Trinicenter.com - Bush War on Iraq

by Ben Roberts*

A Case of a Drowning Man Grabbing at Straws

There seems to be no end to the lengths to which George Bush will go to justify waging war on Iraq. Just when you think 'okay this takes the cake,' the man comes up with something even more farfetched and off the charts. We have already seen to what length his cohort British Prime Minister Tony Blair would go with what I call his Dossier for Dummies. But Blair made a fool of himself and has sat down and, for the most part, kept quiet since then. Not so for George Bush. He has continued rolling along like a tumbleweed, oblivious as to whether or not he should fold his tent and go home, his actions becoming increasingly bizarre and desperate as the days go by. Let us take a look at what has transpired with Bush, in his role as town crier for war with Iraq.

Bush and his Administration began the assault on Iraq right after September 11, by calling for an attack on that country because it supposedly posed a terrorism threat to America, and might have been involved in that attack and the anthrax bioterror incident. Evidence from very credible sources proved such speculation to be wrong. Stumped, Bush then claimed that Iraq needed to be attacked because it might, in the near future, engineer such attacks against the United States. When this got few takers Bush announced that Iraq had to be attacked to protect Saudi Arabia. The Saudis declined, saying they did not want the United States to attack Iraq on their behalf. Imagine that! The people you claim to want to protect from some vile bogeyman decline your protection. Makes you wonder if the bogeyman is real. Undaunted by this, Bush then declared that Iraq had to be attacked to protect Israel. Get real! Israel needs no protection by the United States. They have nuclear stockpiles ready to unleash on the Arab world. Ask Mordecai Vannunu. For nearly two decades this Israeli has sat in an Israeli jail for telling the world about his country's runaway nuclear weapons program.

Bush was striking out. It was time to up the ante. But how? How to get America and the West concerned and quaking in their boots? Weapons of mass destruction. Yeah. That's the ticket. This became Bush's new mantra. Iraq had to be attacked, in his words, because it had weapons of mass destruction. A few questions are in order here. I keep hearing about weapons of mass destruction, but have yet to hear an explanation of what they are exactly. It reminds me of the vague military phrases like collateral damage, surgical strikes, pinpoint bombing, and smart weapons. These are terms primarily invented by the military to mislead and allay any concerns by their citizenry as to what their forces are really doing. Are weapons of mass destruction nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, or bioweapons? Or are they all of the above? If they are, America has them. As does Britain, France, Russia and a number of former Soviet republics, China, Israel, India, Pakistan, and now North Korea. From this list it seems that having such weapons conveys an image of sophistication, strength, and having arrived. This being the case it would seem that Iraq, like most countries, would aspire to possess such weapons. How are they monsters for aspiring to be in the same club as the world's most prominent nations?

To breathe new life into his 'war on Iraq' cause Bush decided to address the United Nations, demanding that this body, which represents nation building and the community of nations, allow him to rain down death and destruction on the citizens of another country. How obscene and barbaric! When the UN balked things got fast and furious. Bush presented 'pictures' of Iraqi installations actively involved in weapons production. What deceit. He had us cold. You, I, and every working stiff on the planet couldn't tell from aerial photos the difference between a weapons factory and a brickmaking factory. But Hans Blix the premier UN weapons inspector could. He said the pictures showed inoperative sites he and his team had inspected and dismantled years earlier. Caught in his deception Bush then berated the UN, demanding that it 'show some backbone,' that it 'do the right thing,' that 'by not acting it risked a fate like the League of Nations.'

About this time the Saudis agreed to facilitate America in an attack on Iraq with UN endorsement. Well, at this point Bush and his team went into overdrive. The insults to the UN got more vitriolic. Bush insisted that the other four permanent security council members pass a resolution allowing him to attack Iraq. They did not. Then he demanded passage of a new resolution giving him free rein for an attack. They did not. Desperate, his UN team promised lucrative oilfields in a post Saddam Iraq to oil companies of the permanent security council member nations that were holding out. How unscrupulous, and arrogant. No wonder people in some parts of the world resent America. They actually like everyday Americans. It is the by-the-hook-or-by-the-crook U.S. government they detest.

Guess who was most instrumental in derailing Bush's garish prom night on the world scene with a war on Iraq? I hate to say this, but it was Bush's good friend, Jerry Falwell. There was the self important Falwell on 60 Minutes so chummy, chuckly, coolly insulting the Muslim world by announcing that Muhammad was a terrorist. Falwell did not put his foot in his mouth. He has done that so often. This time he put his foot in George Bush mouth. There must be a foot in Bush's mouth because he has said nothing about Falwell's comment, or reprimanded him. Do you think this was lost on Saudi Arabia, the foremost Muslim country? Do you think they did not see over 100,000 Americans march on Washington opposing the war? Think again. Now they do not want the U.S. launching a war from their soil or over their airspace. Bush the civilized community of nations do not want a war. Your friends do not want a war. Your citizens do not want a war. Read their collective lips. Leave Hans Blix alone. Fold you tent. Go home.

Ben Roberts is a newsletter editor, freelance writer and published author. His book, Jackals of Samarra, was published in January 2001. Ben can be contacted by email at: grandt730@aol.com