Snare of the Fowler

The one book of wisdom on the President’s list carries a warning and supplication he might have overlooked, not being a fact checker nor overly thorough in his oratorical research. The 91st Psalm speaks of deliverance from the snare of the fowler, the Elizabethan and perhaps ancient Hebraic metaphor for the worrisome mind, the plots and intrigues of the manipulative counselors, the sixteen little words, the lies and broken promises of the Bush presidency followed inevitably by their bedfellow the noisome pestilence, the awakening Congress, that slumbering giant that approved the invasion of Iraq with scandalous lack of oversight, and the media, the watchdog of government become lapdog for the corporatocracy. However, even sleeping dogs have their day and the President is waking up to a deservedly bad morning.

The deception around the Iraq Niger uranium accusation has reached Condoleeza Rice’s office and Vice President Cheney. Ms. Rice’s deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley forgot about the ultra classified CIA uranium forgery memo, an excuse that doesn’t even fly in pre-K. Vice President Cheney continues to politicize his lack of integrity in this affair but the hounds are on his trail with Representative Waxman and several House colleagues issuing an open letter to the Vice President with a list of questions that could mean an early retirement for the corporate loyal second in command.

The fuel behind the flame is presently contained to the yellow cake scandal alone, but what about the rest of President Bush’s arguments for war? As William Rivers Pitt writes in Liberal Slant: (The Bush Administration) “stoked fears within an already shellshocked American populace that Iraqi nuclear weapons and anthrax would come raining out of the sky at any moment, unless something was done. This same information was delivered in dire tones to Congress, which voted for war on Iraq based almost exclusively on the testimony of CIA Director George Tenet. None of it was true. Not one ounce of chemical, biological or nuclear weaponry has been found in Iraq in the 82 days since "hostilities ceased" on May 1, 2003. Not one ounce of chemical, biological or nuclear weaponry has been found in Iraq in the 124 days since the shooting in Iraq officially started on March 19, 2003. Not one ounce of chemical, biological or nuclear weaponry has been found in Iraq in the 230 days since the UNMOVIC weapons inspections began in Iraq in late November of 2002. No proof whatsoever of Iraqi connections to al Qaeda has been established.”

Freeze-frame: the President requests authority for pre-emptive strike against Iraq with argument of imminent threat to the nation. The justification for war is without precedent in international law but the Congress approves war and the President orders the invasion of Iraq without UN support. The war kills 7,000+ Iraqi civilians, 20,000+ Iraqi soldiers, destroys national infrastructure and leaves Iraq in chaos. The pre-war arguments evaporate in post invasion absence of evidence. No justification found for pre-emptive strike and death of tens of thousands. Investigations and suicides proceed apace. Calls begin for high level Administration resignations while Administration attacks messengers.

Question: If the U.S. were not the controlling military & economic force in the world, would there not be sufficient grounds for the international community to consider war crimes prosecution against the U.S. for the invasion and occupation of Iraq?

If the neo-con fantasy of a cakewalk in Iraqi hadn’t been thoroughly debunked by the growing guerrilla war the President’s position wouldn’t be challenged any more than his phony appearance as a war hero on the flight deck of the Abraham Lincoln. It’s the meltdown in Iraq that is allowing the space between the image cast so skillfully by Karl Rove and the reality of intrigue and deception that is at the core of the imperial presidency. During the dark post-Watergate days the American people wanted a wise old man for president so desperately they hired an actor to play one. Few recall that it was President Regan who gave the breadth of American support for the first Liberian dictator and assured the blood bath that scars that country today, a legacy like many Regan presidential achievements. But this is America today, the Top Gun and Saving Private Ryan era, when America’s Greatest Generation hubris overshadows the brutal reality of World War II and the awfulness of war in general. The optimism that has fueled America’s progress as a nation is also its deepest flaw, a lack of reflection, of penetrating self-examination that great power demands. So now we have an Ivy League President with a folksy affected west Texas slang, derelict in his personal military duty but willing to send others to their death, and winning approval of the “me generation” because of his media supported swagger. The national mythos of immature psychology in the manufactured raiment of industrial achievement is in vivid form at the top of our collective heap, and it isn’t only the presidency that needs changing. As Pogo once said “we’ve met the enemy, and he is us.”

Wolfowitz Warning

Just when audacity had no further limit Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz ices the imperial cake: "I think all foreigners should stop interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq." It’s not clear when Wolfowitz became a Baghdad homey, but perhaps his admonishment was meant for his boss’s appointee, Czar Bremer. Unfortunately the Administration wasn’t listening and this week considered James Baker, the lawyer who won Florida as the dependable clean up guy for the Bush family, for new Chief of Occupation .

Robert Fisk provides a unique perspective (at least to stateside media) about the recent assassination of Sadaam’s sons. Whatever happened to the justice part of our pledge of allegiance? Was there any attempt to bring these hideous men to a court of even military law, or are we as a nation going to follow the President’s wanted dead or alive frontier standard? Are we ready to commit what the President termed our “best and brightest” to the role of hired assassins, being so confirmed in our moral superiority?

Amnesty International raises charges of torture and execution of Iraqi prisoners, John Dean provides a legal brief in Common Dreams on presidential accountability for the invasion and war in Iraq, a key member of the Iraqi Reconstruction and Development Council tendered his resignation and James Carville offers an experienced prescription for anemic Democrats .

Head Start in Reverse

The furor of war has screened the consistently disappointing national policies of the Bush Administration. The ballyhooed recent tax refund ignored the nation’s neediest children and the undercutting of head start threatens another underpinning of social justice in the current collective fantasy of leave no child behind.

The rigging of the electoral process in Florida against African American voters is only part of a software scheme to corrupt and control American elections. This issue, equal to any, is a key to assuring that some semblance of honesty remains in the democratic processes of the United States and hopefully allow a return of genuine compassion to our governance.

Ways to Help

Check out We Deserve the Truth to connect with a national base of concern about the truth behind the President’s policies and statements concerning Iraq.

Sign the Common Cause petition keeping heat on the Congress to reverse the recent FCC ruling allowing corporate monopolization of the communication networks.

Visit the Petition Site where you can find a pathway for your voice in government.

Log on to Jim Hightower and enjoy a Progressive Optimist in the Age of Bushwa.

Peace.