------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Oct. 17, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
NOT A SPEECH BUT A DIATRIBE: BUSH BUILDS A WAR ON LIES By Fred Goldstein President George W. Bush's speech in Cincinnati on Oct. 7 was designed to build momentum for Washington's planned war of aggression against Iraq. The speech contained an almost uninterrupted stream of lies, vilification and appeals to fear and threats, all couched as "arguments" to answer his so-called critics. Bush repeated his insinuation, made over and over again in other speeches, that the Iraqi government was somehow tied to the Sept. 11 attack. These insinuations were made without one iota of evidence. Bush reiterated the charge, denied by the Iraqi government, that Baghdad was producing biological and chemical weapons- again without any evidence. He repeated the charge that Iraq was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon with which to threaten the United States. No evidence supplied. Bush again implied that Iraq had expelled weapons inspectors, when in fact it was the U.S. that had the weapons inspectors withdrawn in 1998, prior to the bombing of Iraq in operation Desert Fox. Iraq refused later to readmit the inspectors because the inspection team was being directed by Washington to violate the terms of the inspection regime by probing for military information that could be used by the Pentagon in an attack. SPEECH IGNORES IRAQI CONCESSIONS Bush completely left out of his talk the monumental fact that Iraq has made the major concession of agreeing to unfettered weapons inspections of the country by the UN. Not only did Iraq announce this concession, it followed it up by working out a detailed agreement with Hans Blix, head of the UN weapons inspection team, including arrangements to inspect government buildings like the headquarters of the Republican Guard and the Defense Ministry building, among others. This agreement was torn up by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on the grounds that it was based on a 1998 UN resolution specifying that the inspection of presidential sites had to be announced in advance and accompanied by an Iraqi official. The Iraqi government then stated it would allow unannounced inspection of presidential sites. Bush had the audacity to accuse the Iraqis of aggression for firing back in self-defense at U.S. and British war planes that illegally violate its air space every single day. They fly in the so-called "no-fly zones" and fire at will on Iraqi targets, killing many civilians in the process. These "no-fly zones" were simply declared by Washington in violation of all international law. By launching an uninterrupted stream of baseless charges-- while omitting any reference to Iraqi concessions--Bush made it clear that there is no condition that the Iraqi government can meet, short of resigning and turning over the government to a U.S.-puppet regime, that will satisfy the White House and prevent the Pentagon from launching an unprovoked war of imperialist aggression. Bush's hypocrisy could not have been clearer. On the same day that he was beating the drums of war against Iraq for "supporting terrorism" and seeking "weapons of mass destruction," U.S. imperialism's client state of Israel--the only nuclear power in the Middle East--launched a massive invasion upon the densely populated refugee camp of Khan Yunis in Gaza, using tanks and helicopters. They fired a missile into a crowded street, killing 13 Palestinian civilians, including children. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared the operation to be a "great success." BUSH LINES UP CONGRESS Bush's immediate political goal was to add momentum to the vote for military intervention about to take place in Congress. This vote, in turn, is meant to strong-arm the UN Security Council and let them know that whatever they do or say, Washington is going to invade. The first victory of the Bush administration in lining up the political establishment for the new "unilateralism" of the Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz grouping came in the struggle over a joint congressional resolution on the war. This victory was attained on Oct. 2 when House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, a Democrat from Missouri, stepped forward to embrace the Bush resolution. He was photographed along with the Republican supporters of Bush announcing the deal on the White House steps. The joint resolution is titled "Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq." Its preamble declares that "it should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove from power the current Iraqi regime." The body of the resolution declares that "The Congress of the United States supports the efforts by the president to strictly enforce through the United Nations Security Council all relevant Security Council resolutions applicable to Iraq and encourages him in those efforts." It goes on to "encourage" the president to "obtain decisive action by the Security Council." It then concludes that "the president is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines necessary to (1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and (2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions regarding Iraq." It requires that the failure of diplomatic measure be reported by Bush to the House of Representatives 48 hours after (!) an invasion takes place. In other words, this resolution tells the French imperialists, the Russian capitalists, the Chinese government that they will have no say whatsoever in the matter of a U.S. war against Iraq. This resolution tells the world that U.S. imperialism reserves the right to and fully intends to destroy a sovereign government in Baghdad without anyone else's permission, and that the political establishment of the ruling class is overwhelmingly united in its readiness to support the war. As for the other imperialists in Paris, Berlin and Rome, they had better line up or be left out. And for those who were counting upon the imperialist allies to slow down Bush's rush to war, they should forget it and get on board. The speech was calculated to cover up the fundamental fact that an imperialist super-power--with a population of 280 million, an economy of $10 trillion, and a military establishment larger than the next 20 countries in the world- -is planning an unprovoked invasion of a poor country of 20 million, formerly dominated by colonial powers, whose economy and military machine have been devastated by U.S. invasion and 11 years of deadly sanctions, and which has 110 billion barrels of oil on its territory, coveted by the giant oil monopolies. The war talk is also calculated to distract the population at home from the fact that the stock market is crashing in slow motion; retirement funds of the masses are being wiped out as their 401k plans evaporate; 435,000 more workers were laid off in manufacturing in September; and millions of workers are no longer counted in the work force because they have given up looking for jobs or are living on paltry disability incomes. Bush's speech was also meant to counteract the diminishing support for the war in the polls and the rising active opposition of the budding anti-war movement. A Gallup poll released on Oct. 7, as reported in the Washington Post of Oct. 8, "found a bare majority of Americans-53 percent-favored a ground invasion of Iraq, down from 61 percent in June and 74 percent last November." These conservative numbers show the clear trend of plummeting support, as the suffering of the people increases and the alarmist rhetoric of the Bush administration, unsubstantiated by any substance, seems more and more hollow. It is highly significant that the Bush war talk has clearly awakened the beginnings of a new and vigorous anti-war movement. The tens of thousands who turned out around the country on Oct. 6 to protest the Bush war plans show that the movement is overcoming the mood of retreat that took hold after Sept. 11 and is gathering forward momentum. It shows that a new generation of youth is preparing to resist the militarist adventurism emanating from Washington. The massive support that is growing for the Oct. 26 national demonstration in Washington, D.C., along with a simultaneous activity in San Francisco, holds out the greatest hope that a revival of the struggle against imperialist war can spread to the workers and the oppressed, can really challenge the capitalist war makers and can push back the war drive. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. 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