Bush
Knows the Jig is Up: So Let's Hurry on to Baghdad
February 21, 2003
By Bernard Weiner, The
Crisis Papers
One
can almost sense a palpable shifting of momentum, from an
unrestricted Bush war-juggernaut rolling to its bloody unfolding
to an administration caught between Iraq and a hard place,
condemned if it unleashes the dogs of war (imperial warmonger),
condemned if it pulls back and bides its time (wimp).
In a sense, what's transpiring reminds one of the delicious
secret of "The Wizard of Oz": more and more people are beginning
to sense, and sometimes even see, that the "all-powerful"
governmental leader behind the curtain is just a flawed little
man broadcasting to an overly-awed (and/or frightened) polity.
Or, to shift fairytales: "The Emperor's New Clothes," where
the leader, who has been nude all this while for all to see,
suddenly finds that his subjects, heretofore willing to swallow
the illusion of the emperor's new garments, realize that he's
not wearing any.
In short, Bush is just another leader - not even an elected
one at that - who, to disguise his incompetency and true motives,
has lived on propaganda and falsification, and now the jig
is up. His citizens are beginning to see through the charade
- even many who once supported him, including a good many
ordinary, moderate Republicans, appalled at the powers assumed
by Big Government and its willingness to eviserate the Constitution
in its push toward more and more authoritarian control.
Certainly those outside the United States have seen through
America's ostensible leader, and they, being more familiar
with imperial arrogance, have not liked what they've seen.
No, not at all. Even though they know they might pay a high
price for telling the emperor to his face that he's full of
bullbleep and that they refuse to have blood on their hands
just because he says it's time to go to war, they have stood
up. (Sad to say, there are some signs of wavering these days.)
What's about to come down over the next several weeks doesn't
look hopeful. Bush&Co. are pulling out all the stops - threatening,
bribing, cajoling, arm-twisting, bullying - in an effort to
smooth the path to war, to give fig-leaf cover to their rush
to military onslaught devoid of overt evidence to justify
the haste.
There IS going to be a war, you know. Bush&Co. will not have
it any other way. The Bush&Co. domestic and global agenda
requires it. How can you get your extremist domestic agenda
passed unless a frightened Congress and populace rallies around
the flag being unfurled in a Mideast desert? How can the U.S.
exercise its "benevolent hegemony" of the globe (and totally
by coincidence, have effective control of the world's natural
resources) unless would-be upstarts get bombed to smithereens,
to demonstrate to others that they'd better not make the same
mistake of getting in our way? So, it's full speed to Baghdad.
Doesn't matter if the allies are opposed, doesn't matter
if thousands of Iraqi citizens get slaughtered as the missiles
rain down (no wonder "Guernica" was covered up when Powell
arrived at the U.N.), doesn't matter if North Korea insanely
is threatening nuclear war against the U.S., doesn't matter
if the American citizenry doesn't want a pre-emptive war on
its conscience, doesn't matter if America is torn apart by
dissension and economic disaster, doesn't matter if millions
are demonstrating in the streets of America even before bombing
has begun - none of that matters. (Reminiscent of what Bush
once told an ordinary citizen when that man deigned to criticize
him at some public event: "What do I care what you think?")
But, let's clear up something right away. Iraq War #2 already
has begun. U.S. special forces are currently operating in
northern Iraq, moving to protect the oilfields from Saddam's
orders to destroy them. U.S./British bombing of military targets
is happening on a more frequent basis. Propaganda leaflets
are already being released from U.S. planes over Iraq, warning
soldiers not to follow the orders of their superiors to use
biological or chemical armaments or risk "war crime" trials
later.
So the war is on. All that's missing is "Shock & Awe" - the
U.S. plan for the first several days of missile attacks (hundreds
and hundreds of them) aimed at Baghdad and Basra and elsewhere
- this to break the back and morale of Iraq's defense forces
and to keep civilians from wanting to fight when the U.S./British
troops arrive in downtown Baghdad.
There is little doubt that the U.S. onslaught will defeat
the Iraqi forces - ignoring for a moment what might happen
if and when Saddam uncorks his biochem agents and aims them
at the invaders. But, per usual when it comes to Bush foreign/military
policy, little thought has been given to the consequences
of what happens when the dogs of war are loosed on the world
scene, especially on that ready-to-explode part of the world.
(But this is in keeping with Bush&Co.'s we'll-deal-with-the-consequences-later
domestic agenda - for example, pushing for more tax cuts for
the wealthy and corporate sectors in the face of an economy
that already is in shambles because of earlier take-the-money-and-run
policies.)
So, here we are - we liberals and progressives and radicals
and moderates - congratulating ourselves on our marvelous
work of the past few months, building a stop-the-war coaliton
here and abroad that culminated in those fantastically impressive
marches and rallies and demonstrations around the world and
throughout the U.S. last weekend (perhaps as many as 11 million!
peacefully protesting). True, those demonstrations were effective
morale boosters and put the fear of electoral defeat in the
rulers of a number of countries as they saw millions of their
normally passive, ordinary citizens marching in the streets.
But Bush&Co. will have their war. So, what we in the opposition
need to do now is to start reckoning with an overt, shooting-war
situation: How can we throw sand into our government's war
machine? How can we mobilize for peace candidates? How can
we help the Democrats become a true party of opposition? How
can we best help educate more of our fellow citizens - the
ordinary, somewhat-troubled middle-class ones sitting on the
sidelines for now - about the duplicity of our rulers and
the dangerous policies being carried out in our names? How
can we move toward impeachment for this incompetent, dangerous-to-American-interests
Administration?
In short, how can we use the energies displayed on the streets
in the past few months to build a dynamic, unstoppable Movement
for peace and justice and economic recovery?
Those of us who were active in the civil rights/anti-Vietnam
War Movement of the '60s and '70s know how much work is involved
in building to critical mass. it took years and years of hard,
slogging work to eduate and agitate and begin to change the
way the great American muddle class saw the world and their
political leaders devoid of illusion.
That transition can be accomplished much faster in 2003 -
especially given the speed with which news and information
and communications can be disseminated these days, via the
Internet and television and cell phones.
Don't get me wrong. It's not going to be easy. And it's going
to come at a heavy price for many - who will be persecuted,
arrested, beaten, perhaps killed, censored, etc. - as the
forces of reaction fight tooth and nail to hang onto their
greed-and-power agenda.
But none of us doubt that the battle needs to be waged -
in as creative and life-affirming way as possible. Let's continue
to try to stop the war from happening, but, if - as seems
likely - we can't, let's get our nascent Movement in gear
and revved-up for the fight ahead. If you love your country,
and your Constitution, and the world, and your kids, we can
do no less. Onward! #
Bernard Weiner, Ph.D., has taught government and international
relations at various universities, worked as an activist journalist
during "The Sixties," was with the San Francisco Chronicle
for nearly 20 years, and is co-editor of The
Crisis Papers.
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