George W. Bush just keeps on lying and deceiving gullible people. He just can’t help himself, but one probably cannot blame him since his lies are his greatest success. Today Bush addressed the situation in Iraq and his plans for that occupied country, and it was all built on lies.
Who are the insurgents? Bush told a lie of omission, because while some of his facts were true, he left out hugely significant facts that don’t suit his agenda. The insurgency and its popular support in Iraq are not primarily due to "dead Enders" or "receptionists" or "Baathists" or "Saddaamists" or even "terrorists". The popular support for this insurgency comes from victims of the U.S. occupation. The U.S. has harmed countless Iraqis by war, detentions, torture, humiliation, infliction of unnecessary discomfort, and by insensitivity to all the above. Many Iraqis who would have never rebelled against any authority in their lives are desperately angry at the U.S. and want revenge. And most importantly, they are willing to support, finance, and often participate in violent actions against the occupation. Most Iraqis understand what the US is after, and although they are relieved to be rid of Saddam Hussein, they do not equate freedom from Saddam to be unequivocal freedom and they see permanent American military bases on their soil and they know that their oil is the magnet that drew America into their land. Bush’ insurgents are real, but the lie is that Iraq’s insurgents are evil, violent people out to restore an evil, violent regime. Most Iraqi insurgents and supporters are victims trying to rid themselves and their nation from the American yoke.
What about "terrorism" and a "threat to the U.S"? Bush started the War of Aggression by lying about an Iraqi threat to U.S. security. He lied about weapons of mass destruction. Bush continues to lie about an Iraqi threat to American security. The only Americans at risk from insurgents in Iraq are American occupiers who are engaged in a violent occupation of their country, featuring torture as official policy and firepower as the answer to all threats, real or perceived. Americans at home are more at risk from cancer from American tobacco, murder from American citizens with American-made handguns, or loss of freedom from American legislatures and law enforcement than from any threat Iraq and its insurgents can now or will ever mount against us. Bush continues to play the "fear" card. He wants Americans to cower, then shop, but not to think.
What about withdrawal from Iraq by American forces? Limited withdrawal is inevitable because the American military is not large enough to maintain current troop strength in Iraq indefinitely. The Bush lie is that limited withdrawal means an end to occupation. The Bush plan is to maintain significant American military presence in Iraq on a permanent basis for all practical purposes. The only American withdrawal that means anything will be the total withdrawal and closure of All-American air bases and other military bases in Iraq. This is not going to happen at all under the Bush plan. Bush scams the public by adding 30,000 in 2004 and withdrawing 20,000 in 2005 and calling it a withdrawal. A withdrawal is the turning over of All-American military bases to the Iraqi Army while All-American soldiers, airmen and other troops and equipment, including air assets are withdrawn from Iraq.
What about training Iraq’s military? The Bush lie is that America’s military is training Iraq’s forces to be self-sufficient and operational without American support. To accomplish that, America would have to build an Iraqi air force. Saddam Hussein had an air force. Iraq has skilled jet fighter pilots capable of flying modern combat aircraft. Iraq could easily produce a new air force capable of ground support roles with fighter aircraft, air support aircraft and helicopter gunships. But the US does not want a trained Iraqi air force, because the US does not want an independent Iraqi military, nor an Iraqi military capable of launching air attacks on American forces. Can you imagine an Iraqi pilot with an A-10 warthog getting sick of the American occupation and attacking an American armored column?
The fact is that nothing Bush ever says is fully true, and rarely totally false, either. Bush deals in facts that mislead and deceive. Bush attempts to deceive the American public, the American soldier, and the Iraqi public about his goals and methods. The Americans tend to be gullible and fooled by the lies. The Iraqis and most of the rest of the world see through the lies. Most Iraqis want peace, but most want freedom and many understand they cannot have both in the context of an American military occupation of their nation.
