We will answer every enemy and every danger that threatens the American people (applause and standing ovation).

Who is “We?” The poor and middle class will pay for this war, not the applauding rich people attending the president’s speech. The US has been at war with some nation or another each year since 1948. I agree with Professor Francis Fox-Piven (2003) comment on Democracy Now, “This administration and especially George W. Bush, himself, has perfected the ... rhetorical art of suggesting that they going to do one thing and then doing something exactly the opposite.”

To protect our country, we reorganized our government and created the Department of Homeland Security – which is mobilizing against the threats of a new era.

In the opening segment of Bu$h’s speech he invokes foreign threats in the new era, then launches into domestic policies and goals for the new era.  The new era is code for the new “cold war.”

Terror In the Shadow of the Cold War (September 11, 2002)
This article argues that the events on September 11 derive from the new world order that emerged at the end of the Cold War. According to the author, the world did not change in 2001 but rather in 1989. (International Relations and Security Network)

Our first goal is clear: We must have an economy that grows fast enough to employ every man and woman who seeks a job.

...To bring our economy out of recession, we delivered the largest tax relief in a generation.

…To insist on integrity in American business, we passed tough reforms, and we are holding corporate criminals to account.

… The best way to address the deficit and move toward a balanced budget is to encourage economic growth – and to show some spending discipline in Washington, D.C….

In first third of Bu$h’s speech, he answers challenges that the war is taking attention away from the economy. When FDR declared war, the first thing he did was to place a tax on the rich to pay for it (Democracy Now radio). Bu$h, by comparison, declares a tax break for the rich. Bush is totally silent about the costs of war, about the US military budget for FY 2003, which is $396.1 billion, a $45.3 billion increase from FY 2002, which is six times the nearest rival, and exceeds that of the next 27 nations. Nor does Bu$h say anything about the $200 billion cost of war with Iraq. The military budget is already 33% of total discretionary budget, which will rise as war happens, lowing the amount available for all domestic programs. Many states are in fiscal crisis, which will worsen as the costs of military and war take more of the budget.

Giving tax cuts to the rich, most economists agree, will not result in trickle down money or jobs for middles class or the poor; the rich typically hoard their tax cuts (Fox-Piven, 2003).

We have lost 2 million jobs in two years of Bush.

Bush is tough on corporate criminals, but does not respond to criticisms of his involvement in Enrongate, Harken insider trading, or VP Cheney’s accounting scandal with Halliburton.

The Dilemma of Sustaining an American Empire (January 1, 2003)
Andrew J. Bacevich, a former US officer, discusses the dilemma of sustaining a “US empire,” stating that the Bush administration’s present combination of tax cuts and massive military spending would be unsustainable if the economy falls into a recession. (Financial Times).

Our second goal is high quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

The American system of medicine is a model of skill and innovation – with a pace of discovery that is adding good years to our lives. Yet for many people, medical care costs too much – and many have no coverage at all. These problems will not be solved with a nationalized health care system that dictates coverage and rations care. Instead, we must work toward a system in which all Americans have a good insurance policy ... choose their own doctors ... and seniors and low-income Americans receive the help they need. Instead of bureaucrats, and trial lawyers, and HMOs, we must put doctors, and nurses, and patients back in charge of American medicine… To improve our health care system, we must address one of the prime causes of higher costs – the constant threat that physicians and hospitals will be unfairly sued. Because of excessive litigation, everybody pays more for health care – and many parts of America are losing fine doctors. No one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit – and I urge the Congress to pass medical liability reform.

Bush proposes privatization as a solution to health care. Offer HMO as a choice to Medicaid and most people drop out of health care. Bushes proposal is to give more control of heath care to HMOs, whose record is already dismal.

The prescription drug program Bush proposes is a big boon to drug companies, which is where much of the rise in health costs originates.

Our third goal is to promote energy independence for our country, while dramatically improving the environment.

Join me in this important innovation – to make our air significantly cleaner, and our country much less dependent on foreign sources of energy.

1.2 billion for hydrogen-fueled vehicles is a good start. However, to accomplish energy independence and improve the environment, stop exempting SUVs and light trucks from emission standards.

Our fourth goal is to apply the compassion of America to the deepest problems of America. For so many in our country – the homeless, the fatherless, the addicted – the need is great.

As our Nation moves troops and builds alliances to make our world safer, we must also remember our calling, as a blessed country, to make this world better. Today, on the continent of Africa, nearly 30 million people have the AIDS virus – including three million children under the age of 15.

Addiction to oil is the main addiction causing U.S. empire to pursue oil and colonialism.

Combating Aids is a noble goal. How it is done is not explained.

And this Nation is leading the world in confronting and defeating the man-made evil of international terrorism.
There are days when the American people do not hear news about the war on terror. There is never a day when I do not learn of another threat, or receive reports of operations in progress, or give an order in this global war against a scattered network of killers. The war goes on, and we are winning.
 

Bush invokes public fear of terrorism, invoking foreign threats, to make people insecure. Is there really a network out there that can penetrate our cities, nuke NY and nuke Philadelphia, poison our water supplies – this invokes fears to frighten people, to build their capacity to enact a domestic and international agenda that makes the rich richer (Fox-Piven, 2003, paraphrase).

Security in the Post 9/11 World (December 30, 2002)
The Bush administration’s militaristic security tactics in the post 9/11 world will not diminish the terrorist threat. A new approach to security must involve reversing world inequality and guaranteeing human rights for all. (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation)

To date we have arrested, or otherwise dealt with, many key commanders of al-Qaida. They include a man who directed logistics and funding for the September 11^th attacks … the chief of al-Qaida operations in the Persian Gulf who planned the bombings of our embassies in East Africa and the USS Cole … an al-Qaida operations chief from Southeast Asia … a former director of al-Qaida’s training camps in Afghanistan … a key al-Qaida operative in Europe … and a major al-Qaida leader in Yemen. All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many countries. And many others have met a different fate. They are no longer a problem for the United States and our friends and allies.

The Bagman Cometh (December 4, 2002)
This truthout article discusses the Bush administration’s and Kissinger’s involvement in Unocal’s pipeline project in Afghanistan before September 11 and how this project could have provoked a pre-emptive strike from the Taliban and al-Qaeda on September 11.

Al-Qaeda’s Global Terror Franchise (October 30, 2002)
According to Asia Times, al-Qaeda has become a “code word to define anything from a terrorist attack to virtual threats, dormant cells, alleged conspiracies, axis of evil-related states and even deranged serial killers such as the Washington sniper.”

Terrorism Is Truly a Great Evil and We’ve Made It Worse (September 10, 2002)
The US exaggerates al-Qaida terrorism to justify assaults on the world order and to “soup up war fever against Iraq.” Due to the inability to catch bin Laden the US now turns to Saddam Hussein, seemingly indifferent to the effects on future terrorism. (Guardian)

Real Battles and Empty Metaphors (September 10, 2002)
Susan Sontag criticizes the US fight against terrorism as a never ending “pseudo –war”. The US government uses rhetoric to justify expansion of its powers and avoid debate about state actions. (New York Times)

The Great Charade (July 14, 2002)
This article refutes the notion that there is any legitimate “war on terrorism,” and insists it is a maneuver by the US to pursue its strategic interests in the Middle East and particularly in Iraq. (Observer)

We are working closely with other nations to prevent further attacks. America and coalition countries have uncovered and stopped terrorist conspiracies targeting the American embassy in Yemen … the American embassy in Singapore … a Saudi military base … and ships in the straits of Hormuz, and the straits of Gibraltar. We have broken al-Qaida cells in Hamburg, and Milan, and Madrid, and London, and Paris – as well as Buffalo, New York.

Bush’s Delicate Balancing Act on Saudi Arabia (November 27, 2002)
According to a foreign policy expert at the Cato Institute, the US administration cannot afford a big controversy over Saudi Arabia’s alleged financing of terrorists. Given Bush’s alliance with Saudi Arabia on the Iraq crisis, it “ would raise the question of what do you care more about – the terrorists that attacked us, or Saddam Hussein?”. (Christian Science Monitor)

We have the terrorists on the run, and we are keeping them on the run. One by one, the terrorists are learning the meaning of American justice.

Return of the Nation-State—and the Leviathan (November, 2002)
The Bush administration’s unabashed unilateralism reveals its imperial desire to “sweep away . . . civil society participation, citizen diplomacy, and multidimensional forms of conflict prevention.” This article warns, “we are entering into an imperial world order maintained by a Leviathan nation in search of monsters to slay.” (Interhemispheric Resource Center)

As we fight this war, we will remember where it began – here, in our own country. This government is taking unprecedented measures to protect our people and defend our homeland. We have intensified security at the borders and ports of entry … posted more than 50,000 newly trained federal screeners in airports … begun inoculating troops and first responders against smallpox … and are deploying the Nation’s first early warning network of sensors to detect biological attack. And this year, for the first time, we are beginning to field a defense to protect this Nation against ballistic missiles.
I thank the Congress for supporting these measures.

Financial Times (Jan 29) reports that U.S. companies plan to begin to lobby congress to ease visa restrictions on foreign-born workers. The lobby campaign is first time big U.S. companies have spoken out against Homeland Security measures since the September 11^th Attack (Source Amy Goodman, Democracy Now, Jan 29).

I ask you tonight to add to our future security with a major research and production effort to guard our people against bio-terrorism, called Project Bioshield. The budget I send you will propose almost six billion dollars to quickly make available effective vaccines and treatments against agents like anthrax, botulinum toxin, Ebola, and plague. We must assume that our enemies would use these diseases as weapons, and we must act before the dangers are upon us.

Bu$h is spending money to produce vaccines for Bio weapons that the U.S. is manufacturing.

Iraq used chemical weapons extensively
during the Iran-Iraq war between 1983 and 1988. The U.S supplied these weapons.  Iraq has used bio weapons twice, both times on countries that did not have them (Iran & Kuwait). For Iraq to attack the U.S. would be suicidal, due to the massive inventory of U.S. bio weapons.

Since September 11^th, our intelligence and law enforcement agencies have worked more closely than ever to track and disrupt the terrorists. The FBI is improving its ability to analyze intelligence, and transforming itself to meet new threats. And tonight, I am instructing the leaders of the FBI, Central Intelligence, Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense to develop a Terrorist Threat Integration Center, to merge and analyze all threat information in a single location. Our government must have the very best information possible, and we will use it to make sure the right people are in the right places to protect our citizens.

Gore Vidal Claims ‘Bush Junta’ Complicit in 9/11 (October 27, 2002)
The author Gore Vidal claims that the Bush government used the terrorist attacks as a pretext to invade Afghanistan and crack down on civil liberties in the US. (Observer)

Our war against terror is a contest of will, in which perseverance is power. In the ruins of two towers, at the western wall of the Pentagon, on a field in Pennsylvania, this Nation made a pledge, and we renew that pledge tonight: Whatever the duration of this struggle, and whatever the difficulties, we will not permit the triumph of violence in the affairs of men – free people will set the course of history.

Against Terrorism or Expansion of the American Empire? (October 22, 2002)
According to this Yellow Times article, the US government does not care about ridding the world of terrorism. In fact, Washington supports paramilitaries in Colombia and harbors Cuban terrorists in Miami.

Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror … the gravest danger facing America and the world … is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. These regimes could use such weapons for blackmail, terror, and mass murder. They could also give or sell those weapons to their terrorist allies, who would use them without the least hesitation.
This threat is new; America’s duty is familiar.

Former UN Arms inspector Richard Butler said on 28 Jan 2003, that Washington was promoting “shocking double standards in considering taking unilateral military action to rid Iraq of weapons of mass Destruction. The spectacle of the United States armed with its weapons of mass destruction, acting without Security Council authority to invade a country in the heartland of Arabia and if necessary use its weapons of mass destruction to win that battle is something that will so deeply violate any notion of fairness in this world that I strongly suspect it could set loose forces, that we would deeply live to regret.” Butler noted that Syria and US allies India Pakistan and India have not signed the nuclear arms reduction treaty. I

Throughout the 20^th century, small groups of men seized control of great nations … built armies and arsenals … and set out to dominate the weak and intimidate the world. In each case, their ambitions of cruelty and murder had no limit. In each case, the ambitions of Hitlerism, militarism, and communism were defeated by the will of free peoples, by the strength of great alliances, and by the might of the United States of America.

Close to a declaration of war and a self-description of the Bush administration itself.  Comparing the 2002 and 2003 speeches, both prepare the country for a war with Iraq.

As with the first State of the Union Speech, this is once again a declaration of war. In the first one, Bush said, Iran, Iraq and North Korea were seeking to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. He declared in 2002, “By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger.” The three nations we declared the “axis of evil,” and a threat to peace in the world.

Bush could be compared to Hitler. His militarism embarks on a campaign of empire, world conquest and domination. In 1938, Hitler demonized Czechoslovakia, then Poland in 1939, declaring them as threats to national security. Then Hitler did preemptive strikes, invasion. Bush has targeted Iraq, Iran and North Korea, stating (2002) “The United States of America will not permit the world’s most dangerous destructive weapons.”

Now, in this century, the ideology of power and domination has appeared again, and seeks to gain the ultimate weapons of terror. Once again, this Nation and our friends are all that stand between a world at peace, and a world of chaos and constant alarm. Once again, we are called to defend the safety of our people, and the hopes of all mankind. And we accept this responsibility.

Bush is making a rhetorical case for American Empire.

Conspicuously absent is the root causes of Bu$h’s war on Iraq: (1) to deflect attention away from Enrongate (See Boje, 2003, Enron), (2) to fulfill campaign commitments to oil lobby to divide $1.1 trillion in oil contracts among US and UK oil corporations (Boje, 2002, Oil War analysis); (3) to fulfill commitments to the arms lobby by creating new cold war (See Militarism); (4) finishing his daddy’s war.

America is making a broad and determined effort to confront these dangers. We have called on the United Nations to fulfill its charter, and stand by its demand that Iraq disarm. We are strongly supporting the International Atomic Energy Agency in its mission to track and control nuclear materials around the world. We are working with other governments to secure nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union, and to strengthen global treaties banning the production and shipment of missile technologies and weapons of mass destruction.

Bu$h backed out of the nuclear disarmament treaty with the former Soviet Union.

As for Iraq – Since 1991, the IAEA has carried out inspections in Iraq pursuant to United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. Under Resolution 687, the IAEA’s mandate in Iraq includes the search for  Iraq’s “clandestine nuclear programme.” In a Jan 2003 report by the IAEA directory, “There were no indications to suggest that Iraq had been successful in its attempt to produce nuclear weapons.”

In all of these efforts, however, America’s purpose is more than to follow a process – it is to achieve a result: the end of terrible threats to the civilized world. All free nations have a stake in preventing sudden and catastrophic attack. We are asking them to join us, and many are doing so. Yet the course of this Nation does not depend on the decisions of others. Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people.

As with the 2002 speech, in this speech, Bu$h referred twice to the “civilized world.” This is a reference to the U.S. and its allies, where as the uncivilized, are the three axis of evil nations: Iraq, Iran, and North Korea.

The duality of civilized/non-civilized is part of cultural supermacism, part of the rhetoric of colonialism and imperialism.

Different threats require different strategies. In Iran, we continue to see a government that represses its people, pursues weapons of mass destruction, and supports terror. We also see Iranian citizens risking intimidation and death as they speak out for liberty, human rights, and democracy. Iranians, like all people, have a right to choose their own government, and determine their own destiny – and the United States supports their aspirations to live in freedom.

Iran has been in conflict with the United States since the revolution of 1978-79 that overthrew the US-backed dictatorship of the Shah.

Westward the Course of Empire (September, 2002)
Le Monde Diplomatique argues that a new imperial ideology takes shape under President Bu$h. The new US empire strives for global expansion and “greater security and prosperity through the force of arms”, while submitting developing countries to a new period of colonization.

On the Korean peninsula, an oppressive regime rules a people living in fear and starvation. Throughout the 1990s, the United States relied on a negotiated framework to keep North Korea from gaining nuclear weapons. We now know that the regime was deceiving the world, and developing those weapons all along. And today the North Korean regime is using its nuclear program to incite fear and seek concessions. America and the world will not be blackmailed. America is working with the countries of the region – South Korea, Japan, China, and Russia – to find a peaceful solution, and to show the North Korean government that nuclear weapons will bring only isolation, economic stagnation, and continued hardship. The North Korean regime will find respect in the world, and revival for its people, only when it turns away from its nuclear ambitions.
Our Nation and the world must learn the lessons of the Korean peninsula, and not allow an even greater threat to rise up in Iraq. A brutal dictator, with a history of reckless aggression … with ties to terrorism … with great potential wealth … will not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threaten the United States.

If the U.S. can engage in diplomatic solutions with N. Korea, then it can do the same with Iraq.

Twelve years ago, Saddam Hussein faced the prospect of being the last casualty in a war he had started and lost. To spare himself, he agreed to disarm of all weapons of mass destruction. For the next 12 years, he systematically violated that agreement. He pursued chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons even while inspectors were in his country. Nothing to date has restrained him from his pursuit of these weapons – not economic sanctions, not isolation from the civilized world, not even cruise missile strikes on his military facilities. Almost three months ago, the United Nations Security Council gave

Swallowing the Official Line (September 10, 2002)
The US devotes huge efforts to prove its official version of the events on September 11. This account ignores the links to the strategic oil partner, Saudi Arabia, and makes it easier to blame both bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. (Moscow Times)

Saddam Hussein his final chance to disarm. He has shown instead his utter contempt for the United Nations, and for the opinion of the world.
The 108 UN weapons inspectors were not sent to conduct a scavenger hunt for hidden materials across a country the size of California. The job of the inspectors is to verify that Iraq’s regime is disarming. It is up to Iraq to show exactly where it is hiding its banned weapons … lay those weapons out for the world to see … and destroy them as directed. Nothing like this has happened.

This is a declaration of war on Iraq.

The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons materials sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax – enough doses to kill several million people. He has not accounted for that material. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

A comment made about the 2002 State of the Union apples to the 2003 one: “In a stunning display of hypocrisy, Bush even indicted Iraq for attempting to weaponize anthrax, something the United States has been doing itself” (Mahajan, 2002).

The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin – enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure. He has not accounted for that material. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

What follows in the speech is taken from the Bush administration report, “Apparatus of Lies: Saddam’s Disinformation and Propaganda, 1990-2003.”

Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard, and VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents also could kill untold thousands. He has not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

NUMEROUS chemical, biological and nuclear weapons stockpiles.

If president Bu$h has evidence of sarin, mustard, and never agents, then why does he not turn that data over to the UN inspectors, so that the material can be destroyed. This would be an alternative to war.

U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents. Inspectors recently turned up 16 of them, despite Iraq’s recent declaration denying their existence. Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the remaining 29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

FINDING undisclosed empty chemical warheads.

Why does Bu$h not turn over the information toe the UN inspectors. Why keep this a secret.

From three Iraqi defectors we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs. These are designed to produce germ warfare agents, and can be moved from place to place to evade inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these facilities. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

Turn the information over to the UN inspectors.

In a recent report, the Bu$h administration is “debating the credibility of intelligence about a Christmastime Iraqi truck convoy that some American analysts say could have been transporting weapons of mass destruction or scientists to Syria, where they would be safely out of United Nations inspectors’ view” (Sanger, 2003 NY Times). The CIA doubts that there was such a convoy of weapons labs.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon, and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb. The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

There has been no recent findings that Iraq possesses nuclear weapons.

Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production. Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide.

Present the evidence to the UN inspectors.

See CIA Report on Iraq’s aluminum tubes – The CIA report says “Iraq is unlikely to produce indigenously enough weapons-grade material for a deliverable nuclear weapon until the last half of this decade.  Baghdad could produce a nuclear weapon within a year if it were able to procure weapons-grade fissile material abroad.”

See Veterans For Peace analysis - "Iraq has imported the same form of aluminum tubes from the 1980s onwards, for non-nuclear purposes."

See Joby Warrick Washington Post, 24 January 2003 analysis.

The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving. From intelligence sources, we know, for instance, that thousands of Iraqi security personnel are at work hiding documents and materials from the UN inspectors – sanitizing inspection sites, and monitoring the inspectors themselves. Iraqi officials accompany the inspectors in order to intimidate witnesses.

ONGOING intimidation of Iraqi scientists.

If Bu$h has this evidence of intimidation, why not turn it over to the UN inspectors?

Iraq is blocking U-2 surveillance flights requested by the United Nations. Iraqi intelligence officers are posing as the scientists inspectors are supposed to interview.

In his Jan UN report, Blix criticized Iraq for blocking his teams from using an American U-2 spy plane to search for Baghdad’s weapons. Iraq resists use of U-2 surveillance while the U.S. is massing on its borders for an invasion (AP 23 Jan 2003).

Real scientists have been coached by Iraqi officials on what to say. And intelligence sources indicate that Saddam Hussein has ordered that scientists who cooperate with UN inspectors in disarming Iraq will be killed, along with their families.

AN ABSENCE of active Iraqi co-operation with UN weapons inspectors.

If Bu$h has this evidence of intimidation, why not turn it over to the UN inspectors?

Year after year, Saddam Hussein has gone to elaborate lengths, spent enormous sums, taken great risks, to build and keep weapons of mass destruction – but why? The only possible explanation, the only possible use he could have for those weapons, is to dominate, intimidate, or attack. With nuclear arms or a full arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, Saddam Hussein could resume his ambitions of conquest in the Middle East, and create deadly havoc in the region.

There is no evidence provided that Saddam is building weapons of mass destruction.

And this Congress and the American people must recognize another threat. Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody, reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al-Qaida. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own.

The United States of America Has Gone Mad (January 15, 2003)
In one of the greatest tricks of history, Washington has deflected US anger from Osama bin Laden to Saddam Hussein. Thanks to the 9/11 attacks the Bush administration has managed to avoid explaining the eroding of civil liberties in the US and its support of Israel in its continuing disregard for UN resolutions. (Times, London)

Before September 11, 2001, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents and lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained.

Bu$h is replying to critics who argue Saddam can be contained. For example, see, Mearsheimer and Walt’s (2003) article entitled “An Unnecessary War” in Foreign Policy. One quote, “President Bush’s repeated claim that the threat from Iraq is growing makes little sense in light of Saddam’s past record, and these statements should be viewed as transparent attempts to scare Americans into supporting a war.”

Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons, and other plans – this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take just one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known. We will do everything in our power to make sure that day never comes (applause).

This storyline is known at the “Armageddon argument”, saying that the U.S. must act now in case international terrorists get weapons of mass destruction from Iraq (BBC News).

Bush invokes an antenarrative, a scary story, a scenario tying 9-11 hijacks and Saddam. Is there really a network out there that can penetrate our cities, nuke NY and nuke Philadelphia, poison our water supplies?

One of the 19 hijackers of the planes, Mohamed Aka (sp) and Egyptian.

Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option.

Bu$h defends preemptive war strategy. Preemptive strike is a violation of international law, notably the Geneva Convention.

This dictator, who is assembling the world’s most dangerous weapons, has already used them on whole villages – leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind, or disfigured. Iraqi refugees tell us how forced confessions are obtained – by torturing children while their parents are made to watch. International human rights groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning with hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape.

Bu$h does not point out that the U.S. provided these weapons when it was expedient to go after Iran. Nor, does Bu$h point out that the torturers get their rape and torture training in the School of Americas in Georgia.

Which country has assembled the world’s most dangerous weapons of mass destruction?

For catalog of methods of torture, see School of Americas in Georgia.

If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning.

Hegemony to Imperium (September 26, 2002)
Foreign Policy in Focus argues that the Bush administration prefers a world where US unchallenged military power guarantees its supremacy. The new US grand strategy features “aggressive anti-multilateralism, new militarism, and moral absolutism.”

Bush’s Titanic War On Terror (July 13, 2002)
From the insular language of “good vs. evil,” to condoning some kinds of terrorism while condemning others, the Independent argues that Bush’s ‘war on terror’ is one of a “twisted morality.”

And tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: Your enemy is not surrounding your country – your enemy is ruling your country. And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your liberation.

Real Goal in Iraq (October 1, 2002)
The US intends to “mark the official emergence of the United States as a full-fledged global empire” by attacking Iraq. By establishing permanent military bases, the US will try to dominate the Middle East as well as every other region of the world. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. America will not accept a serious and mounting threat to our country, our friends, and our allies.

During 12 years of U.S. sanctions against medicine, food, etc. one and half million Iraqi civilian lives were lost to preventable starvation and disease, 500,000 were children. Genocide of civilians through sanctions violates the Geneva Convention.

The United States will ask the UN Security Council to convene on February 5^th to consider the facts of Iraq’s ongoing defiance of the world. Secretary of State Powell will present information and intelligence about Iraq’s illegal weapons programs; its attempts to hide those weapons from inspectors; and its links to terrorist groups. We will consult, but let there be no misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm, for the safety of our people, and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him.

Bu$h offered no proof of items Colin Powell is taking to UN Security Council: the illegal weapons programs, attempts to hide them, or links to terrorist groups.

“Why in God’s name hasn’t he [Bu$h] told the inspectors this information? Why is this part of a script? … This is a theatre. This is a scripted play… Why in God’s name hasn’t that information [about weapons of mass destruction] not been given to the UN inspectors who president Bush insisted … must be back Iraq?  Why is that information secret? Why is he not telling us about it until it is revealed on February 5?” (Robert Fesk on Democracy Now, Jan 29). What is this theatre we are watching?

In Bu$h theatre, we are promised that Powell will deliver candid photos like what Adlai Stevenson showed the UN during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

“Tuesday’s was surely the worst State of the Union address to Congress in the past thirty years, as the commander-in-chief stumbled through a thicket of brazen fictions towards the proposed rendez-vous with destiny of February 5, the day Secretary of State Colin Powell is scheduled to make his way to the United Nations to present the administration’s latest “intelligence” confection on the topic of Saddam’s deceits” (Cockburn, 2003).  

The UN inspector, "Mr. Blix took issue with what he said were Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's claims that the inspectors had found that Iraqi officials were hiding and moving illicit materials within and outside of Iraq to prevent their discovery. He said that the inspectors had reported no such incidents" (Jan 30, Miller & Preston - Blix Says He Saw Nothing to Prompt a War)

Tonight I also have a message for the men and women who will keep the peace, members of the American Armed Forces: Many of you are assembling in and near the Middle East, and some crucial hours may lie ahead. In those hours, the success of our cause will depend on you. Your training has prepared you. Your honor will guide you. You believe in America, and America believes in you.
Sending Americans into battle is the most profound decision a president can make. The technologies of war have changed. The risks and suffering of war have not. For the brave Americans who bear the risk, no victory is free from sorrow.

The poor and middle class will fight this war. They are the ones who will give their lives and bear the financial cost of the war. The rich are not sending their children to war, and their tax cuts exempt them from payment.

58,000 Americans died in Vietnam.

This Nation fights reluctantly, because we know the cost, and we dread the days of mourning that always come.

The cost of the war is not mentioned, nor is the military budget (see above). The cost in lives of U.S. soldiers exposed to more uranium depletion used in U.S. arms can be calculated by looking to Gulf War 1. We remember Gulf War I. Uranium 238 was used in munitions; 315 tons of radioactive waste polluted areas occupied by 436,000 US troops (www.ngwrc.org), and 185,780 US troops (36%) filed for disability. 

We seek peace. We strive for peace. And sometimes peace must be defended. A future lived at the mercy of terrible threats is no peace at all.

This is another example of reversal. Is the Bu$h administration seeing peace or war? Who is making terrible threats?

A Bush Vision of Pax Americana (September 23, 2002)
The Bush administration’s first National Security Strategy asserts the US as the lone superpower and declares its dominance in expanding global peace and freedom. (Christian Science Monitor)

If war is forced upon us, we will fight in a just cause and by just means – sparing, in every way we can, the innocent. And if war is forced upon us, we will fight with the full force and might of the United States military – and we will prevail.

This is an example of reversal. Ask the question who is forcing war upon whom? Most conclude that the U.S. is forcing war upon Iraq. The might of the U.S. military budget exceeds that of the top 27 military spending nations.

And as we and our coalition partners are doing in Afghanistan, we will bring to the Iraqi people food, and medicines, and supplies … and freedom.
Many challenges, abroad and at home, have arrived in a single season. In two years, America has gone from a sense of invulnerability to an awareness of peril … from bitter division in small matters to calm unity in great causes. And we go forward with confidence, because this call of history has come to the right country.

What partners? Is Bu$h saying he will lift 12 years of sanctions on food, medicines, and supplies that have spelled genocide for 1.5 million Iraqi civilians?

New World Disorder: How US Arms Dealers & Cabinet-level Cronies Profit from the War on Terror (November 11, 2002)
This article from LiP Magazine draws attention to the absurdity of the US fighting terrorism by supplying arms to undemocratic and unstable regimes. The US State Department has classified about half of the countries that receive military aid from the US as having “poor” or worse human rights records.

Americans are a resolute people, who have risen to every test of our time. Adversity has revealed the character of our country, to the world, and to ourselves.
America is a strong Nation, and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and sacrifice for the liberty of strangers.

Exercise of power without conquest is a reply to hundreds of critics that claim the Iraq war is one of conquest and U.S. imperialism.

Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America’s gift to the world, it is God’s gift to humanity.

The real threat to U.S. global imperialism is at home, with more and more Americans going the peace movement, with those who are noticing the growing gap between rich and working people.

We Americans have faith in ourselves – but not in ourselves alone.

According to a survey of faiths, most religions are against the war on Iraq.

We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life, and all of history.
May He guide us now, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.  Thank you.

A loving God does not advocate war.