Does this sound familiar? President Bush rallies one of his
most loyal and belligerent bases of mindless support by telling them a country
– Iran, in this case, Iraq, a few years ago – must face “consequences”
for its alleged “defiance and delay” in responding to U.N. demands it
stop enriching uranium. One after another, the heavy hitters of the Bush Regime
solemnly declare that this country faces a dire and deadly threat that must be
stopped. The American Legion convention in Salt Lake City, which is taking on
the appearance of one of the Nuremberg rallies Hitler and the Nazis used to
stage in Germany to prime the German population for its invasions of countries
near and far, is being used as the focal point for Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld
to pave the way for a completely illegitimate and unjust war against Iran.
Listen to what Bush said in Salt
Lake, think of the track record of his
Regime, and think through what this means in the real world, among real people:
“It is time for Iran
to make a choice. We’ve made our choice. We will continue to work closely with
our allies to find a diplomatic solution, but there must be consequences for Iran’s defiance, and we must not allow Iran
to develop a nuclear weapon.”
Bush also said to the assembled Legionnaires “The
Iranian regime denies basic human rights to millions of its people. The Iranian
regime is pursuing nuclear weapons in open defiance of its international
obligations. We know the death and suffering that Iran’s
sponsorship of terrorists has brought, and we can imagine how much worse it
would be if Iran
were allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.”
What we actually know is the track record Bush,
Rumsfeld, Attorney General Gonzales and the rest of their crew have on “denying
basic human rights”. The tortured and maimed bodies of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. The mass killings
of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The endless detention without trial. The declaration that the U.S. can attack
any country they desire on the basis of exaggerated or concocted
“evidence”.
The Bush Regime is without any serious competition
when it comes to bringing “death and suffering” to the people of the
world, from Afghanistan to Iraq to New
Orleans. The body count is in the tens of thousands,
and they are promising more. Just listen to what they say. Nearly five years
ago Cheney said we are facing a war that will last our lifetimes. And now in
Salt Lake City, Bush, speaking of this endless war against
“terrorism” (meaning, any one who resists them – Bush et. al. don’t
define killing civilians by the score by aerial bombing as
“terrorism”) said “this war will be difficult, this war will be
long, and this war will end in the defeat of the terrorists and totalitarians
and a victory for the cause of freedom and liberty”.
Bush is rattling his saber and threatening Iran because it
may, at some point in the future, “develop a nuclear weapon”. There
is only one country on this planet which has actually used nuclear
weapons, and which possesses an arsenal of them far surpassing that of the rest
of the world combined. Whose fingers are on those triggers? What do you think
Bush means when he says, as he did last April, that “all options are on the
table” when it comes to Iran?
Do you find this tolerable?
The Bush administration is going through their
usual charade of promoting U.N. resolutions to provide the pretence that they
will go to war only as a last resort. But as former assistant secretary of
State Robert Einhorn recently wrote, “The administration approaches the
idea of negotiations with Iran
as if we are prepared to take yes for an answer, but also engages in activities
that suggest regime change is the real objective.” Recent articles in The New Yorker by Seymour Hirsch
strongly pointed out that within not only the Bush Administration but all of official Washington,
there is literally no one arguing against invading Iran;
the only debate is over how, when, and in what way.
Think Congress will stop it? Listen to what right
wing columnist Arnaud de Borchgrave wrote in the Washington Times: “This raises the question of congressional
approval. As George Will said to CBS’ George Stephanopoulos two Sundays ago,
when was the last time this president ever worried about getting approval in
advance from the Congress or the public?”
It really is time to change the script on this
madness. To come out, in a flowering of massive political opposition not only
to the threatened war against Iran but in opposition to everything the Bush
regime is doing and planning, throughout the world and in this country. Rocky
Anderson, the mayor of Salt Lake City, who participated in a demonstration of
thousands opposing Bush’s appearance there, said that Bush is a “dishonest,
war-mongering, human-rights violating president”. He’s right.
One of the reasons Bush and company started beating
the drums for war against Iran
in Salt Lake City is because Utah is where his poll approval ratings are
the highest, and he thought he would have clear sailing. Yet in Utah thousands came out to protest him. Look
over the Call to October 5, think of the thousands of people in Utah, then think of
“all the people “” throughout the country. And imagine how powerful a
political statement October 5 can be.
There isn’t a moment to waste. What direction the
future takes is in our hands. October 5: There is a Way, There is a Day!