March 30, 2007


IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY

SAME OLD RHETORIC

Today's letters in The Fresno Bee has an example of right-wing talking points condensed all into one letter. The correspondent claims that terrorists declared war on the United States during the Clinton administration, that the Clinton administration's response was "weak," and that emboldened the terrorists to attack us. It sounds a lot like a recent book by a conservative "intellectual."

The terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 were caught, prosecuted, and sent to jail. And we didn't kill some 650,000 innocent civilians to do it. I'm getting really sick and tired of right wingers making the claim that unless you support Bush's demented "war on terror" you're a traitor. To the contrary. Sacrificing our military to Bush's obsession--much like Ahab's obsession with the great white whale--is treasonous. Undermining the Constitution is treasonous. Defiling the Geneva Conventions is treasonous. Right-wingers have no principles whatever if something makes them feel secure and safe in their self-righteousness.

GEORGE H. W. BUSH AND SADDAM

Bush I helped Saddam Hussein maintain his power in Iraq after the first Gulf War, according to a new book. Bush I initially encouraged a revolt against Saddam, but then refused to support the rebellion that ensued. This article is an excerpt from the book Web of Deceit by Barry Lando. The article is at www.alternet.org:

The following is an adapted excerpt from "Web of Deceit: The History of Western Complicity in Iraq, from Churchill to Kennedy to George W. Bush" (Other Press) by Barry Lando.

Though Saddam Hussein has been dispatched, the trial of his confederates continues in Baghdad. In the next few months, the Special Iraqi Tribunal will be hearing evidence against almost a hundred of Saddam's former officials, charged with the slaughter of tens of thousands of Shiites following the abortive uprising or Intifada of 1991.

Because of the way the Tribunal has been run, it's highly unlikely there'll be any mention of U.S. complicity with that slaughter. In fact, President George H. W. Bush was very much involved.

It was he who in February 1991, as American forces were driving Saddam's troops out of Kuwait, called for the people of Iraq to rise up and overthrow the dictator. That message was repeatedly broadcast across Iraq. It was also contained in millions of leaflets dropped by the U.S. Air Force. Eager to end decades of repression, the Shiites arose. Their revolt spread like wildfire; in the north, the Kurds also rose up. Key Iraqi army units joined in. It looked as if Saddam's days were over.