It's not enough that Bush and his minions presided over the worst attack on our nation in decades. It's not nearly enough for them that they've let the alleged perpetrators of that attack run free for over five years. It's not even enough for them that their Iraq diversion has created even more individuals who would violently oppose the U.SA. and our interests and take on the moniker of those who've been allowed to escape justice. Bush and his minions are satisfied enough with the world of enemies they've created and are cultivating, that they're willing to pile even more chips on our nation's shoulders for any and all comers to knock off.
In fact, the Bush regime's entire response to those attacks in 2001 has actually made our nation a more likely to become a target of some violent angst from those around the globe who've been subjected to their arbitrary exercise of the strength and dominance of our nation's defenses. As in the original attacks, these expressions of resistance to Bush's military expansionism into their country and region have been marked by the willingness of the attackers to sacrifice their own life along with those they manage to harm with their explosions.
America and our interests abroad are threatened by a seemingly endless line of individuals devoted to that ultimate principle of self-sacrifice to achieve their end. The Bush cabal's response is to posture against these individuals as we would armies amassed on our border, when, in fact, there exists nothing to attack except the specters themselves; and to posture against others who are perpetually inspired by the ready cause of their elevation by the 'leader of the free world' to national enemies worthy of his manufactured imperialism waged behind the sacrifices of our soldiers just because they choose to call themselves al-Qaeda.
We have no way of knowing how much actual command and control the original, fugitive al-Qaeda is exerting on the Iraqis who've taken on their name. But, we do know, by the word of the commanders in Iraq and the intelligence agencies who keep track, that the 'Iraqi al-Qaeda' are responsible for less than 3% of the violence in Iraq. Yet, Bush and his White House minions are content to elevate them to a level of attention afforded entire armies and nation-states who would align and conspire against us - all the while, ignoring the obvious influence they've allowed to fester and grow by refusing to focus the bulk of our nation's defenses in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the hunt for bin Laden and associates.
It's obvious to everyone -- except for the less than 30% of Americans polled who are too fearful to see past Bush's hyperventilated nonsense about 'terrorists following our troops home' -- any of the original 9-11 suspects who are enjoying the 'safe haven' Bush has provided for them with his Iraq distraction are getting the results they want by just casually egging him on. By merely making the absurd claim that a U.S. exit from Iraq would mean some sort of victory for al-Qaeda , some propagandist somewhere is enabling Bush to echo the nonsense of 'defeat' in the political rhetoric he and Cheney are using to frighten Americans from their insistence they end the occupation; manipulating the ideological warriors in Washington into digging our troops even further into the Iraqi sand.
Both Bush and Cheney regularly cite 'the words of bin-Laden' as a caution against leaving Iraq. Both believe it's important that we 'listen to the words of the terrorists' as we consider leaving. Cheney hit the theme, word for word, in a FOX interview this weekend, insisting that those Americans who are advocating withdrawing from Iraq are "validating the al Qaeda strategy."
"Al Qaeda has based its entire strategy on the proposition that they can break the will of the American people, that if they kill enough that eventually the U.S. Government will withdraw . . . Al Qaeda has said Iraq is the central front in their war on the United States," Cheney wanted us to know.
"You do not want to withdraw and give them a victory in Iraq." he said.
However, there's been a shift in the whispered rhetoric from the administration's parasitic nemesis from driving our forces out, to an echo of Bush's swaggering invitation to anyone who dared attack our soldiers to 'bring (it) on.' The most visible voice of the original al-Qaeda is now reportedly encouraging Bush's Iraq escalation and the inevitable increase in American deaths (directly attributed to the escalation by both Bush and Cheney as they warned of more casualties).
The obvious counter to any glee al-Qaeda might enjoy from the deaths of those soldiers deployed by Bush into the middle of Iraq's warring factions would be to end the occupation and take them out of harm's way. Removing the primary source of aggravation which is fueling the violence and inspiring more Iraqis to violent expressions of resistance is the surest way to lessen the influence of any outside group or persons from exploiting the mushrooming civil war.
"There are consequences to all of these decisions and all of these actions, and a responsible public official has to accept the responsibility for the consequences of what they recommend," Cheney said.
He couldn't have been more right. The consequences of the invasion and occupation of Iraq have been a decrease in our national security with a resentful world of antagonists egged on by Bush and Cheney's jingoistic chest-thumping; and an increase in those individuals around the world who would sacrifice their lives in violent attacks against us. This 'war on terror' that Bush and Cheney are waging behind the sacrifices of our soldiers is nothing more than a defense against the consequences of the war they've waged on Iraq and, by invitation, on the rest of the world.
We're not staying in Iraq to defend 'democracy.' There is no democracy to be found among the immobilized Iraqi parliament as the take a two-month vacation from their part-time pretense of legislating.
There is no freedom to be found in Iraq, under the heavy-hand of the escalated U.S. occupation, stretching into sovereign neighborhoods with it's false, lethal order. There is only the vain, desperate attempt from the lame-duck U.S. commanders of the Iraqi junta to contain the swelling resistance to their ideological imperialism.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
