A message from Andrew Olmsted:

I do ask (not that I’m in a position to enforce this) that no one try to use my death to further their political purposes. I went to Iraq and did what I did for my reasons, not yours. My life isn’t a chit to be used to bludgeon people to silence on either side. If you think the U.S. should stay in Iraq, don’t drag me into it by claiming that somehow my death demands us staying in Iraq. If you think the U.S. ought to get out tomorrow, don’t cite my name as an example of someone’s life who was wasted by our mission in Iraq. I have my own opinions about what we should do about Iraq, but since I’m not around to expound on them I’d prefer others not try and use me as some kind of moral capital to support a position I probably didn’t support. Further, this is tough enough on my family without their having to see my picture being used in some rally or my name being cited for some political purpose. You can fight political battles without hurting my family, and I’d prefer that you did so.

On a similar note, while you’re free to think whatever you like about my life and death, if you think I wasted my life, I’ll tell you you’re wrong. We’re all going to die of something. I died doing a job I loved. When your time comes, I hope you are as fortunate as I was.

Andrew Olmsted died attempting to convince some insurgents to surrender, rather than killing them. Take the time to read the whole of his last post.

Working at my desk in the toils of another cold I break for lunch and hear part of the Radio Four play.

Q: What is the subject of the play?

A: A CIA man comes to Ireland ostensibly to compile his book of statistics, having earlier allowed Osama bin Laden to escape on horseback from the caves of Tora Bora.

Q: Is the CIA man generally incompetent?

A: He is generally incompetent.

Q: In what way does he show his general incompetence?

A: By betraying himself at every turn.

Q: Working for the CIA, is he also therefore an irresponsible warmonger and a supporter of President Bush’s disastrous policies in the Middle East, above all in Iraq?

A: You may rest assured on that point.

Q: In considering his character would you say he was a good father and faithful husband?

A: He is neither a good father nor a faithful husband, as briefly but forcefully illustrated by an illuminating telephone dialogue.

Q: Does anything enlightening happen to him in Dublin to demonstrate his crassness, such as an encounter with those considerably brighter and better than him?

A: You may rest assured that it does.

Q: Describe the circumstances of this demonstration.

A: He is attracted to a beautiful young Irish woman who is clearly far cleverer than he is.

Q: And is he duly upbraided for the sins of his country?

A: He is duly upbraided.

Q: And are the Irish people generally depicted as an altogether more wonderful species of human being than Americans?

A: The truth of that assumption is amply demonstrated.

Q: Need we go on?

A: No, we need not go on.

Using tactics reminiscent of the COINTELPRO campaigns of the 1960s, it appears that the FBI has infiltrated the American left-wing website Counterpunch and is using it to disseminate misinformation with the intent of smearing and discrediting the left. The Bush Administration isn’t content to merely use powers granted to it through the Patriot Act to spy on left-wingers, progressives, and others who would speak truth to power, it is now attempting to co-opt them and turn them against their former comrades and allies. This is a grave turn of events.

Fortunately, the spooks are no more adept at subverting the left than they were at covering up their involvement in the so-called 9/11 attacks and so their counterinformation is often less than credible. For example, who actually believes that the best way to unseat the current regime in Washington is by joining the Republican party? Or that legal access to abortion merely “keeps us divided” and health coverage for all “lends us false hope”? Or that opposition to the welfare state is now in the interests of the left? Certainly not anyone who has put more than a moment’s thought into what a left or liberal politics means. Nor will we be fooled by smears trying to conflate socialism and Nazism.

We might not be tricked by these attempts, but we must remain ever vigilant and resist this campaign. Hands Off Counterpunch!