Upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie. -- Othello
President Bush and his regime have waged their war against Iraq with lies and deceptions. Throughout his invasion and the occupation of the sovereign nation, the American people, the Iraqis, and the world have allowed this counterfeit loser to convince us to disbelieve our lying eyes and accept his piling on of more militarism as progress.
The theft of Iraq's oil and resources was certainly the ultimate aim of the Bush family's bloody interventions into Iraq, but, the sorry state they're defending now in Iraq is a veneer of shifting excuses tailored to explain away the catastrophic events their militarism has triggered. Their actions demonstrate that the present Bush regime lacks the will or ability to control the continuing violence there, or to repair the divisions which surfaced with Bush's swaggering removal of Saddam's controlling authority.
All that is left for those of us in opposition is to either remove Bush from power; dilute his ability to wage war by changing the make-up of the legislature with the hope they will restrain him; or lope along behind him as he gallivants across the globe with our military, directing them to hew more bloody, oppressive roads to nowhere.
After the new authority swore itself in yesterday, Bush called to congratulate them on their "new day" and the "new chapter" for Iraq. He followed with his assurance that he would "continue to assist in the formation of a free country," a recipe for more militarism as that 'freedom' has come in the form of death, repression, and chaos for most Iraqis. It's unlikely that the average Iraqi will celebrate the feathering of their new oppressors' nest, the elevation of the coddled brood. They are necessarily anxious about where all of the new authority's collective muscle will be exercised.
Most of the new regime's initiatives will be buttressed by whatever force the U.S. provides them. There's little hope that there will be less of a heavy hand with this bunch as the new regime quick-marches Iraqis toward whatever ambition occurs to them. The entire focus of the Bush regime's attention has been on the bolstering of the junta, but the people of Iraq have not been invested in the mechanization of government to the extent they can expect to effectively direct the new authority's actions. Indeed, the Bush regime and others outside of Iraq regularly expect for their own ambitions to be carried out by their purchased cabal - ignorant of the needs and concerns of any average Iraqi citizen - before they release the country from the grip of their occupying armies.
It's no wonder the violence among Iraqis hasn't subsided. We were promised that the violence would end with the formation of an Iraqi government. We needn't have waited for this day to dispel that lie. Violent attacks and reprisals, carried out by the U.S. backed Iraqi militias, as well as by other individuals and groups looking to retaliate or avenge the theft of their country, have increased and continued despite the ascendance of those who would rule over them.
In January, Bush used the violence to justify our troops' continued occupation. "The enemy has one weapon - I repeat to you - and that's to shake our will, "Bush said. "I just want to tell you, whether you agree with me, or not, they're not going to shake my will"
Yesterday, he proclaimed the formation of the new Iraqi authority a "devastating defeat for terrorists". Although there have been more than a thousand killings in Iraq in the last month alone, Bush still insists that the 'democracy' he imposed on Iraq with our military is some stopgap measure of his resolve. He wants us to allow him to continue the layering of lies about 'spreading democracy' and 'defeating terrorists' that he uses as the only relevant platform he can muster to lord over us, and allow him to continue to rape our Treasury for the benefit of the insatiable military industry that feeds off of his warmongering.
The formation of the Iraqi cabinet doesn't seem to be heralding any move of the U.S. troops toward home. Instead, U.S. military commanders are reportedly sending several hundred additional U.S. troops to Iraq from positions in Kuwait and elsewhere to 'bolster' the 132,000 occupying force and 'protect' the new authority.
Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the second-ranking general in Iraq, told reporters Friday that, by the end of the summer, 75% of the Iraqi army would 'take the lead' and reduce the pressure on our troops to stay. But, he warned, "They have indicated again, that through these (acts of violence) that they are going to do everything they possibly can to destabilize that government."
Would the Bush regime really walk away from Iraq, satisfied that the Iraqi troops were carrying on the 'fight against terrorists', as the violence raged on? To walk away, they will have to abandon their boasts about ending the violence and rolling back the terrorist's fringe. It's clear that the last vestige of their platform of Iraq lies actually elevates the arguments for withdrawal.
In a speech on the Senate floor in April, former presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry laid out two deadlines for Iraq - if Iraqi leaders can't form a unity government by May 15, American troops should leave rather than be 'stuck in the crossfire'. A similar marker should now be laid out, resolving that American troops will not stay to defend the new authority in their further consolidation of power. The junta is already compromised to the point that their engagements will forever carry the unfair weight of the cooperative exercises of our nation's deadly forces and the military support we've provided.
"President Bush says we cannot lose our nerve in Iraq." Kerry said in his Senate speech. "But it takes more nerve to respond to mistakes than to stubbornly continue down the wrong path. Last week, Secretary Rice acknowledged thousands of mistakes in Iraq. Nobody has been held accountable for these errors, but our troops have paid the price. Yet the President continues to insist on a vague and counter-productive strategy that will keep U.S. forces in Iraq indefinitely."
"I accept my share of responsibility for the war in Iraq. he continued. "As I said in 2004, knowing what we know now, I would not have gone to war. My frustration is that many of us have offered alternatives and suggestions to correct our course in Iraq. Time after time, the administration has ignored them."
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