by: Gary Whittaker
Terrorism. The U.S rightly attacked Afghanistan when they refused to give up Bin Laden. For this, I have to trust that the Americans knew what they were doing, since they were involved with setting up Bin Laden and Afghanistan in the first place. That does not, however, give them the right to bite the hand that feeds them.
It is what happens hereafter that should give us all pause for concern. Many times, causes or wars are pure in their infancy, but grow into new animals. This did not take long, as America turned towards Saddam and started accusing him of aiding and harboring terrorists. The U.S had not even put a serious effort into destroying the Al-Quaida before turning to face a new enemy. Once they created, twice. Saddam was put into pwer by the United States, and backed for decades by the US. They were always aware (and some believe partially responsible) of the crimes they now have charged him with. In essence, King George outright fabricated a reason to go into Iraq and finish the job his father started. Why? Simple. America did not see God after the Gulf War. Oil companies cried foul when they could not broker deals with Iraq and profit from their huge oil reserves. Since the U.S would already be in the middle east, why not kill two brids with one stone? In searching for weapons of mass destruction, the Americans used weapons of mass destruction to slaughter any Iraquis who got in their way.
How could the people let this happen? People are influenced by the media, who in turn are influenced by profit. The Americans provided first-hand coverage of the war as long as the media respected certain conditions about the reports they aired. Among those conditions were that no negative press towards the events can be presented by those reporters. Both the American and British governments worked together to create a climate of fierce propaganda. To oppose the war against Iraq was to spit on the faces of all those who died in 9/11.
To turn against the soldiers today, would be to repeat that same evil against the veterans of vietnam. The media imposed a subtle form of censorship towards any anti-war stories in order to keep good standing in the eyes for the American and British governments. Most people rely on mainstream coverage to get all their information. The many mainstream are owed by the few of the upper class. Businessmen that stand to lose since Bush would refuse any contracts to be given to any country (and companies) that did not participate in the war.
While most of the Iraqi people seemed happy to be rid of a dictator, their joy quickly changed to apprehension, then anger as the American's continue to stay and occupy their land. They no longer saw the difference between Saddam's tactics to stay in power, and the Americans that stormed their city daily, and their temples, rounding up and killing Iraqi's. The irony here is that in attacking Iraq under the pretense of curbing terror, the Americans have added to the threat. The Al-Quaida have openly contacted rebel groups, as they help them mobilize against the U.S and their new puppet regime. Saddam was a dictator. People like Saddam could never allow an organisation like Al-Quaida to survive in Iraq, as it could pose a threat to his power. With Saddam now removed, the Al-Quaida has more opportunity to plant operatives in Iraq. With more and more Iraqi's being killed either directly or indirectly as a result of the American intervention, Al-Quaida will also be able to add more members than they could of beforehand.
King George will now have to make his next moves very carefully. If he continues to pursue his middle east agenda, he will easily plunge us all into the next World War. We do not have to sit idly by. The first act would be to get informed. Learn about what is going on. The internet offers a wealth of instant information. Never just trust one source. People cannot help but to taint facts with opinion. Here is a great site that can get you started on other aspects of King George's own reign of terror: http://www.motherearth.org/bushwanted/laws.php#rogue