|
CounterPunch
February
28, 2003
Now It's Personal:
Bush is a Global
Menace
By SAUL LANDAU
George W. Bush has chosen a course to divide the
country. Even before 9/11, he pitted Americans against each other
as at no other time since the 1960s. After 9/11 the polarization
became dramatic: pro and anti war groupings, environmentalists
and polluters, workers and bosses, landlords and tenants, citizens
and non-citizens. He has reached the point whereby if the UN
Security Council does not abide by his dictatorial wishes, he
will launch a strike against Iraq and render the UN essentially
irrelevant.
Look at the stern curl of his mouth,
the lines forming from his beady eyes down his cheeks, that seem
to force his lip into a seemingly mean sneer. A parent who has
lost his patience lectures the errant child after giving him
repeated warnings to change his evil ways: "I've had enough
of your nonsense. This latest offense means capital punishment."
I wonder if Barbara did a similar act when Georgie Poo was drinking
and using. Are we watching imitative behavior, with Saddam Hussein
taking the place of the once-naughty and now-reformed George
W. Bush?
He has translated his own religious beliefs
into a divisive political force, attaching anti-contraception
and anti-abortion riders to funding for UN programs and paying
federal funds to religious organizations to run programs for
the poor, homeless, addicted and unemployed. And Bush's judicial
nominees share one overall conviction: property rights over human
rights.
Bush has sewn frightening seeds of conflict
in the land. The Democrats, who should oppose his war policies
that will involve much bloodshed and horrific consequences, wring
their hands instead and make squeaks about Bush's unfair economic
program. They fear that Bush's popularity ratings deny them the
possibility of questioning the many anti-civil liberties clauses
in the USA Patriot Act. Indeed, the Democrats ceded constitutional
powers to Bush, whom, they did not trust, when they passed the
October 2002 Iraq war resolution.
Consciously or not, W's policies threaten
to destroy the very pillars of social peace on which U.S. society
has stood for decades. Moreover, he commits each act of divisiveness,
from his reward the filthy rich with dividend tax cuts at home
to kill the heathen terrorists with war abroad, with an air of
forcefulness and certainty, as if the very depth of his ignorance
provides him with the self-assurance that his paucity of knowledge
should deny. The Democrats do not challenge this ultra Teflon
character who may well have stolen the 2000 election from them,
after spending years doing super shady oil business and going
AWOL from his Texas Air National Guard unit.
This man with global ambition and moderate
intelligence does possess a smart and pushy set of advisers.
They have changed the context of world debate. Instead of talking
about how contemporary imperialism--in its military, economic
and cultural forms--brutalizes billions of people in the third
world, Bush has manipulated discussion toward the threat of Saddam
Hussein and his alleged weapons of mass destruction.
Iraq, which had remained and should continue
to remain a back burner and peripheral issue, has taken center
stage in a seemingly unstoppable march to war. Will we strike
with the UN or without it? The Democrats accept his false assumptions
and shake their cowardly heads.
Or, must we revert to political logic
to explain why Bush marches toward war with Iraq. On February
5, the Bush Administration presented its best case. Secretary
of State Colin Powell told the UN Security Council with an illustrated
lecture that he had an air-tight case for military action against
Iraq albeit he produced no smoking gun. To show that Iraq had
not complied with the UN resolution 1441 ( in other words, eliminating
weapons of mass destruction), he showed slides from aerial photos,
played sound bites from supposedly intercepted communications
of Iraqi military and scientific officials and related alleged
links between the nefarious Al-Qaeda and Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein.
Powell did not convince the majority
on the Council. U.S. intimidation, bribery and promises lured
a few members of the "new" Europe like the Czech Republic
and Poland, to join with rightwing governments from "old"
Europe like Spain and Italy, and, of course, the lap dog Tony
Blair of England. When Jack Straw, the British Foreign Minister
who as Home Secretary had engineered Pinochet's phony medical
escape from trial in Spain in March 2000, rose to endorse Washington's
bellicosity, the British press announced that large sections
of Tony Blair's "Dossier" on Iraq--that Powell had
praised as solid intelligence--had actually come from the work
of a graduate student using published sources.
No matter! The White House spinners had
intended Powell's "smoke and mirrors" show more for
the U.S. public that also finds Bush's obsession with Iraq less
than compelling. The script, with speeches stored in Oval Office
file drawers for each stage of the war foreplay, focuses on demonizing
Saddam Hussein and then repeating unfounded assertions that he
poses an immediate threat to US security -- while UN inspectors
continue searching through his underwear. And, of course, the
speeches ignore the fact of U.S. complicity in the very crimes
that have now become unspeakable.
For example, Bush harps on Saddam's criminal
behavior. But the Reagan and senior Bush Administrations both
supported Saddam during the period in the 1980s when he allegedly
gassed Iranian troops and civilians at Halabja (now put into
doubt by former U.S. Intelligence experts). Stephen C. Pelletiere,
a Senior CIA political analyst on Iraq in the 1980s, analyzed
U.S. military intelligence and claims that the Iranians dropped
the gas on the Kurds, not Saddam (NY Times Op-Ed 1/31/03, "A
War Crime Or An Act Of War?"). The US provided Saddam with
logistical help--showing the position of Iranian troops -- the
better to deploy his use chemical weapons. Indeed, Reagan approved
of U.S. companies selling Iraq components of what became their
biological weapons systems--nasty stuff like botulism and West
Nile virus. And, of course, in 1983 Reagan dubbed Rumsfeld as
his special envoy to Iraq.
Theories of Bush's motives abound: finishing
the unfinished business of his father, seeking to control the
vast Iraqi oil reserves and water supply, furnishing the U.S.
with a permanent base in the region, helping Israel by giving
them a place to remove the Palestinians, and, of course, performing
his sworn duty to God.
But one of his high up pushers and planners
laid out an actual world domination scheme--a "full spectral
dominance" scheme as their national security lingo calls
it. British journalist John Pilger (New Statesman, December 16,
2002) quotes Defense Policy Board Chairman Richard Perle speaking
after 9/11: "We are fighting a variety of enemies. There
are lots of them out there. All this talk about first we are
going to do Afghanistan, then we will do Iraq . . . this is entirely
the wrong way to go about it. If we just let our vision of the
world go forth, and we embrace it entirely and we don't try to
piece together clever diplomacy, but just wage a total war .
. . our children will sing great songs about us years from now."
According to Pilger, Perle waited patiently
for "some catastrophic and catalyzing event -- like a new
Pearl Harbor". 9/11 then became "the opportunity of
ages". Perle worked on The Project for the New American
Century, says Pilger, a joint planning operation of the American
Enterprise Institute, the Hudson Institute and members of the
current Bush regime (like Vice President Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld,
and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz. Pilger). He calls these men "the
modern chartists of American terrorism."
As the candidate who once espoused a
more humble nation, Bush now serves as an instrument for a 21st
Century empire unlike any seen before. Defense spending--meaning
money for aggression--will continue to rise under the "we
need to fight and win several wars at once" doctrine. The
high tech weapons makers will reap benefits, of course; the rest
of the economy will fend for itself with an ever-increasing deficit.
But these dreamers [vague] don't want to face practical reality.
One doesn't have to look beyond Bob Woodward's
Washington Post series on how 9/11 fell into the lap of opportunists.
The ubiquitous Rumsfeld supposedly asked the Cabinet to endorse
his scheme to bomb Iraq as the main target of anti-terrorist
warfare, not Afghanistan. Powell slowed the process down to prepare
the gullible U.S. public.
Indeed, one has to no more than glance
at a post 9/11 map to see the proliferation of 60 plus U.S. bases
in regions where "strategic" resources lie--oil, gas,
uranium. Bush has used the fiendish Al Qaeda attack to stand
as a strongman, a reversal of his prior image. Since his bold
post-attack speech, the media have treated him as the super Teflon
president--allowing his old sins, stupid remarks and incoherent
"logic" to pass unquestioned.
Bush and his intimidators have frightened
the nation and the world. Their rhetoric vitiates reflection.
It induces panic and anxiety. The public must beware. Controls
increase at borders, train stations and airports. On February
7, one Los Angeles supervisor notified his staff:
"The Federal Department of Homeland
security has raised the nationwide alert status from yellow to
orange. Orange is a high condition declared when there is a high
risk of terrorist attacks. We must do the following countywide
procedures as established by the County's Office of Emergency
Management:
-- Review existing building evacuation
plans.
-- Review mail handling/package delivery procedures.
-- Review information systems security issues.
-- Test rapid employee notification procedures.
-- Notify Executive Office of the alert change.
-- Take additional precautions at public events.
-- Check availability of alternate work sites in case of an incident.
Just an added note: Please be sure you
have a calling tree that includes each staff member in your organization
in your possession at all times.This is not meant in any way
to imply that our facilities are a target. We work closely with
the County's Office of Emergency Management to insure we get
the most recent information on emergencies and disasters. Should
you have any questions on this matter, please call me at .."
As the grim-faced Attorney General warns
the nation of an impending tragedy somewhere in that vast, vulnerable
public space and increases police patrolling of various locations,
he simultaneously advises the public to shop, travel and do their
regular business--behave as if everything was normal.
Welcome to the less than brave and somewhat
second hand world of George W. Bush.
Saul Landau
is the Director of Digital Media and International Outreach Programs
for the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences, California
State Polytechnic University, Pomona. His new film, IRAQ: VOICES
FROM THE STREETS, is available through The Cinema Guild. 1-800-723-5522.
He can be reached at: landau@counterpunch.org
Yesterday's
Features
Dr. Richard Lichtman
Psychologists
and War
John Stanton
Life
in a Barrel of Oil
Carol Norris
George Bush's War on Himself: the World is His Battlefield
Wayne Madsen
The
First Shots of the War
Pablo Mukherjee
Orwell's
Bastards: Lies and Shameless Pretence
Larry Mosqueda
A Duty to Obey All Unlawful Orders
Behzad Yaghmaian
Scarf and Make-Up: the Modern Face of Islam
Jason Leopold
Hell-Bent for War: the Six Year Campaign by Right Wing Think
Tanks to Promote Takeover of Iraq
Anthony Gancarski
Bush's Divine Inspiration:
What If Jesus Were a Gunslinger?
Ellen Cantarow
The
Day of the Barricades: New York City Against the People
Sam Bahour & Michael Dahan
Snow Covered Rubble
Website of the Day
Bush
and Blair: the Duet
Keep CounterPunch Alive:
Make
a Tax-Deductible Donation Today Online!
home / subscribe
/ about us / books
/ archives / search
/ links /
CounterPunch Available Exclusively
to Subscribers:
- CounterPunch Special:
The Persecution of Gershon Legman by Susan Davis: Smut, the Post Office, Commies
and the FBI;
- Reeling Democrats: Is Pelosi the Answer?
- Gandhi v. Hitler: the Secret Race for the Nobel
Prize;
- Sullying Mario Savio's
Memory;
- Lynching Then and Now;
- Earn While You Learn: Chris Whittle and Child Labor;
The Case of the Pompous
Professor;
- The Class Struggle in
Boston: All that
Effort, But What Did They Get?
Remember, the CounterPunch website is
supported exclusively by subscribers to our newsletter. Our worldwide
web audience is soaring , with about seven million hits a month
now. This is inspiring, but the work involved also compels us
to remind you more urgently than ever to subscribe and/or make
a (tax deductible) donation if you can afford it. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe
Now!
Or Call Toll Free 1 800 840 3683
home / subscribe
/ about us
/ books
/ archives
/ search
/ links
/
|
February 22
/ 23, 2003
Laura Flanders
Security Threat?
Bernadette Devlin McAliskey Barred Entry to US
Alexander Cockburn
The Trouble with E-Bombs
Kathy Kelly
Letter from Baghdad
Tight Squeeze
Subcomandate
Marcos
A Universal
No to the War of Fear
William Cook
Armageddon Anxiety
Jo Freeman
Conservative Women
Michael Colby
Howard Dean is No Green
Ben Tripp
Fact-Checking the Constitution
Joanne Mariner
Pets Unite!
Richard Falk and David Krieger
Iraq and the Failures of Democracy
Uri Avnery
War Crimes and Sharon
Ian Williams
John Bolton in Jerusalem
Michael Wolff
How Sanctions Destroyed Iraqi Education
William Hughes
The Zev and Ari Show
Susanna Sonnenberg
Boxing Missoula
Michael Ortiz Hill
Peace and Humility
Anis Shivani
When Kafka Aligns with Orwell
John Mihelich
The Hidden History of Butte's
Working Class
Rich Procter
Bush and His Fabled Gut
Adam Engel
Voice of the Nation
Becky Johnson
The Hopscotch Rebellion
Krieger, Tripp, Ashley
Poets' Basement
Website of
the Weekend
The
Pedro Martinez of Palestine
February 15
/ 16, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
Colin
Powell and the Great "Intelligence Fraud"
Rep. Dennis
Kucinich
The Whole World is Watching
Edward Said
A Monumental Hypocrisy
Wouter Hijink
Report from Amsterdam
"War: Do Not Feed!"
Linda Heard
At Last! Proud to be British
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Taking a Stand on Iraq
Robert Fisk
The Case Against War
Lev Grinberg
Lessons from Israel
A War Without Legitimacy
Chris Floyd
Cold Fronts:
Bush War Profits
Ahmad Faruqui
Stepping Back from the Brink of War
Norman Madarasz
French Kisses from the Citizens of France
Adam Lebowitz
Scott Ritter in Tokyo
Kurt Nimmo
Bring Us the Head of Osama bin Laden
Forrest Hylton
The Revolt in Bolivia
Col. Dan Smith
Irrelevance and Credibility:
Bush, NATO and the UN
Wayne Madsen
The Lies of Tom Lantos
Ranjit Hoskote
The Invisible Modernities of the Islamic World
Emily Zitter-Smith
Who's Safe Now?
An American in Cairo
Rich Procter
Anybody Remember the Powell Doctrine?
Poets Basement:
Eliot
Katz, Scott Handleman, and Bruce Tomczak
Website of the Weekend
Anti-War
Posters
Read
Whiteout and Find Out
How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
|