages . 8.  The Crusades . 9.  Usury – The Moral Debate 10. Conquest of the Americas 11. A Brief History of English Money 12. The Bank of England and the Rise of Colonialism 13. Imperialism 14. The Rest of the American Revolution 15. The New Nation Unfolds 16. The Civil War 17. Post Civil War 18. Assassination & Co-option of the Republicans 19. Alexander del Mar on Betrayal & Co-option of the Democrats 20. Religious Campaign Against the Greenbacks 21. Bankers’ Campaign to Destroy the Greenbacks 22. Emergence of the Populist Movement 23. Farmers & Labor Get Organized 24. Manifest Destiny 25. The Federal Reserve Act 26. The Great Depression 27. Word War II & the “Parity Dollar” 28.  Mayflower Hotel (1947) – The Empire Strikes Back 29. Post-War Transformation 30. The Last Political Defenders of Free Enterprise 31. Death of the Historic Debate 32. A Closer Look at the War in Iraq 33. Cancer 34. Where are the Dissenting Voices? 35. Judaic, Christian, Islamic and Native American Ethics 36. Two Bankers Speak 37. Clash of Civilizations? 38. Identifying the Enemy 39. “He Is Us” 40. A New Way Forward 41. Coming Full-Circle 42. What to Do Now? 43. The Monetary System is Tried in Court 44. Regaining Control of Our Destiny45. A New Beginning46. Thinking for Ourselves 47. A Note On the Spiritual Dimension 48. The Question of Pacifism 49. Postscript ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Why?” Hark the entreaties of the broken Souls who have borne usury’s curse, Debt-money’s train of death and woes. The huddled betimes scarce awoken Soon to find wit and will aburst, The hour, impending, no one knows. The meek get ready to inherit the earth, The earth prepares to receive the sky, The youth anon will discover a future, The wise, in love, smile – and now you know “Why?” - Richard Kotlarz PROLOGUE: "This document constitutes one whole thought.  Consequently it must be read to its conclusion to comprehend its meaning.  It started out as a list of talking points for a meeting of the local peace coalition with our congressman.  The conclave never came off, but the topic swelled with the writing, so I persisted to see where it would go.  The target audience was not so much the legislator, but rather my peace-coalition compatriots.  I had found myself moving away from the message of the movement in the sense that I was increasingly put off by its negative tenor.  The answer to the Iraq War, so it seemed to be saying, was to find and punish those who were to blame.  Appropriate accountability notwithstanding, I saw no solution in finger-pointing polemics.  I needed for my own inner integrity to write out a strong exoteric critique of the situation from a monetary perspective, but then resolve it in a way that encouraged the reader of whatever stripe to contemplate his or her own role in the matter in a way that came to grips with their own responsibility. That said, this is a vital story of sweeping scope; a veritable allegory of the gods, if you will.  It is appropriate, then, that any tendency for arcane tedium has been avoided, and a bracing tenor of language in the manner of an epic tale embraced.  To some readers it may seem at places strident or partisan, but it arrives full-circle, I believe, to a more self-reflective view in the fullness of the narrative.  A previous version of this treatise has found a resonance across a spectrum of readers that is deeper and wider than I could possibly have anticipated.  What is more, the effort has developed into a personal quest into matters economic in the broadest, most constructive, and (hopefully) visionary sense. The original version of this document was composed in the autumn of 2003, and so some of the references will seem dated.  We as a nation are, supposedly, in the process of “pulling out” now, but leaving military bases, civilian contractors and governmental advisors behind.  Revisions have been made where appropriate to maintain the conceptual integrity of the piece, in spite of the somewhat disjointed time references.  The major change from the original is the significantly expanded overview of world and U.S. history as it is woven around the thread of money.  This comprises a bit over half the treatise, but is absolutely necessary to provide a background for the discussion.  Indeed, the fact that it is missing from the common knowledge of our culture literally cripples our ability to discover who we are as a people, how we became that way, and any serious path to the future." (snip) ... NOTE: This is a lengthy and informative article and it is posted in its entirety at this website: http://economictree.org/Iraq_Am_Revolution2.html#t26