The Neo-Cons’ Middle East
January 14th, 2007 by Wil Robinson
Can you hear it? Faintly, softly - but ever encroaching - the drumbeat of war. The rich and powerful with everything to gain but nothing to lose from the slaughter of innocent lives - be they American soldiers or brown and Muslim civilians - are once again using propaganda, rhetoric and misinformation to wage yet another conflict that will prove to be financially advantageous for an elite few.
It began with President Bush’s speech on his “change of course” in Iraq. While a troop increase might actually provide much-needed security for Iraqi civilians in the line of fire, it can’t happen like this. We can’t continue to have the same man who lied to the American public’s face tell us once again to “trust him,” that this time he has the answer.
In a perfect world, impeachment would be the only acceptable answer, followed by an interim administration that owns up to America’s responsibility to the Iraqi people. But, as the weak, mindless and ineffectual Democrats have made clear, they would rather stand by for two years and watch the world go up in flames - if it means they can revel in the neo-con’s failure.
So after Bush’s speech, where he warned Iran and Syria that he would take measures to combat their “meddling” in Iraq, an Iranian consulate in Iraq was raided by U.S. soldiers and six Iranians were taken “prisoner.” These Iranians were in the country legally and under a diplomatic cover - but no matter. The U.S. has opened up a second front against Iran, and this was simply the first move.
And how does the administration follow up their first battle in the inevitable war they seek against Iran? By sending out the big boys to spread the word to the talking heads on the Sunday morning talk shows.
Here are some excerpts of Dick Cheney’s whirlwind propaganda tour starting in 2002 and ending yesterday:
September 8, 2002 - Meet the Press
CHENEY: “[Iraq] is, in fact, actively and aggressively seeking to acquire nuclear weapons…If we have reason to believe someone is preparing an attack against the U.S…then I think the United States is justified in dealing with that, if necessary, by military force.”
March 16, 2003 - Meet the Press
CHENEY: “[W]e know that [Iraq] has a long-standing relationship with various terrorist groups, including the al-Qaeda organization…I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators [in Iraq]…”
August 28, 2006 - Speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention in Reno, Nevada
CHENEY: “I know some have suggested that by liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein, we simply stirred up a hornet’s nest. They overlook a fundamental fact: We were not in Iraq on September 11th, 2001, and the terrorists hit us anyway.”
January 14, 2007 - FOX News Sunday
CHENEY: “And Iran’s a problem in a much larger sense…because of the conduct of Mr. Ahmadinejad…who appears to be a radical, a man who believes in an apocalyptic vision of the future and who thinks it’s imminent…[T]hey’re pursuing the acquisition of nuclear weapons…[if you] speculate about the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran…prepared to use terrorist organizations and/or their nuclear weapons…it’s important that that not happen.”
But Democrats - for all their finger pointing about Iraq - are following quietly in the Iran rhetoric, tied down by their misguided pro-Israeli lobbies and eager to appear “strong on security” lest the Republicans score another point. Don’t worry - once an invasion of Iran turns ugly, they’ll be lining up to take their “I should have told you so” potshots across the aisle.
So the rhetoric and misinformation heats up - courtesy of the “liberal media” - and when Iran publicly states that they are “still committed to the [Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty],” it is ignored by the same networks that bring Cheney in to spew his filth. Instead he is left to continue making accusations and false connections that will conveniently allow him to implement his vision of a Middle East dominated by the United States.
After all, we’ve got to invade Iran and spin the resulting mess the right way before the 2008 elections.
Is anyone really listening? Or just following…
Tags: Iran, lies, Cheney, war, Bush
While making those comments about Iran, the Bush Adm, by many people’s opinion, are breaking the NPT by supplying India, which refuses to be a signatory to it.
The scariest thing though, is that there is a rogue nation with 10,000+ nuclear weapons, and a lunatic dictator in charge. A man with a messianic complex who doesn’t bat an eye at killing tens of thousands of innocent people. A man who doesn’t have the courage or the ’stomach’ for hand to hand combat, so instead showers his death and destruction from the air. A man who knows no compromise, and will not be satiated until the world bends to his warped and twisted view of reality. He rules a country that knows of his evilness, and his sick and demented ways, yet do nothing to stop him. That country better hope, and pray to the God they claim to love so dearly, that the world doesn’t decide to ban together and do the thing it’s own people refuse to do: TAKE HIM OUT!!!!!