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The news today is grim. As I write, George W. Bush -- the man without a mandate -- plunges ahead in a mad rush to war. Bush ordered the UN inspectors to leave. So far, they've refused, but the latest reports indicate they may leave soon.
Bush scheduled a televised address to the nation that didn't elect him for 8 PM Eastern time. He may announce his attack at that time. Will Bush attack, killing inspectors even as they are disarming Iraq?
It's hard not to succumb to shock and disbelief looking back and tying together six months of articles at MikeHersh.com. Looking to the future is even more daunting as Bush prepares to commit an unprovoked attack on an essentially helpless nation.
If Bush commits this war crime in our name, the United States can no longer denounce "rogue nations." It will have become the worst rogue nation of all.
Bush reneged on his promise to seek a Security Council resolution to explicitly authorize his invasion. He's threatening to attack a helpless nation in an act of naked aggression not seen since Iraq invaded Kuwait.
Bush is proving the maxim about choosing your enemies carefully. He is turning into Saddam. I will address and dismiss the only conceivable justifications for Bush's rush to war.
Some claim that Saddam poses a clear and present danger to the United States. They say he possesses weapons of mass destruction which he will use against the US -- or he may offer these weapons to terrorists for use against Americans.
Bush, his officials and their war supporters argue anything less than a full-scale invasion amounts to "doing nothing" and "letting Saddam have his way."
They disdain any who oppose immediate attack as appeasers who ignore "twelve years of Iraqi defiance" and accuse us of "forgetting the lessons of World War Two." These positions are patently absurd. See: Hitler, Hussein and the Lesson of History.
People who compare Saddam to Hitler forget that when Hitler threatened to invade, the Allies tried to appease him. This failed to deter his aggression.
As Hitler annexed and bullied, the Allies capitulated until Germany and Russia invaded Poland. Then, too late, they reacted. That sad history is nothing like that is happening now.
Iraq invaded Kuwait a dozen years ago. After a few months, the massive multinational coalition struck, devastating Iraqi forces and driving Saddam out of Kuwait.
Since then, US and other forces imposed and continue policing two "no fly" zones covering most of Iraq and repeatedly bombed Iraqi military and civilian targets.
The UN maintains a strict regime of crippling sanctions, making Iraq a basket case and putting the lie to despite Bush's claims that the UN has done too little to contain Iraq.
In short, Saddam's Sudetenland was Kuwait, and we stood up to him. We learned the lesson of history. Have Bush and his rapidly evaporating amen corner?
The wanton warriors offer a false choice between doing nothing versus doing too much. The excluded middle path left out of their contrived arguments remain the best option: Inspections.
Inspections are working. They are disarming Iraq now, just as inspections disarmed Iraq during the 1990s. Some war advocates insist that inspections cannot work, and we will only know for sure how dangerous Saddam really is after he's killed thousands or millions of Americans.
If any of this were true, then there might be some cause to give up on the inspections. In fact we know this is not the case. Each day inspectors find and destroy more Iraqi weapons.
What then explains this mad Bush rush to war? Those who oppose war learned the lessons of WWII, but Bush's chicken hawk "coup" forgot -- or never learned -- the lessons of Vietnam. See: War: Been there. Done that.
Those who demand an immediate attack should stop and ask. Why do our friends in the region like Turkey and Pakistan resist? Why aren't they at all afraid of Saddam? Why have so many of our closest allies abandoned Bush?
The answer is clear to anyone who reads or listens to the news from outside the cloyingly pro-Bush echo and amplify chamber known as the US mass media. It's because our allies don't trust Bush.
People abroad know details about the Bush campaign's illegal vote fixing in Florida. They know he lost the vote in the US and in Florida even after massive cheating. They understand more about Bush's assault on the US Constitution than "We The People of the United States."
Europeans have learned the lessons of World War Two -- despite claims to the contrary. On a recent ABC Nightline program, the German Ambassador to the US poignantly explained that he and his nation understand better than anyone the severe consequences of waging war.
The French Ambassador joined this former enemy, and current colleague emphasizing the need for protection but only resorting to war after exhausting all other alternatives. As peaceful alternatives are working, it staggers belief to suggest as Bush has that he sees war as anything but a first resort.
Many Europeans, Asians, Africans and Latin Americans know first-hand the hard lessons of totalitarianism. They would never allow this to happen again in their nations. They openly express shock that the US keeps sinking deeper into darkness. See: The Differences, Then and Now
Those who recognize oppression understand the fascism Bush and Ashcroft unleashed in the aftermath of 9/11 with the unconstitutional and ironically misnamed US Patriot Act. Those who know tyranny see Bush as a tyrant -- an enemy to the freedom and dignity which makes America great. See: Anti-Fascism Files
Bush's obsession with Saddam is based on a bizarre notion that Jesus wants him to bomb and kill 10,000s if not 100,000s of innocent Iraqis to rid the world of one man. The media overlooks or even encourages this alarming condition, which frightens some of those closest to Bush. See: White House Insiders: Bush is "Out of Control."
Ultimately, this delusion should disqualify Bush from occupying the most powerful office on the planet. If this is the real reason Bush won't accept disarmament by inspections, the American people should know. Why won't the media report on it? Why are Cheney, Rice, Powell and others close to Bush enabling this madness?
Because Bush's bizarre divine tragedy finds support in Karl Rove's cynical calculations. More than a year ago, Rove determined that Republicans need war to distract voters who are losing jobs. This gambit worked in 2002, staving off Republican losses, but at what cost to the US? See: Republicans Follow Rove Rx
Underwriting it all, as always, we find the billionaire Bush backers known as "the Pioneers". Their sheer greed and lust for oil is boundless. They don't care how many Iraqi children die. They don't care if this massive impending war crime creates a pan-Islamic backlash against the US.
"The Pioneers" hired Bush to front their operation, and they expect to make their $million investment in Bush return $billions in profits trading Iraqi and American blood for oil. See: The Pioneers, George W. Bush's $100,000 Club for a breakdown of who bought Bush's loyalty.
Bush's father, his Vice President, his Secretary of Defense and other top former and current Bush administration officials helped arm Saddam during the 1980s. Dick Cheney even maintained close business connections with Iraq as recently as 1999.
Cheney is still on the Halliburton payroll to the tune of $1 million per year, and Halliburton already stands to gains $millions in profits cleaning up the mess left behind in Iraq.
The mass media knows of this duplicity, divided loyalty and double dealing. They know Bush's case for war is based on lies, distortions and sophistry. Even so, the mass media continues to beat the drums of war. To their credit, the American people remain unconvinced. See: Media Embrace, Support Bush Rush to War.
Despite these facts, George W. Bush is intent on attacking Iraq within days if not hours. This after his father, his father's Secretary of State James A. Baker III and ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie, then-top Pentagon war planner Colin Powell, then-Secretary of Defense Cheney and other Bush Occupation savants bungled us into one unnecessary Gulf War. See: Republicans Can't Keep Us Safe
We wrote last summer that War With Iraq Is Imminent. It was then, and is again now. Only incredible pressure and courageous opposition from the United Nations and many of our closest allies short-circuited Bush's plans.
Now Bush has us on the brink again. He is threatening the weapons inspectors, demanding they stop implementing UN resolution 1441. Bush demands they stop doing their job immediately.
Has Bush even read 1441? Have any of the media or pundits who nod while Bush and his associates intone about the "material breach" and the "twelve years of violations?" I doubt it.
For starters, this oft-cited but seldom read or quoted UN directive requires "the commitment of all Member States to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq." How can Bush claim to enforce Security Council Resolution 1441 by invading, thereby violating "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq" in the most profound manner imaginable? The resolution demands the exact opposite!
Security Council 1441 "[D]ecides to set up an enhanced inspection regime with the aim of bringing to full and verified completion the disarmament process established by resolution 687 (1991)" Bush claims 1441 empowers him to attack Iraq, but there never appears any explicit or implicit authority in the text. Instead, the resolution calls for exactly what Bush is trying to stop: A robust, effective inspections process.
Bush accuses -- without Security Council or any other legitimate confirmation -- that Iraq is in "material breach" of 1441. Bush also claims that any such breach gives him license to attack. Neither of these contentions complies with the 1441 mandates. In fact, once more, the resolution contradicts Bush 100%, calling for an entirely different response in case of real or suspected material breach:
"[M]aterial breach of Iraq’s obligations and will be reported to the Council for assessment in accordance with paragraphs 11 and 12 below;" and neither of those paragraphs empowers Bush to attack even if he could show Iraq actually is in "material breach."
Those provisions outline exactly what should happen in the case of Iraqi breach: Paragraph 11 "Directs the Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC and the Director-General of the IAEA to report immediately to the Council any interference by Iraq with inspection activities, as well as any failure by Iraq to comply with its disarmament obligations, including its obligations regarding inspections under this resolution;" and paragraph 12 "Decides to convene immediately upon receipt of a report in accordance with paragraphs 4 or 11 above, in order to consider the situation and the need for full compliance with all of the relevant Council resolutions in order to secure international peace and security;" that's it.
In case of an alleged material breach, the resolution requires notification by UNMOVIC (United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission) and / or the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) to the Council which would then "consider the situation." Neither agency nor commission made any such notification.
Even if they had, there's no provision for automatic authorization for any military enforcement by order of the Security Council much less any provision for unilateral attack or other illegal vigilantism launched by a few or even many member states. This is why Tony Blair's Labour Party demands a second UN Security Council resolution explicitly authorizing invasion against Iraq.
Even taking into account the concluding paragraphs 13 and 14, and even if the Security Council found Iraq in material breach, Bush still lacks any grounds to claim he is attacking Iraq to enforce resolution 1441.
True, the resolution "Recalls, in that context, that the Council has repeatedly warned Iraq that it will face serious consequences as a result of its continued violations of its obligations;" but the Security Council does not specify or imply what shape those "consequences" could, would or should take. In usual diplomatic terms, the Council resolved only "to remain seized of the matter."
Bush under the pretense of enforcing a UN mandate is actually violating the resolution he relies on as a pretext to attack. Iraq, reluctantly perhaps, is abiding by the resolution and international law. Bush and his ever-shrinking "coalition of the willing" are poised to shatter both and dishonor their nations and the United Nations itself. Some believe this is part of Bush's increasingly illegal strategy.
What of Congress? Congress passed a resolution -- clearly in violation of Article One of the US Constitution -- which authorized resort to force only under very specific circumstances. This resolution recognized Bush's authority to protect the US against clear and present danger of attack.
The resolution does not permit a rush to war short of that danger. Not even if Iraq refused to admit inspectors or prevented them from doing their job. In any case, Bush -- not Saddam -- is currently preventing the inspectors from inspecting and disarming Iraq. See: The Gore Doctrine on Iraq.
Sadly this is just one more Bush-led assault on the Constitution, but even this doesn't support Bush's rush to war. Congress expressly limited any use of force to such time after Bush exhausted every other means to resolve the situation.
No sane reading of events supports a claim that Bush lived up to the requirements of even this highly questionable act of Congress. Iraq is disarming rapidly, but Bush won't take "yes" for an answer. See Celebrate the Victory of Diplomacy.
In this dire and delusional situation, invasion seems imminent. What can we expect if Bush attacks Iraq? The carnage of the first Gulf War provides a macabre preview. There's little question overwhelming air superiority and massive missile attacks will destroy much of Saddam's already broken down military.
Thousands of innocent Iraqis will die in the first hours of the attack, under the barrage of missiles Bush hopes will "shock and awe" the Iraqis. Additional damage to this already crippled country will exact unfathomable suffering and death. The devastation in human terms will overwhelm our capacity for horror. See: THE GULF WAR REVISITED.
Iraqis will not be the only victims of this sadistic strategy. Tim McVeigh returned from the first Gulf War a bitter and twisted ticking time bomb. This grim lesson reminds us not all terrorists are foreign born.
Also, thousands of American vets returned home with Gulf War Syndrome and they still suffer after effects years later. Meanwhile, Bush's budget calls for deep cuts to the already under-funded and poorly performing VA hospital system. The only way to truly support our troops is to bring them home -- safe, sound and unscarred by battle.
All Americans stand to suffer from this war -- no matter the outcome. Swift and sure or protracted and troubled, this unprovoked attack will impoverish the US in moral and economic terms.
Bush -- like his father before him -- ignores severe domestic needs as he plunges the nation into another unnecessary war against Saddam Hussein. Bush set us on this course months ago, even as he tried to blame the media for churning up talk about attacking Iraq.
Has abuse and intimidation from Bush cowed the media so much they refuse to call Bush on his double talk? Is that why they refuse to report the obvious? Bush is still denying he wants to go to war, but not even the craven media buys that. It seems Bush officials are the only ones who do not speak of invasion as certain. See: Bush vs. America.
Bush's economic failures, like his father's before him, exact a heavy toll. Just since he stole his way into power, Bush's lousy policies cost 100,000s of Americans their jobs. As the dozens of broken Bush promises accumulate, so do their bills -- even as their unemployment benefits run out.
Each family that loses its source of income faces growing uncertainty. Bush keeps slashing programs to support those in need, exacerbating the misery he caused, shattering American dreams and impoverishing our hopes.
Bush's inept, corrupt and increasingly reckless policies abandon millions of children to fear and hopelessness. Bush's twisted priorities are leaving children behind by the million. Our next generation faces a bleak future as Bush translates his Texas failures into a national monument to greed and disgrace adding up $trillions in debt they must pay.
Bush's policies imposed this incalculable ruin even before accounting for the hundreds of $billions he plans to squander -- this according to his former economic team. They admitted Bush's Iraq folly will cost us even more hundreds of $billions. Is that the real reason he fired them? Because they dared to tell the truth? See: Iraq Around The Clock: What About Jobs? and see: The End of America As We Know It?
All the worse because all of this is unnecessary. Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks on 9/11, despite the lies Bush and his supporters tell us. But attacking Iraq will make more difficult our efforts to prevent future attacks.
Bush's rush to war already shattered the alliance of good will that arose from the ashes at ground zero. Looking at the headlines as Bush snipes at our closest friends and pathetically gathers a "summit" of Iberia and Britain it's difficult to understand how he took us so far astray so quickly.
On September 11, 2001 the entire world stood with us. Our dear friends the French waved American flags. People from every corner pledged their aid and delivered their support. The American people untied behind Bush almost unanimously. He held in his hands unprecedented opportunity to lead. He failed.
Almost immediately, Bush resorted to form. He alienated Muslims by calling for a "crusade," snarling at our friends and threatening them to be "with us or against us." He rashly, almost randomly provoked three unstable regimes branding them evil for rhetorical flourish, and barked orders at our allies they couldn't obey even if they wanted to.
Bush has become radioactive, a grave threat to the reputations and careers of anyone close to him. He is driving his closest supporter Tony Blair to the verge of political oblivion. Directing his once widely admired Secretary of State to lie to the world in a shameful performance at the UN tarnished America's already Bush-battered reputation. See: Colin Powell is Lying
Al Gore -- the man we elected President -- offered unimpeachable wisdom on the real priorities for keeping Americans safe. If by ignoring this sage advice George W. Bush again leaves us open to attack, he should be imprisoned for third degree murder -- homicide evincing reckless disregard for human life.
If Bush ignores this wisdom, international law, and the will of the American people as he ignored all the warnings leading up to 9/11, Bush should be impeached. See: Iraq and the War On Terrorism.
What Comes Next?
Many believe Bush will follow his unprovoked attack against Iraq with a rampage across the Middle East -- if not the entire globe. Bush telegraphed his belligerent, imperial intent with threats against the "Axis of Evil" in his 2002 State of the Union Address.
Many in the Bush Occupation belong to a "think tank" which advocated a kind of domino theory -- imposing regime change throughout the Middle East by force of arms, starting with Iraq. See: Iraq: "Merely a first step?"
Most experts believe this ham-handed effort will backfire and spark popular revolution against the precarious US client states in the region -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan and the oil Emirates and other sheikdoms. "Winning" in Iraq -- even in the short-term -- is likely to undermine the US geopolitical position.
Some believe the subsequent open-ended occupation of Iraq entails such massive costs in money and personnel the US military will not be able to respond to crises in Korea and elsewhere. Considering Bush's record for overturning delicate diplomacy and turning incidents into crises this is a daunting prospect. See: Korean Crisis? Blame Bush.
Whether the war is swift or bogs down in building-to-building skirmishing in Baghdad, the long-term fallout cannot be positive for the United States. Going into this contrived conflict, Bush offended and alienated most of our historic allies. Already, foreign investment in the US dropped precipitously even as Bush's policies rapidly increase the national debt.
We will need our allies' support to help keep our economy running, but as the US arrogates more power and exercises it with less diplomacy and tact, Bush forces other nations to counter-balance American hegemony.
They cannot use military force against us, but they can decide against strengthening our clumsy fist and disdain funding our international thuggery, imperialism and adventurism. See: Bush's Iraq Attack Risks Reaction .
Speaking of reaction, even Bush's top advisors warn that an attack against Iraq will probably invite a backlash. Both Tom Ridge the "Homeland Security" chief and CIA Director George Tenet predict Bush's war would spark more terrorist attacks against the US.
The same agencies which failed to protect us on 9/11 in part because of Bush's and Cheney's poor leadership rely heavily on sources in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria to track Al Queda. Their cooperation will drop off or end after Bush attacks Iraq.
An American attack against Iraq will convince untold thousands of young, desperate Muslims that Uncle Sam is the great Satan as bin Laden claims. The Bush Occupation insists against all evidence that Saddam Hussein supports Al Queda, but this imminent invasion will help Al Queda even more than Bush's odd and still unexplained orders demanding the FBI and the CIA "back off" bin Laden's terrorists in the weeks leading up to the 9/11 attacks. See: Call it 9/11gate and several other articles demanding answers about 9/11 at MikeHersh.com.
Meanwhile, as he intentionally increases the risks of terrorist attacks, Bush refuses to fully fund domestic security. He's cutting corners on our safety and driving away qualified people we rely on to protect us because of partisan hatred against unions. See Don't Cut Corners On Public Safety.
To recap the incredible insanity of Bush's Iraqi policies:
* Bush is violating international law and the UN resolution he claims gives him authority to attack Iraq by ordering the inspectors out even while they're effectively disarming Iraq.
* Bush demands an attack even though Iraq is disarming and even though his top officials admit this will make Americans less safe.
* Bush's Homeland Security and Central Intelligence directors warn Bush will instigate more hatred against the US, increasing the threat of attacks on American soil.
* As Bush increases the risk of terrorism, Bush is alienating and undermining the allies we need to help us track down Al Queda and prevent future attacks.
* In this time of growing need, Bush is cutting corners on domestic security, claiming there's not enough money to fully fund first responders, qualified public defense personnel or set up protections for our cities, airports, trains, dams, bridges, power plants, nuclear reactors, water and food supplies, or other targets of opportunity.
* There no money in Bush's budget to protect Americans because Bush left us bankrupt, our economy in a wreck with huge giveaways to his rich friends.
* Bush threatens to compound our economic free-fall with an elective war costing tax payers hundreds of $billions followed by an open-ended commitment to spend hundreds of $billions more to "nation build" in Iraq.
* This after we already ran out of funds to complete "nation building" in Afghanistan, a nation in which Al Queda and Taliban forces regroup and attack our allies with growing boldness.
* Bush is making the USA into a shameful bully, feared and hated around the world. Rather than listening to others who are clearly much wiser than he -- even including his own father -- Bush is rushing into war.
Greed alone cannot explain this lunacy. Mistaken perceptions and an ever changing but never rational rationale cannot excuse it.
Bush has taken us to the very brink of disaster, and he shows no sign he will reconsider or relent. This looming catastrophe threatens 10,000s to 100,000s of innocent Iraqis, but not just these first-strike victims.
Bush's lunacy also imperils potential the victims of future terrorism in the US. If or when the expected backlash comes, those who mourn the deaths of loved ones should hold Bush responsible. Bush is stealing our money to fund his crazy war.
For millions of Americans already in need but left wanting because Bush claims there's no money to meet our obligations, this makes no sense! Bush is crippling our health care and environmental protection systems.
There's no money left to fund the "No Child Left Behind Act" he promised us in 2000 and signed with such pomp in 2001. Because of Bush's rush to war, American children will lose their education and food stamps; even die of preventable diseases.
Older Americans who cannot retire in security should blame Bush because he's raiding our Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security trust funds to pay for his empire games. Working Americans and consumers suffer from lack of product and occupation safety enforcement.
Nearly all Americans -- all but the millionaires and billionaires Bush favors -- will suffer a declining standard of living while paying higher taxes after the bill for Bush's war and tax giveaways comes due.
Even if we allow that Bush believes he's the avenging sword of Jesus. This makes no sense. In fact, this delusion of divine destiny is really a psychotic pathology which renders Bush incompetent.
Consider what you would do if your boss or spouse claimed the Lord Almighty chose him or her to carry out some bizarre, indefensible mission against all sense and sanity. Would you shrug and go along or call 911?
As Bush's rush to war brings us to the brink, as this divine tragedy unfolds risking bitter consequences for the entire planet, we must ask: Can no one stop this madness? Is there no one with the stature and courage to reign in Bush's brutal insanity?
The US Constitution, Amendment XXV, Section 4 reads: "Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President." See: http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxxv.html.
While no one should consider Dick Cheney a decent or honorable person, George W. Bush has clearly lost his mind. We know Cheney can deal with Saddam peacefully. After all, the two made money together as recently as 1999.
The US Constitution demands the removal of a President -- presumably even an unelected usurper -- on the grounds of mental incapacity. It's time to invoke that provision before Bush leaps into the abyss, taking us with him. Before it's too late.
