77% in U.S. Unable to Learn a Lesson

It seems to me that when the Bush administration makes loud accusations about a Middle Eastern state’s “weapons of mass destruction” programs, the average Joe would question it.

After all, they must have made up a hundred lies about Iraq: that the motivation for the invasion was to protect the people of America, that Iraq had “reconstituted nuclear weapons” (the evidence for which was forged documents and rocket tubes), that Saddam had a “long-standing relationship” with al Qaeda (providing training for plane hijackings, support for Mohammed Atta in Prague, even a wooden leg for abu-Musab al-Zarqawi), that there were storehouses full of “anthrax, sarin and VX nerve gas” “north, south, east and west of [Baghdad and Tikrit] somewhat,” that there were fleets of remote control planes that could fly to America and spray people with germs, that the Sunni insurgency fights for their “crazed ideology,” that “we’re making progress,” that…

Now the administration claims that Iran is working on a nuclear weapon. This even though anyone who watches closely can tell you that Iran’s capability to produce enriched uranium is far from what is required to produce weapons grade material. The CIA says it would take them a decade if they were to begin trying now, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has had open access to all their nuclear sites for more than three years with “no indication” that there is anything untoward going on.

77% percent of the people of this country believe that Iran will have nukes soon. So there’s your fake cassus belli, folks, it’s already done. (Not that Iran having nukes is any of America’s business, but neither I nor the Constitution set the premises around here.)

Congratulations America! Your stupidity and child-like willingness to follow the leader will continue to get untold thousands of people killed.

But every action has an equal and opposite reaction. One may recall the sage advice of the ancient Greek Oracle (via Malcolm Garris): “If the king attacks Persia, he will destroy a great empire.”

(Comments welcome over at Stress.)

Comic Relief from Baghdad

The chief judge in the trial of Saddam Hussein says that Saddam was “no dictator.”

This is hilarious. The Bush administration helps arrange a show trial. And they can’t even get the story line straight in a kangaroo court.

The chief prosecutor complained that the judge has allowed “defendants to go too far, with unacceptable expressions and words.”

One presumes that the Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld will make sure the same problem doesn’t happen with the pending tribunals at Guantanamo.

Maybe Bush can arrange to have the same judge in case he is ever put on trial.

[Comment here]

USAF: Shoot Americans with Microwave Weapons

Someone recently asked me, “Why is it that you say America cannot be a republic and an empire?”

Well, my friend, here is your answer: The Secretary of the United States Air Force wants to shoot you with microwave weapons in order, he says, to justify shooting them at foreigners.

“If we’re not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation [and we really want to shoot them at foreigners as soon as possible].”

Now comes the test. Will he be immediately fired, or will we all soon see hippies burning on TV?

(Comment over at Stress.)

9/11 Part 2: Cecily Kaiser

Continuing yesterday’s theme, Cecily Kaiser, a children’s book editor, talks about her experience:

I was on the subway, on my way to work, when the first plane hit the tower on Sept 11th, 2001. When I emerged on Houston Street and walked two blocks down Broadway to my office, I noticed a plume of gray smoke in the otherwise cloudless sky – when I stopped to look up, one other guy on the street joined my gaze. Otherwise, the bustle of Broadway at 9am continued unfazed. The elevator up stopped on several floors, and from each escaped surreal gasps, screams, or sobs. I reached the penthouse café just after the second plane hit, and saw the burst of fire and ash out our two-story southern exposure. I witnessed the first building fall from within these windows; afterwards, we were evacuated. Most of us simply began walking uptown. One stranger among us was wearing a walkman and announced when the second tower fell – we all stopped, turned to look, and kept on walking.

Following the immediate aftermath, what I ultimately feared most was the way in which the blame would be placed. Vulnerability is a dangerous emotion – one that can prompt irrational decisions and mindless reactions. Ironically, it is that very emotion that provoked both our country’s response to the attacks, and the attacks themselves. In today’s globalized society, the first order of business should have been to maintain the worldwide unification that the attacks initially prompted, as well as local togetherness. Instead, the U.S. government chose to scapegoat whomever best suited their own political and financial interests, both internationally and domestically. Racial profiling suddenly became politically correct; my turban-wearing Sikh friend was unsafe in his own suburban D.C. neighborhood. Not only did our government enter an unjust war, but they caused one in every school, workplace, and neighborhood in our own country.

I am opposed to the decisions made by the Bush administration post-9/11, and know that their choices have brought unnecessary hardship to people within our country and without. They have failed to represent their citizens, and succeeded only in blind isolationism and idiocy. Thankfully, there are also intelligent, rational, hard-working agents within our government who serve to keep us safe. Or at least I need to tell myself that.