The President talks with Jesus Christ and God, His Father. He eschews mainstream religion for fringe cults like that of Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson. According to Ted Rall in The Progressive Populist (May 15-19,2006) Bush told the Palestinian prime minister in 2003 that “God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, then He told me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East.” We should all pray that he doesn’t get a call from God to attack Iran!In two wars Bush has killed over 2500 American soldiers and untold thousands of Afghan and Iraqi civilians. Both nations are chaotic messes filled with sectarian hate and loathing for America. Amnesty International argues that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld be tried as war criminals. I agree.
George w. Bush has created the largest deficit in history, ($7.5 trillion) and alienated most of the world’s nations. World terrorism has increased while Bush is simultaneously destroying our American Democracy in the name of “national security”!
America must wake up to the fact that President Bush is a ridiculous man who thinks God made him president to save us from our sinning and aborting ways, as well as to democratize and “set free” all the people in the world from the tyranny of their governments. Once an alcoholic, Episcopalian playboy he is now a moralistic born-again Christian of the Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson variety. He is a creationist who advocates teaching school children “intelligent design”, a variant of creationism, alongside of evolution thus eroding the distinction between the two. In fact his administration seems to be thoroughly anti-science and threatens to undermine US leadership in science and technology.
Actually, it is no longer al Quaeda who poses the greatest threat to this country. It is George W. Bush and his administration!
Elizabeth Drew in The New York Review (June 22,2006) reveals how Bush has upset the balance of power among the three branches of government provided for in the Constitution. Laws made by Congress are supposed to be faithfully executed by the President. But by using a little known device called a “signing statement” Bush can unobserved, nullify any law or execute it as he sees fit. The signing statements are placed in the Federal Register which is rarely read.
This secret and contemptuous treatment of Congress came to light this year when he signed a bill containing the McCain amendment which places restrictions on the use of torture of prisoners. After signing the bill in the standard Rose Garden ritual, he later essentially cancelled it. As commander in chief he claims that he can do anything he wants, even to the barbaric torture of prisoners in arbitrary contravention of the civilized world’s code of behavior. It is no wonder that the world scorns our hypocritical concerns for civil rights. Use of this device explains why President Bush has no need for his veto power. We no longer have a government of checks and balances; we have a government of arbitrary rule by one man who converses with God, a King in deed, if not by name.
The seriousness of the situation becomes evident when it is realized that actually George W. Bush is a mere figurehead, a dummy like Charlie McCarthy. Cheney, Rumsfeld and a small cabal of Neoconservatives including Rove, Wolfowitz and Feith are the real power behind the throne. They are the dreamers of an American Empire and Iran is next on their list. (See Andrew Bacevich’s review of Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq by Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor in the London Review of Books. 8 June 2006)
Thanks to the very influential Israel Lobby (See separate commentary below) it appears that Iran is to be the target of our next liberating mission; it will be our prized trophy! Its central location and abundant untapped oil makes it invaluable for our global mission.
In a grim article in The New Yorker (April 17,2006) Seymour Hersh stated that a high-ranking diplomat told him that all systems are in place for a preemptive nuclear strike at Iran. The Bush Administration believes that only by controlling the hearts and minds of Iran can the real issue of who is going to control the Middle East and its oil be settled, of course necessitating more regime change. It would appear that the nuclear issue can be used in the same way that weapons of mass destruction (WMD) was used as an excuse to invade Iraq. Teams of American undercover combat troops are already in Iran collecting targeting data. Millitary planning is premised on the belief that a sustained bombing attack will cause the people to overthrow the government. and greet us as liberators as they were supposed to do in Iraq.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran is able to enrich uranium and perhaps to make a bomb within 5 – 10 years.
According to the Financial Times of May 1 2006, reports are emerging of US contingency planning to bomb Iran’s nuclear installations using nuclear bombs that can penetrate deep underground. The mullahs are delighted. Most Iranians support their country’s right to such technology. The paper indicates that Iran should reassure the world of its peaceful intentions and in turn US should guarantee that it would not attack.
A U.S. military strike would strengthen Iran’s determination to have nuclear capability; it would inflame the Middle East and the global Muslim population, crippling U.S. security, economic and strategic interests worldwide.
The Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has stated that Iran’s policy was working in the framework of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The disastrous consequences of Bush taking action against Iran include escalation of military action (with no troops available to escalate), oil pricing shocks, increased terrorism , worsening insurgency in Iraq, weakening of the Nonproliferation treaty, a stronger Ahmadinejad and increased international isolation. According to the National Academy of Sciences an atomic attack on Iran would incinerate more than a million civilians and create a cancer producing area larger than that of Chernoble.
On the other hand: according to political analysts an attack on Iran would head off the danger of a Democratic win in November and would offer Bush a way to head off impeachment when Congress becomes more Democratic in the 2006 elections.
In The New Republic (May 8, 2006) TRB asserts that the Hawks, who are for the U.S. making a preemptive strike on Iran, must show that if Iran gets a nuclear weapon it cannot be deterred from using it or transferring it to terrorists. “Where is the evidence that the mullahs seek martyrdom so fervently that they would risk the one thing that most regimes value above all else: survival?”
Actually, the Persians have not launched a war of aggression since the 16th century and there is no reason to believe Iran has aggressive intentions now. Only Israel will be upset at having her nuclear capabilities balanced. If Israel does not attack Iran there is no reason for Iran to attack Israel. In either case, both countries would be destroyed which they are well aware of. Most likely WWIII would ensue and planet Earth with its fauna and flora would be rendered unrecognizable
Iranians are not Arabs. They are Farsi-speaking Shiite Persians that have long been bitter enemies of Iraq. The population is relatively unified and nationalistic. Iran is about 4 times as large as Iraq and its territory just as rugged. It would be very stupid to start a ground war of aggression against Iran. The fact that they are developing nuclear capabilities is no indication that they are a threat to World peace. After all, Israel and Pakistan have atom bombs which they have not used. The Iranian people support their country’s right to both technology and deterrence. In view of Israel’s nuclear capability it is unreasonable that Iran cannot likewise have protection.
Matthew Rothschild in The Progressive (May 2006) states that Bush prefers military action to diplomacy. In March 2006 the Administration issued a new national security strategy which pinpoints Iran as being our most dangerous foe. Where is the evidence? The US at the behest of the Israel Lobby is making all the threatening noises. We have called upon Iran to renounce its nuclear program and open up its political system and afford freedom for its people. Unless Iran accedes to our wishes, the Administration claims it justification for a preemptive strike. What unmitigated gall!
Paul Craig Roberts in The American Conservative (May 8, 2006) states that the U.S. lacks sufficient conventional capability to prevail in any war it starts in Iran. He states further: “The Bush administration has committed America to a foreign policy that means years of wars and likely pre-emptive U.S. nuclear attacks against other countries.”
The Bush administration, with the support of both political parties, preaches democracy to the world while ignoring it at home. Roberts also points out that the primacy that the neoconservatives are seeking over the world will prevail over American people as well.
WESTERN CIVILISATION is undergoing deep changes. Having a soul and believing in God is no longer of central importance. What is important is personal responsibility. Optimism and belief in human goodness are essential to building a better world. Because superstition and mumbo-jumbo abound, we must not give up our trust in rationality and science. In order to meet the future it is essential to avert ecological suicide and learn to live with fewer finite resources. If we do not require truly responsible individualism from our leaders and ourselves civilization is doomed. The greatest threat to society is the decline in “liberalism” and the increased power of the neoconservative movement.
