President George W. Bush’s address before the United Nations General Assembly on September 19 appeared to be designed for the domestic U.S. audience. Indeed, few of the foreign delegations or international journalists present could take seriously his rhetoric regarding the promotion of democracy in the Middle East, given the reality of U.S. policy in the region.
When it comes to war profiteering, it should not matter whether you’re a war supporter or a war resister. It should not matter whether you live in a red or blue state. Or whether you drive a Hummer or a hybrid.
ÂThe war has returned with a vengeance, a Sri Lankan human rights activist sadly told me. After four years of a shaky ceasefire between the government and the armed secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), better known as the Tamil Tigers, the ugliness that characterized the nearly two decades of fighting prior to 2002 is back.
President George W. Bush and his communications gurus are rolling out their campaign to use the 9-11 anniversary to revive support for the Iraq War. Madison Avenue could be helpful here, with all the practice it has associating things, like soap and sex, that don’t have much to do with each other.
Despite promises from the White House that the address to the nation on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy would be non-political, President George W. Bush devoted much the speech to defending his unrelated policy on Iraq.
Challenged in a recent press conference on his strategy to “win” the Iraq War, President Bush defiantly stated, “If I didn’t think it would work, I would change.” Instead of “staying the course” and bad-mouthing critics by comparing them to those who sought to appease the Nazis before World War II, Bush should be seeking new and creative ways to stop the utter destruction of Iraq and the constant loss of our soldiers.
I met a traveler from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert … And on the pedestal these words appear: “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Would a bomb by another name be any less explosive? Would a landmine by another name be less pernicious?
Last week’s arrests of 24 British citizens accused of planning massive suicide missions against U.S.-bound airplanes unleashed widespread chaos and delays in airports around the world. In the aftermath of the arrests, amid the ensuing code red alerts, panic levels across Europe and the U.S. spiked. Hours after the plot was revealed, President George W. Bush boasted that, “This country is safer than it was prior to 9/11.” While the plot’s disruption may have averted a catastrophe, there is little evidence to support the president’s claim.
With no shame in drawing the U.S. into the Iraq quagmire three-and-a-half years ago, the same group of neo-conservatives including William Kristol, Richard Perle and Charles Krauthhammer are pushing for Israel/U.S. go to war with Syria and Iran. What is amazing is that despite the deep mess they got us into in Iraq, President Bush and his foreign policy team is actually listening to them.