3 great lies

[Ivo Skoric]

"Across Iraq, life is being improved by liberty."

"Across the Middle East, people are safer because an unstable 
aggressor has been removed from power."

"Across the world, nations are more secure because an ally of terror 
has fallen." 

To hide, by now obvious, lies about weapons of mass destruction and 
Saddam's ties to terrorist groups, no real liberty and/or life 
improvement in Iraq, no safety in the Middle East, and no change 
whatsoever in the war on terror, Bush peppered his speech, to the 
cold and unimpressed audience of the UN General Assembly, with 
everything he believed his administration wanted to do good to the 
world. 

"We must show new energy in fighting back an old evil. Nearly two 
centuries after the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and 
more than a century after slavery was officially ended in its last 
strongholds, the trade in human beings for any purpose must not be 
allowed to thrive in our time." 

In saying that, he diplomatically avoided to name the ‘last 
strongholds' of slavery, kind of like Kofi Annan made an effort not 
to give a name to ‘some states'  in the following paragraph of his 
speech:
"But until now, it has been understood that when states go beyond 
that and decide to use force to deal with broader threats to 
international peace and security, they need the unique legitimacy 
provided by the United Nations. Now some say this understanding is no 
longer tenable, since an armed attack with weapons of mass 
destruction could be launched at any time without warning or by a 
clandestine group. Rather than wait for that to happen, they argue, 
states have the right and obligation to use force pre-emptively." 

Clue: there is the same answer to both puzzles.

German chancellor Schroeder walked out of the UN building and talked 
to journalists on the New York streets. To contrast that, Bush was 
whisked in and out in a heavily guarded motorcade under couple of 
inches of armor. It is a sad situation that the world's greatest 
liberator cannot freely walk on the streets in his own country. It 
must be he is doing something wrong if he has to fear for his life so 
badly. People who do good are loved, and most of other people would 
not want to kill them. I bet Bush must fear for his life in New York 
city, since he starved the city, which tragic symbolism he readily 
uses in each speech, of the federal funds.

Iraq has governing council, that basically serves as an advisory 
board of Iraqi exiles, hand-picked by the Pentagon, to the US 
occupation forces in Iraq. Even them, who were not elected by Iraqi 
people, but appointed by US officials, now challenge US policies in 
Iraq. They want more power for themselves, of course. And they picked 
UN as the venue to push their agenda, knowing that the US would be on 
defensive there. If I am Bremer, I ‘d deport that Chalabi guy to 
neighboring Jordan. I've heard they want him for embezzlement and 
fraud there.

The reports from Iraq are also unchanged: still every day some US 
soldier or US protege gets wacked by somebody, since Americans 
basically cannot guarantee security past their compound gates. There 
is still no power, because, as Bremer said, two heavy bombings and 
twelve years of sanctions after, Saddam failed to invest in the power-
grid. And the inspection report that is due soon, is going to bring 
grave news: even with Saddam gone, and with 7 times more inspectors 
than ever before on the ground, there are still no weapons of mass 
destruction anywhere in Iraq, not even in traces.

I think Tenet should resign. His operatives had ample time to plant 
evidence for inspectors to find. CIA is obviously sabotaging this 
administration. They were much more co-operative during Kissinger 
times.

And where is Osama Bin Laden? Perhaps, he sips martinis at the same 
undisclosed location with Dick Cheney and laughs at the world? Kind 
of like look what we've made them do, poor bastards.

While president Bush did not explain what connection this has to 
Iraq, if any (maybe the White House will say next that Saddam 
although they can't prove his connections to terrorists, indulged in 
pedofilia?!) he said this in his UN speech:
"The Protect Act, which I signed into law this year, makes it a crime 
for any person to enter the United States or for any citizen to 
travel abroad for the purpose of sex tourism involving children. The 
Department of Justice is actively investigating sex tour operators 
and patrons, who can face up to 30 years in prison."

This ads to the US reality - of harsher economic and political 
conditions. Yes, the productivity grows, but only few benefit from 
that. The unemployment is on the rise, and the government offers only 
two options: get arrested in do slave-labor in prison, or go to some 
war and fear for your life there. To make sure that people are more 
easily put in prison, this president signed numerous Acts into Laws.

The one was Patriot Act, which is entirely unpatriotic. Now there is 
Protect Act, which perhaps will not protect anybody. The substance is 
always the opposite from the name. Like those Privacy Disclaimer 
Notices that we all receive from big corporations, and in which they 
state how they can, and that they will give your non-public data to 
almost anybody that they can make profit off, and of course to the 
FBI or IRS if they ask so. But they won't give the data to your wife, 
even when you need them to, for example. Everything seems to be 
working that way: screw the little guy to protect the big 
corporation.

And to make sure that some fish just don't swim through the net, 
Attorney General Aschcroft issued a decree that nets need to be made 
denser: a 7 page memo was sent to all US attorneys instructing them 
to always go for the maximum possible penalty. Turn at least the US 
in one nice, big, well controlled prison. When they are obviously 
failing to do so with Iraq.

Why there is so many Democratic candidates? When any of them could 
beat Bush, anyway... They can have their mascot run, for all that 
matters. But the primary will be interesting. What surprises me more 
is that I am not seeing any Republican candidates - well - except the 
incumbent. GOP can't seriously believe that he has any chances of 
winning the elections?! Arnold should forget California and run 
national. Ah, but he is foreign born, so he can't be a US president. 
Too bad, then. Republicans are just running out of eligible cadres.

OPEC meets in a couple of days. Maybe to cut production. While US 
troops are literally sitting on oil, and cursing the ungrateful 
ingrates around them, who all want to blow Yanks up.

ivo