According to public and private sources, the Bush Administration’s war on Iraq is well underway (as much as “underway” can describe an aerial occupation now entering its twelfth year, and recently celebrated with an interdictory fly-over of the Iraqi capitol). Public sources describe how in early August, U.S. Army Special Forces, with the assistance of elite Turkish commandos, seized the critical Bamerni airport in northern Iraq, and how since June, American and Turkish construction engineers have been working in northern Iraq, building and expanding airfields and air strips to make them fit for military use. Private sources tell Cyberista about the construction of other support/resupply bases somewhere in Northeast Africa.
Despite the fact that it took 17 weeks for Poppy Bush to move the U.S. American war machine to the Persian Gulf in 1991, war with Iraq may happen before the November general elections, which are less than nine weeks away.
The classic “October Surprise”, right?
An October surprise, a political war for the sole purpose of whipping up angry, ignorant people to vote for Republicans—in order to retain control of the House and regain control of the Senate—is and attractive but simplistic accusation. It is attractive because it fits nicely into an “ignorant maniac” caricature held dearly by Bush opponents. It is simplistic because the neoconservative junta that runs the Administration has adequately demonstrated creative and downright shocking ways to display their disregard for the Legislature and everything else, like the American public or “the facts”, that stand in the way of their foreign policy objectives: Control Iraqi Oil, Lean into Saudis.
Controlling Iraqi oil fits nicely into the “oil man & oil man accessories” résumé combo of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld. Energy corporations and defense contractors have the neoconservative junta in their pockets. Taking control of Iraq would give the U.S. leverage over world oil markets. Never mind that the U.S. is capable of gaining this leverage through less confrontational means; it is more profitable to manufacture the weapons needed for such a conflict, secure the contracts needed to transport everything and put on a nice display of bread and circuses for ordinary clones to munch on while Americans have no jobs and a corrupt, exclusionary, and simply unacceptable economy to live under.
That gets closer but still doesn’t quite hit the truth. Regional oil control supposes a carefully crafted plan that is uncharacteristic of the traditionally ad hoc nature of US foreign policy.
A combination of the Administration’s recent utterances and the lesson of “Occam’s Raiser” brings us to the most alarming possibility: By underestimating the American public’s appetite for destruction and, quite frankly, collective global intellect, the Administration has tough-talked themselves into a deep hole. The rhetoric has been heightened to such a crescendo that if they say they do and later decide they don’t, there is a real chance of losing more than just international respect: they could lose the election.
In chess, the situation is “Mate in 3.” No matter what their next moves are, they lose. No matter what their motives are, they—led by Dubya–are irresponsible.
Dubya has declared his irresponsibility by simply considering a pre-emptive strike, a wholly unprovoked attack against a sovereign nation that, according to UNSCOM director Scott Ritter, has had 90% to 95% of their weapons of mass destruction destroyed, along with the entire infrastructure to develop such weapons. Dubya has declared his irresponsibility by conspicuously ignoring his constituents, friends, and allies. Dubya has declared his irresponsibility by co-opting the wellspring of patriotism created out of 9/11 to justify a completely unrelated misadventure in Iraq.
Dubya is a Muppet of the neoconservative junta that put him in power. The neoconservative junta have never been in harm’s way, yet are more than willing to send other people’s sons and daughters to face bombs and bullets. The neoconservative junta treats the U.S. military like their personal toy soldiers. The neoconservative junta treats the American public and the rest of the world like it doesn’t exist. The neoconservative junta is so corrupted by power that they arrogantly believe that all they must do is to act on their rabid intentions and everybody will clearly see they are right.
Opposition be damned. We’re going to war.
Most of your friends, siblings and parents aren’t in the military by force of conscription, if at all. Without the draft, you have a zero percent chance of being stained by Iraqi blood. The existence of professional armed forces allows you the luxury of not worrying about American blood either.
For the record, “Opposition” is not limited to the usual suspects of the leftist intelligentsia. “Opposition” includes such notable conservatives like Henry Kissinger, Senator Chuck Hagel, Poppy’s best friend Brent Scowcroft and Poppy’s Secretary of State James “A is for Asshole” Baker.
When old hands are against Dubya’s plans and feel the need to go public to get their point across, reality is clear:
The neoconservative junta is in charge. Their formula for war is simple.
If the American people don’t follow, and if they don’t see justice in the cause, a nice little enemy combatant label and indefinite time locked inside the country’s sprawling prison industrial complex should take care of the domestic problem. If our friends and allies don’t follow and if they don’t seek justice in the cause, a public berating of their “ties to terror” and putting them on the docket for economic or physical destruction should take care of the foreign relations problem.
U.S. foreign policy is created when the sun rises and is forgotten about when the sun sets. Is U.S. foreign policy aimless and ad hoc with no direction and no long-term objective outside the wishes of the highest bidder? Or does the neoconservative junta have truly far-reaching designs on the Middle East?
Iraq is a secular, educated and cosmopolitan state. Saddam Hussein is a dictator whose interests do not coincide with fundamentalist Islam. Saddam Hussein kills fundamentalists. Under those two conditions alone, Iraq should be our friend and not an enemy. The Saudi Royal Family, however, is a blatant criminal syndicate that runs its operations out of a fundamentalist, backward and medieval state. The Saudi regime and fundamentalist Islam share common ground in so far as the fact that money talks and bullshit seeks the destruction of the United States. Under those two conditions alone, Saudi Arabia should be our enemy and not our friend.
The only way to stop this impending debacle is through a regime change. Not in Baghdad but in Washington.
Inspiring regime change in Washington won’t be easy. What was once a merely annoying apathy has been replaced by a disturbing deference to the will of tyrants. US Americans were shaken out of their sheltered life of TV, fast food, fast cars, petty crime, music, video games, internet porn, alcohol, drugs and fornication. In short, the impact of 9/11 has thrown US Americans out of Plato’s proverbial cave and they, as evidenced by the dearth of meaningful dissent on campuses and throughout the country at large, want the shortest and most immediate route back into the cave.
