| http://www.truthout.com/docs_02/03.14C.SG.Letter.htm
Letter to George W. Bush: Is America a Rogue State? A Member of Bush’s Axis of Evil? By Scott Galindez t r u t h o u t | March 13, 2002 Dear George, No, I will not call you President Bush, since a majority of Americans didn’t vote for you … so, I guess you are not a democratically elected world leader, either. Hmmm. I guess that's a few points toward qualifying for the Axis of Evil. Then again, I guess not since there are elections in Iran, so it's not Democracy and Freedom that we stand for these days, is it, George? No. You said that Iran, Iraq and North Korea were an Axis of Evil because they are developing weapons of mass destruction, exporting weapons, and providing a safe haven for terrorists. Hmmm …. you left us off that list. You left Great Britain, France, and most of the industrialized world off that list. I guess my main question is why those three and not the rest of the world? Isn’t the United States the # 1 exporter of weapons in the world? Aren’t we the number one manufacturer off weapons of mass destruction? Haven’t we trained and provided safe havens for some of the most evil terrorists in the world? Aren’t we the # 1 user of weapons of mass destruction? Has anyone else used an atomic or nuclear bomb? Maybe you have answers for some of the following questions, too, and can explain how these things don’t qualify us as an Axis of Evil. Why do we continue to train death squads at The School of the Americas in Georgia? Over 100,000 people have died in Latin America at the hands of the despots we train at that base. I suggest we shut down that base if we really want to weed out terrorism in the world. We should also order the CIA to stop training people to overthrow governments around the world, to prevent the blowback we face regularly from people like Bin Laden and Noriega. Just my opinion. If you differ, could you please explain why? You said it was wrong for them to develop weapons of mass destruction. This is a rare area that we agree on. Do you agree with me, though, that it is wrong for any country to develop weapons of mass destruction? After finding out that you want a contingency plan to use nuclear weapons on seven countries, I assume you take the hypocritical position that it’s ok for us and a few friends, but not ok for others to develop weapons of mass destruction. I guess you argue that we are more responsible. That’s an interesting theory since we are the only country to have ever used atomic/nuclear weapons. Now you want to produce new nukes that can be used on the battlefield, which could trigger a new arms race … especially if you violate the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to develop these weapons. You are already violating the ABM Treaty. Don’t you think it’s important for us to keep our word? When we sign a treaty, shouldn’t we honor it? You also talked about providing weapons to terrorist groups. Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't the paramilitary groups in Columbia carrying U.S.-made Weapons? What about the death squads in Central America in the 80’s: didn’t we not only arm but also train them? The list is endless. Have you heard the term low-intensity conflict? It is the tactic we used in Central America, which depended on terrorizing people into crying uncle. Instead of all-out war, the Contras in Nicaragua, for example, blew up the infrastructure of Nicaragua to cripple their economy. And how about the mining of the harbor in Nicaragua? And aren’t we the number 1 arms exporter in the world? And haven’t we in fact sold weapons to the axis of evil Nations? In closing, instead of demonizing our rivals in the weapons of mass destruction and terror markets, maybe we need to bring them into the WTO so we can sue them for violating our patents. I think that selling terror and violence is the real evil, but I guess we don’t agree on that George…. Scott Galindez <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> is an Editor and a regular contributor to t r u t h o u t. |
