state of fear...

I know many of you out there reading the blogs, listening to the radio commentaries, or watching the news agree with me and with many of our Reps in the House and Senate, when we assert that the President no longer has the confidence of the American population (not that he ever had much of it and what he did have, didn't last long). He has shown again his stubborn refusal to accept reality this week in the culmination of days of White House leaks regarding Bush's planned speech outlining his "New Way Forward", by giving us more of the same rhetoric and fear-mongering. Let me lay out in general terms where we are right now and why.

In the fall of 2001, our country was attacked by heinous criminals intent on bringing international terrorism inside our borders. The Bush administration feigned ignorance of any forehand knowledge of these attacks of any kind. This is a lie. There are several articles which question the legitimacy of the government's claims that they were wholly unaware of impending attacks against a major American landmark. See here, here, and here for starters. The revelations in these news stories did not have as much impact as they should have. This country, in hindsight, desperately needed that impact. We began to see the true nature and intent of our President and his handlers then.

During late 2001 and early 2002, the FBI and several other countries' intelligence agencies determined that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization was behind the attacks. Specific proof came in the form of various videos depicting Bin Laden admitting responsibility for the planning and execution of the attacks and through thousands of official interviews and investigations carried out by the FBI and other agencies. Using the results of this investigation as justification, US-led forces begin aerial attacks on Taliban and al-Qaeda forces based in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001. What is left out of nearly all the reporting regarding the run-up to war is that the United States systematically supported the Taliban's operations beginning with President Carter's administration and continuing into former President Bush's. This in turn indirectly led to the alliance of bin Laden and the Taliban.

President Bush issued an Executive Order on December 12, 2001 establishing Afghanistan and it's air space as an official combat zone. As the weeks turn into months, the Taliban forces are seemingly removed from power and driven out of Afghanistan, possibly into neighboring Pakistan and other countries. The victory has been relatively short-lived.

President Bush then begins making his case to the public against Saddam Hussein in early 2002. In January of that year, during his State of the Union address, Bush declares Iraq as one of a group of nations intent on doing harm to the world and more specifically the United States. He subsequently gave evidence (which has now been proven false and outright made-up with the exception of #2 and you will see why below) of Saddam's support of terrorism by aiding al-Qaeda monetarily and with weaponry. Bush also made claims of Iraq's continued pursuit of materials needed in order to manufacture "weapons of mass destruction". The public at large bought into these statements lock,stock, and barrel. During this time, the President was still highly supported in his efforts against terrorism and was nearly without question given the approval to begin military operations in Iraq. This decision has become a mistake of epic proportions for which we are now paying dearly.

The President and his administration received little opposition during the beginning months of the invasion of Iraq. It was not until May of 2005 that revelations in The Sunday Times of London showed Bush's claims for what they were: Justification for the Bush administration to invade a sovereign nation for political and empirical gain.

Despite many of the reasons for going to war being revealed as unsound and policies enacted in the name of "Homeland Security" that are in fact considered by many illegal under the Constitution , President Bush continues on the path of destruction and obstinacy he has followed since his inauguration in 2001.

On November 7 of 2006 the United States populace overwhelmingly voted to put a stop to the tactics used by this unabashedly corrupt administration in it's domestic and foreign policies. The massively reprobate Republican Congress was given it's walking papers and Democrats finally given a chance to bring much needed checks and balances back into play. However, from the Bush point of view none of that matters. He and his team seem hell-bent on keeping the oligarchy alive and well until they are forcibly removed.

The President, who constantly and not-altogether-correctly calls himself "The Commander-in-Chief" addressed the US on Wednesday effectively terminating any hope in the war ending anytime soon. In fact, he made the intentions of his administration all to clear: We are going to war with Iran at the first opportunity. His supporters can argue all they want about this not being the case, but Bush is nothing if not consistent in his pursuit of power and control. The Defense Department has deployed a second carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf. Why was the first carrier not enough to support the current debacle taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan?

I believe that in the coming weeks, unless there is a concerted effort by our current Congress to curtail it, there will be more calls for a preemptive strike to be initiated on Iran. I believe Bush will demand that the U.N. Security Council issue authorization for military action against Iran for violations of Article III of the 1968 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). These violations are quite evident, however the US administration's suggestion that there are more sinister plans in the works has not been vetted sufficiently. I do not doubt that there are ulterior motives by the Iranian government regarding their nuclear ambitions but are they altogether nefarious? Should we act on suspicion and the word of our current Administration? I would think not.

Bush has already proven himself untrustworthy and duplicitous. He has proven he is unwilling to pursue diplomatic options in diffusing difficult situations in favor of military engagement, even when it is historically unwise to do so. The Middle East has been time and time again an area of unrivaled conflict and bloodshed. By disregarding the strides toward a peaceful and diplomatic resolution to the situation facing the Middle East, including Israel, Palestine, Iran, and Syria to name some of the players involved, Bush opened the proverbial Pandora's Box in epic proportions.

There is no winning in Iraq. There will be no winning should the President move forward on attacking Iran (possibly Syria as well). It is imperative that we as a nation hold our newly elected Representatives and Senators accountable. We must reign in this reckless endangerment to our safety and well-being that is being perpetrated by one of the most corrupt administrations in recent history. I fear if we do not, the consequences of our folly may be heretofore unheard of.