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War is Good Business, Invest Your Sons
BUZZFLASH
READER COMMENTARY
by Edward Bishop Winslow
As the chicken hawks in the Bush administration thump their chests and prepare their war for oil against Iraq, the Congress and the corporate-owned news media have remained silent regarding the consequences of the war.
One of the few members of Congress, who actually sees the elephant in the living room, is Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.). In his Feb. 12 speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Byrd lambasted his colleagues in the Senate for being "ominously, dreadfully silent" on the pros and cons of Bush's imminent war for oil in Iraq.
Byrd called Bush's doctrine of preemption, which calls for making war on nations that don't fall into line with American imperialism and militarism, "a radical new twist on the traditional idea of self defense."
Even as Byrd's words fade from the halls of Congress, the Bush administration calls for a "shock and awe" attack on Iraq. This grotesque and callous assault calls for the launching of as many as 900 cruise missiles and 3,000 precision-guided bombs to be unleashed on Iraqi citizens. This threat is gleefully uttered on the heels of Bush's comment that the U.S. is not the enemy of Iraq. The cynical and Orwellian nature of the remarks of the Buffoon-in-Chief is simply breathtaking.
Yet even as nearly 150,000 U.S. troops are massing near Iraq, the Dr. Strangeloves in charge of plotting the murder of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens refuse to take nuclear weapons off the table.
"What could be more destabilizing and unwise than this type of uncertainty, particularly in a world where globalism has tied the vital economic and security interests of many nations so closely together?" Byrd asked. "There are huge cracks emerging in our time-honored alliances, and U.S. intentions are suddenly subject to damaging worldwide speculation. Anti-Americanism based on mistrust, misinformation, suspicion and alarming rhetoric from U.S. leaders is fracturing the once solid alliance against global terrorism, which existed after Sept. 11," he warned.
Yet under the guise of patriotism the Bushies have excited the nation to such a degree that bumper stickers coldly advocate such nonsense as, "Nuke ‘em ‘til they glow."
Human Rights Watch, in a 25-page briefing paper, quoted a U.N. official as saying, "There could be a few million refugees heading to Iran. There could be 6 million people in Baghdad without access to clean water or electricity. There could be millions more waiting for someone to give them food.... Are we ready for that? No."
Somehow the news media believe that Iraqi lives have no consequence. Reports that show the carnage that will follow the cowboy-like vendetta that President Bozo advocates never make it to Connie Chung's desk.
Furthermore, what the corporate-owned press and the Bush chicken hawks aren't telling is that if the U.S. invades Iraq and takes military control over that nation, international laws requires the U.S. to meet humanitarian needs of the victims of the aggression. It also calls for an occupying power to ensure the security of the civilian population. That doesn't mean establishing a puppet dictator that caters to the whims of his masters in Washington D.C.
The warmongers and their mouthpieces at the nearly state-run news organizations also have been very quiet about the cost of the war and the subsequent occupation of Iraq. They play up the "Big Lie" model that Adolph Hitler's minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels perfected nearly 65 years ago to convince Germany's citizens to make war on her neighbors. Goebbels correctly realized that the masses would believe an enormously large falsehood if it were repeated often enough. Bush's minister of propaganda Karl Rove has mastered Goebbels's method.
In this case the Big Lie is that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction. Even if no one can find them, the Bush administration repeats that we are constant danger of attack. This administration even goes so far as to post ridiculous color-coded warnings whenever it feels the need to keep the U.S. population distracted and in a state of fear. The press doesn't lift a finger to question the validity of these warnings.
So as the lemmings rush off to the store to buy sheets of plastic and duct tape to protect themselves from the supposedly imminent al Qaeda attack, the economy is in tatters, corporate crime remains unchecked, huge federal budget deficits loom for years to come and more tax cuts for the rich are the order of the day.
Meanwhile, Australia's biggest-selling daily newspaper, the Herald Sun, reported that within weeks the Pentagon will have more than 77,000 body bags on hand on fears of heavy casualties during bloody combat that is likely if U.S. troops engage Iraqis in house-to-house fighting in the large cities of Baghdad and Basra. The bags, which cost $70 each, have six handles and feature a full-length zip for easy loading.
I'm reminded of the old saying that antiwar demonstrators circulated during the Vietnam War: "War is good business; invest your sons."
BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
This commentary contains the writer's opinions. Edward Bishop Winslow is a freelance writer, who can be reached at edwardwinslow@attbi.com.
Articles in the BuzzFlash Contributor section are posted as-is. Given the timeliness of some Contributor articles, BuzzFlash cannot verify or guarantee the accuracy of every word. We strive to correct inaccuracies when they are brought to our attention.
