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Cracks in the Dam
by
W. David Jenkins III
"I don't believe anyone that I know in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclear weapons."
- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld,
- (at a hearing of the Senate's appropriations subcommittee on defense, May 14)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"We believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons."
Vice President Dick Cheney on NBC's Meet the Press, March 16
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues
to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."
George W. Bush, Address to the Nation, March 17, 2003
This is such nonsense. Now we are forced to watch the members of Bush Inc. back-pedal away from every
reason they had to invade a country. Let's call it like it is - they lied. Plain and simple. They
couldn't wait for international support, let alone a good reason - so they just lied. And, what,
nobody cares?
Oh just shut up, Jenkins! They would never lie. Saddam just either hid those WMDs or sent them to
Syria or...or…Iran! Yeah, that's the ticket! Just give 'em a little more time.
I just can't believe that folks haven't caught on to the fact that whenever things start looking
pretty bad for the Keystone Kowboys - there always, miraculously, seems to be something else just a
little more important to plaster all over the news. Whether it is SARS, Laci Peterson, level "orange"
(again) or - coming soon to a theater near you - those dastardly Iranians, there will always be
something to divert your attention.
Just give 'em a little more time.
Well, I'm sure Hans Blix can identify with the Bushies' need for more time to find those WMDs. I'm
also sure he recognizes the duplicity in their request while he relishes the thought of his coming
retirement so he never has to deal with such reckless bozos again. Like so many others outside the
grip of American media, Mr. Blix is probably just another person shaking his head in disbelief.
Actually, like many of you, I've been shaking my head in disbelief as well.
Try out these little gems.
A short while ago - after we had stopped bombing civilians - Donald Rumsfeld made it clear during a
press conference that a theocratic style of government would not be allowed in the new-and-improved
Iraq. This was specifically intended to warn any Shiites waiting to fill the vacuum that - even
though they are a majority of the Iraqi population - American "liberators" would not tolerate such a
radical mix of religion and government. Especially those Shiite who suffered from any Iranian
influences.
Now, this position of Rumsfeld's might hold a little bit more water if he weren't a member of an
administration fallen victim itself to the delusions and influences of a radical religion right here
at home. Let's face it, Bush and his disciples have pretty much made it clear - especially after 9/11
- that George "Roger Ram-Jet" Bush was appointed, if not anointed, by God Almighty Himself. What's
more, the Religious Right has a major influence in domestic policy and we have an Attorney General
who thinks he's doing "God's work" and holding prayer meetings in the Dept. of Justice Building -
just before he goes out and "disappears" a few more American citizens in his war against terrorists.
Not to mention that this guy is convinced that Calico cats are a sign of the Devil. I mean, c'mon -
think about it. Do you think for a minute that anybody in the Bush administration would have a
problem with a theocratic form of government in Iraq if the Iraqis were predominantly Christian? !
Well, Bush's version of "Christian" at least? Just one of those things, I guess.
Another thing that bugs me is this nonsense over France and the rest of the world. Welcome, class, to
Hypocrisy 101. Bush-style. Let's read this next bit with the voice of Andy Rooney in your head, shall
we?
"Did you ever notice how Americans really get angry over certain Arab countries teaching their
children to hate Americans? We take great umbrage with those who would teach their children to hate
others - especially us. They burn our flag and destroy symbols of Western Culture in front of
television cameras for the world to see. They influence the underdeveloped minds in their populace to
hate us - without understanding us - without any compassion for us.
"Did you ever notice that Bush and his supporters are guilty of the same damn thing when it comes to
France or Germany or any of the other countries that didn't support their illegal invasion? 'Freedom
Fries' in the Congressional mess hall and 'severe consequences' for our former allies indeed! How
embarrassing for us all! Go ahead and dump your French wine in the gutter for the TV cameras. After
all, it's your money."
Good God, exactly what have these greedy, impulsive morons done to this country?
Don't get me wrong, I don't think any of the people surrounding Bush - the ones actually running this
debacle - are stupid. Quite the contrary. I think they know exactly what they're doing and have been
quite successful as far as they're concerned. But let's face it. These people are short -sighted and
self-serving - and the failures of this faux administration are crystal clear in Afghanistan, Iraq
and, even worse, right here at home. But these people have such a chronic long range vision deficit
that it boggles the logical mind!
Think about it.
We're still getting shot at in Iraq - hell, we're still getting shot at in Afghanistan! This is after
the Top Gun told us the conflict was over. They told us, amongst other lies, that this invasion was
not about oil - but Chevron (Rice connection), Exxon, and the rest of the gang are all lined up to
profit. And Halliburton, dear God, has tallied up so far over $496.3 million dollars worth of
business in Iraq alone! This is at the exclusion of the members of the infamous "coalition of the
willing."
Liberation? WHAT stinking liberation? Give it a rest already - the Iraqis want us out of there!
In the blink of an eye Bush Inc. has succeeded in making America the "bad guy." Sure most people
refuse to see it - but most people don't access any other media sources except for what's right under
their noses or in front of their eyes.
There was a line that stuck with me in the recent "Hitler" series on CBS that truly applies to the
masses.
"People don't want to read anything that they might have to do something about."
I would guess that mindset to be at the core of the success of such drivel as Survivor, Fear Factor
and all the other nonsense being paraded by the media as reality television. Reality - yeah sure,
whatever. It's quite obvious that many folks simply don't want to deal with reality.
Oh, that reminds me.
Rummy, Georgie and Dick.
There is a very good reason the information you receive from the CIA and other spooks is called
intelligence. See, you're supposed to make intelligent decisions based upon the information you
receive from brave people on the ground who place themselves willingly in harm's way in order to help
you. That's their job and you need to take heed to their advice. But no, you guys went and got mad
when the intelligence community brought you information on Iraq that you didn't like. When
intelligence told you that no evidence existed of an al-Quaeda/Iraq link, you just went ahead and
made one up.
When intelligence told you there was no evidence of WMDs in Iraq, you turned around and told the
world "yes, there was" based on forged documentation. Badly forged documentation. And this is why you
guys look like idiots and criminals in the eyes of the world and - yes, it does matter! We do live in
a global community whether you agree or not. That's just the way it is.
Now we have a completely demoralized intelligence community that feels used. Its efforts are supposed
to protect America - not politicized to fit some kind of reckless agenda for a small group of
demagogues who happen to be running things temporarily. Now there is something called the Veteran
Intelligence Professionals for Sanity - a group of former intelligence professionals who are so
outraged at Bush Inc. that they've started contacting and lobbying the White House personally.
Hey, Don and Dick, listen up.
The little boy you're supposed to be serving has a hard enough time fighting the "he's as smart as a
chimp with a head injury" reputation that he has. You're not helping things by doctoring intelligence
information and passing it on to him as fact. He doesn't know any better. He just reads it and the
sheep buy it. And the consequences end up killing innocent people. Y'see, guys, as this cute little
practice of yours slowly makes it into the consciousness of the mainstream you're going to end up
with a big problem. The next time Bush or any of you start up with the phrase,"...we have
intelligence that proves such and such" you're going to start hearing choruses around the world going
"s-u-u-u-r-e you do."
Please explain, once and for all, how this makes the world a safer place?
And if Bush is doing such a great job making the world a safer place then why, for Godssakes, are you
people even contemplating building "little nukes?"
That's right. Must be that the MOAB just isn't exciting enough for these guys (too much tactical
"foreplay"). Nah, these guys need something they can really climax over. And it's all in the name of
"national security" mind you, so just shut up about it! Because of the "threat" we all live under
these days - presumably they're referring to the terrorists - Bush Inc. decided quietly a long while
ago that we need a bigger boom. Really, think about it. What good is having all these really cool
nuclear weapons if nobody is willing to go along with you actually using them?
So Bush decides to oppose ratifications to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and decides that we need
to "relax" restrictions on testing new nuclear weapons. Besides, the weapon they're talking about
developing is smaller than what we dropped on Hiroshima. Now before you get all in a tizzy over this,
remember that all Bush wants is to research these weapons - not actually build them. Uh-huh, sure.
While this little story flies under the media's ever malfunctioning radar, we're picking fights with
Syria and Iran whose armies, I suspect, will not be as receptive to bribes to lay down their arms as
the Iraqis were. But these are dangerous times we live in - even though Bush is making the world
safer. (Huh?)
But as Fred S. Celec, deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for nuclear matters said, "How do
you deter and dissuade potential enemies of the United States from doing us harm?"
Well, how about asking Bush and Rumsfeld and the rest to stop behaving like a bunch of pompous asses?
How about we start by adopting a policy of not making a mess if we have no idea how to clean it up?
How about we stop "embellishing" intelligence reports to advance unpopular ideology which makes us
look like liars? How about we repair the damage we've caused both here and abroad before we do
anymore?
These suggestions may not deter our enemies completely, but we also have a lot of friends who aren't
too pleased with us either and Bush has done absolutely nothing to deal with the situation. You never
know - it might just help.
Nah, I don't think they'll go for it either.
W. David Jenkins III is a
political
writer.
He contributed above article to Media Monitors Network (MMN)
from
Upstate N.Y.,
USA.
Source:
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