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[sid] => 59775
[catid] => 1
[aid] => mick
[title] => PRECIOUS WATER THROWN ON SAND
[time] => 2004-08-11 15:44:51
[hometext] =>
[bodytext] => WATER THROWN ON THE SAND Where to start? Perhaps BEFORE the beginning would be appropriate in this case… Let me set the scene… These quotes were made in press conferences not long before 9/11. The first, from Colin Powell, speaking on February 24, 2001 approximately seven months before 9/11: 'He (Saddam Hussein) has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbours.' Powell even boasted that it was the US policy of 'containment' that had effectively disarmed the Iraqi dictator. On May 15 2001, approximately four months before 9/11 Powell went further and said that Saddam Hussein had not been able to 'build his military back up or to develop weapons of mass destruction' for 'the last 10 years'. America, he said, had been successful in keeping him 'in a box'. Now Condaleeza Rice, speaking approximately two months before 9/11: 'Saddam does not control the northern part of the country,' she said. 'We are able to keep his arms from him. His military forces have not been rebuilt.' Aleta, you know what changed and why the statements of “fact” had to change in tandem... 9/11 According to reports Rumsfeld on September 11 2001 itself said: 'Go Massive ... Sweep it all up. Things related and not.' Okay, can I now ask you to visualise the Iraq that existed prior to the attack based on the statements by Powell and Rice, what the inspectors DIDN’T find and what we now know. We see a country where almost every major factory is a bombed out shell. All were satellite mapped and destroyed either in Gulf War I or in the subsequent 12 years. By the end of these 12 years all sites considered of major interest as identified by the intelligence agencies are visited by teams of inspectors. Some missiles which breached UN mandates by a range of some tens of kilometres were found and destroyed. Little else is found except empty, deserted and in many cases completely destroyed facilities. In the second phase of inspections when the CIA are actually running out of high value co-ordinates, many of the co-ordinates given purported to be high value are found when visited to be either empty and useless facilities long deserted or bombed out or empty land. Nothing of value is found in these locations. Iraq was in essence defenceless against attack, closely monitored and unable to mount an attack of any substance even on its neighbours. Iraq at this time is the most thoroughly monitored and controlled country on earth. There are constant overflights, the CIA are crawling over everything with the inspectors and they are mounting various covert strategic and psyops missions in countries around Iraq co-ordinating with locals in attempts to destabalise the regime. We know at this time that Iraq was defenceless, did not have wmd and had been unable to develop wmd and that it was thoroughly contained. Didn’t Colin Powell and Condaleeza Rice explain the U.S. government’s position at the time? We know what changed everything and why the FACTS had to be changed... 9/11. This was Condaleeza Rice’s NEW take on things post 9/11: Condoleezza Rice described September 11 2001 as an 'enormous opportunity' and said America 'must move to take advantage of these new opportunities.' (April 2002) So, what am I trying to show here? That Iraq was a target of choice, not necessity. The Iraq of the time was no threat even to its neighbours. Anyone with the slightest imagination can imagine what would have happened to Iraq if it had made the slightest move against its neighbours. The Iraq of the time had not shown any move toward being in league with al Qai’da. In fact the request of al Qa’da for help was totally ignored by the regime. Saddam, being a ruthless tyrant in control of a secular state, had no wish to aid a terrorist, one of who’s greatest wishes was to remove him and replace him with the rule of Shar’ia law in a fundamentalist Islamic state. (Ultimately it is a sad irony that Bush may have, in the longer term, achieved this FOR him.) Iraq WAS contained, as Powell and Rice have said. It still had a despotic leader who should never have been in power in the first place (the story of how the CIA helped him get there is best left for another time.) There is always an argument for attacking countries with despotic leaders. There are many of them around the world: Myanmar, Zimbabwe, even China and certainly Saudi Arabia. But the arguments against are strong. This is the world we came FROM. Where one country attacks another out of fear of attack from them. Or simply because it is strategically a good idea. Or because they simply want that country for its land, resources or its people. The UN was set up after hundreds if not thousands of years where right was in the hands of the strongest and the strongest did what they liked. This is why sovereign states unless they actually attack another sovereign state or can be shown to be imminently about to attack another sovereign state were deemed to be regarded as protected from an attack by another. The above is the main reason for the lies. Whatever the facts, the necessity was, even after twelve years of fruitless search and the evidence of the inspector’s eyes, that they must SAY that Iraq was a current threat that posed danger now. They needed to say that Iraq was a current threat, that it was bristling with weapons of mass destruction, that, as Tony Blair said, 'Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction programme is active, detailed and growing. 'The policy of containment is not working. The weapons of mass destruction programme is not shut down. It is up and running now.' Not a word of this was true. The intelligence didn’t say that then and the facts on the ground certainly show that it was in fact totally untrue. He needed to say this though. Just as Bush needed to make similar statements, and Cheney, and Rice and Powell and everyone else. It was not important that it was not true. What was important to them is that they sounded convincing when they SAID it was true. It was a simple equation. Asssert that there is a real and present danger and then we can attack. Say that Iraq is contained and no danger (as they had been saying prior to 9/11) and they could not. It’s a no-brainer isn’t it. Tailor made for George W Bush. You say these words we get to do what we want. You don’t and we can’t. And what do we want to do? Attack Iraq. Simple. I have attempted here in simple outline to say why I feel the attack upon Iraq was wrong and a matter of convenience to Bush, his colleagues and the rabid conservative and hawk punditry who then surrounded the White House and still do for all I know. Next I will turn to what I believe should have been the American foreign policy which I consider would have stood the greatest chance to end terrorism on our planet for once and for all. §§§ Well…, you might say you don't care. Even if it is true that this administration knew, as did Colin Powell and Condaleeza Rice that Iraq was actually defenceless. You may say even if it IS true, and you don't say it is, that still you don't care. Terrorists hit America on the 11th of September 2001, they killed all those innocent people and you don't mind WHO Bush hits. Let him hit everybody and anybody. We just want to be safe. We just want to feel safe again. Anybody who speaks against Americans hit 'em. Any bad guys around who don't like America hit 'em. We don't need to hear justifications, we don't need you to even explain, just go out there and hit 'em and keep hitting them and hitting them until they leave us the hell alone! You could say that. You could say that even knowing how many innocent men, women and children were going to die horrible deaths because of it. You don't care. America has been hurt and you want them all brought down, every last American-hating one of them. You want protection. You want to feel safe again. Kill them and keep killing them until I feel safe. Until then hit and hit and hit. Most of the world out here suspected you felt like this and we know that some of you still do. We do understand your feeling like that but it also makes us scared for our world and it makes us fear YOU even more than al Qai'da. Why? For what you might do to our world because of 9/11. (Can I perhaps ask that you remember that we have suffered too for decade on decade from terror.. Ironically here in Britain much of the funding for the IRA came from New Yorkers of Irish descent. In Africa millions have died from terror, hunger AND drought. Millions there will no doubt die again and again. We know this doesn't help and that the shock of this outrageous and totally awful event was overwhelming for you. But we have suffered too, please try to realise that and perhaps understand that we know something of the way that terror feeds on violence, any violence… We DID understand. But we hoped you would rise above the panic like proud noble victims of a terrible abuse and rightly demand justice. Not retribution. Because we had learned the hard way where hate and violence alone lead… Well, after a gap where our respect for Bush actually rose to new heights because he didn't instantly lash out America hit Afghanistan. Most of the world could see the sense in this. We knew that innocents would die but it seemed inevitable when bin Ladin was not offered up by the Taliban. We wished for a minimum number of further innocent deaths. Many of the relatives of those killed on 9/11 that we heard speak also of course mourned each new innocent life lost, each family destroyed. What they wanted was justice and they wanted it to be seen to be done. The last thing they wanted on this earth was that more innocents like their sons and daughters, fathers and mothers died. The one thing they wanted more than anything no doubt was to see Osama bin Ladin on trial. This has been something Bush has not been able to give them. The Taliban were not liked, they ran a brutal fundamentalist regime and they didn't seem to want to give up bin Ladin, the man who had sent those men on 9/11. Afghanistan was attacked and invaded and the road to a better life for the people is still long and fraught with danger. Next came Iraq. And this is where I and most of the world's population parted company with your present administration. Before the attack itself during the twelve long years of sanctions iIt is estimated that 500,000 Iraqi children died due directly to their effects. They were denied vital medicines, especially for the treatment of cancer. The sequence of drugs is particularly crucial in treating cancer and they were not getting them or only part of the sequence at any one time. Panels of sanctions scrutinisers headed by the United States and Britain had labelled some of these drugs 'dual-use' so they were unobtainable in Iraq. You can imagine the emotions of the parents, not to mention the doctors and nurses as they watched helplessly as their children died. Some of them had strange cancers hardly seen before but who now came in twos and threes per month. It is not thought to be a coincidence that depleted uranium shells had been used widely the first gulf war… But, despite the suffering of the Iraqi people under a brutal dictator and twelve years of misery where almost everything was in short supply and the economy collapsed you wanted Iraq hit. Even if Iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11, even if it had no weapons worth much, even if it had no links with terror. You wanted it hit because that man had been the enemy of the United States and you wanted him hit, you wanted him out. No matter that the atrocious and unforgivable worst times of mass murder and torture were largely in the past. No matter that Iraq had ben acknowledged by your own people as no threat just months before. No matter that Iraq would stay contained and had no ability to attack anyone and no capability to develop weapons. No matter that the country would be fractured and be engulfed in chaos and terror which might come back to haunt us all. You still wanted Iraq hit. And hit is was. You may have wanted it. And you may not have cared if there was any real justification for it or not. But was it RIGHT? You wanted it because you felt you would feel better and safer once it was done. But was that feeling a good enough reason to kill twenty thousand innocent men, women and children? Was it a good enough reason to further destroy a country already ruined and brought to misery through sanctions? Yes, they are now free of Saddam. There is this one positive. But at what cost? Those who died certainly don't hear the cheers if cheers there are,.now in that frightening land… §§§ An alternate world, an alternate solution On September the eleventh 2001 the whole world stood shoulder to shoulder with America. The outpouring of compassion and support came from every country around the globe. No one in their right mind wanted innocent civilians to die in ANY way least of all in that way…. And everyone in their right mind suffered along with Americans on that day and pledged in their hearts to do everything ethical to ensure such a thing NEVER, EVER happened again. With such a terrible tragedy also came a possibility, a chance of at least SOME compensating right, some good emerging from something so totally wrong. This was to harness the global unity which stemmed from an overwhelming goodwill and feeling of unity with America that swept the world. The power of those feelings of unity and comradeship, that shared purpose and longing for a better world where such things never again happen has never been seen before and will likely never be seen again. Through a terrible tragedy a once in a millennia opportunity presented itself. To join as one world of peaceloving nations and peoples and with time to end terrorism forever on our globe. The preservation of that determination and unity is at the heart of what in my opinion was humanity's one great chance and hope for an enormous leap forward in the face of such overwhelming danger. I hope I can describe well enough my feeling for what events, motivations and self-less acts ought to have prevailed after 9/11. They would have taken great men rising to new heights of perception, men able to realise they had to think beyond the narrow cage of the immediate present to the generations beyond and the precedents they would be creating for them. Imagine what would have happened if the feeling that was present in all of us all round the world had been allowed to stay. Imagine if each step had been an ethical one commanding respect and agreement. Imagine such a power only reinforced and made it stronger more powerful as each day passed. Imagine the co-operation possible and what could have been achieved and what would STLL be being achieved. Imagine the things that could have been done. Imagine a president enfolded in a partnership of real and growing strength where, because the highest ethical standards were being adhered to, the agreement grew only stronger and the moral distance between the honest men and women of good faith and the terrorists only grew. Imagine how clear the light showing their shame would have been. Imagine how isolated the terrorist would be with no ability to claim they or others had been wronged. Imagine the terrorists isolated in a moral vacuum, unable to point to anything we did as unethical or immoral. But this would have required truly great statesmanship. It would have required a total honesty and integrity and sheer guts to see that ONLY by maintaining this stance could the power of that unity be maintained. That man would have to rise to a supreme challenge, but wOULD because the fruits of that for America and the whole of mankind and future generations were WORTH IT. Any lies, knee-jerk, gut reaction violence not based on the highest moral justification were what would bring the whole vital wave of sanity and cleansing into disrepute. Sadly this is what did happen. Due I believe mainly to the low intellectual capacity of those in positions of influence in the United States. After all, the pundits had waited for a moment such as this. But they had not waited for a moment in which to forward a grand and powerful mission of unity and strength in the face of terrorism. No. They had waited to deliver violence against their own personal vendetta targets. One of the chief of these was Iraq. Unfinished business. For them it was a simple matter. Hit them. Just hit them. Because we can. Because now we can do it. 9/11 provided the window so let's just DO IT! Not until a decade or more is over will, I believe, we see the full folly and irresponsibility of these intelligent but small-minded and sadly near-sighted men. Their form of punditry has become an industry. Some of them formed a group called 'The New American Century' and formulated their ivory tower plans in their comfortable offices snug in their leather-bound chairs, it was easy to think of sending others to die and to kill. For them it must all have seemed like some computer game, or chess. Didn't one of them say that Iraq would be a cakewalk? I wonder what he says today? Does anybody know? Do they still sound off in that same old macho style? Still? Now? It was sexy to be macho in print in those days. To urge hard action, to push for war. The easy way, the dynamic, the sexy, the vote-catching, pose-making, death delivering way…All so simplistic. All so deadly. And all so limited. Compare their ideas and the limitation of those ideas to the awesome power of my vision of all that world-wide goodwill harnessed for the benefit of all Mankind now and for every generation to come. The global goodwill toward America that existed on the days following 9/11 was an awesome thing and not to be taken lightly. For understandable reasons the people of America were perhaps not fully aware of the groundswell of backing for America at the time. They had much sadness to occupy their attentions and fear and grief mingled together in an overwhelming and introverting mixture. 9/11 was the greatest and most visible tragedy of the last thousand years or more. But the loss of every precious morsel of that global goodwill toward America was perhaps the second. What could not have been done if it had been harnessed and nurtured, preserved and strengthened? It was a goodwill open-hearted and open-ended. It had the potential to be there STILL, right now. Even growing in power each day that our staesmen and women preserved it. And it truly could I believe have built a network of security for America and for the rest of the world that WOULD have sttod between us and barbarism, between us and terrorism. No force could have withstood it. But it could not survive unethical conduct from those who carried it forward. That is what killed it.Of all the world's history this was the one time to stand firm and do hard but right thing, to continue doing that right thing in partnership with the world no matter how hard it got, how many votes were lost through accusations of inaction - until there was not one place a terrorist could stand and still be supported. To summarise this long and rambling but heartfelt exposition, in my opinion the solution to the problem of terrorism post 9/11 was clear. It was to occupy and maintain at all costs the higher ground of morality, integrity and justice with no bowing to expediency either for political, economic or even for short-term strategic reasons. To put greater and greater moral and ethical distance between the terrorists and the determined peaceloving nations of this world. To provide the light of reason and humanity that shines in those great figures of our time who we remember for their love of mankind and their wisdom. To do all this would have taken REAL guts, real integrity and real partnership. It would have been supremely touch but in my mind it would have been supremely right. Sadly, Bush, through his already known weakness in foreign affairs, his general inexperience and no doubt his badgering with his Dad's old cold-war warrior advisors did the easier, smaller, more mean-minded and politically dismal thing. He took the easier option which was being pushed on him with fervent voices from every side. He was the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have to admit, and this will surprise some people no doubt, that I actually do feel sorry for this man who simply was not competent for this task and at the time when humanity both now and for all time to come needed him so desperately to have vision was so horribly blind. He took the option pushed on him by those small of mind, hard of heart and great of hatred. The option pushed on him by those too cynical and too full of hatred to even for a moment to look up and see what a responsibility they were abnegating and what an opportunity they were destroying. They totally failed to see or I believe, even recognise the awesome possibility that beckoned if only they could rise above themselves, grasp the hour, maintain restraint and uphold the highest possible ethical stance. These men went for short term catharsis. And in so doing I am very afraid, lost all our collective long term futures. What was lost when innocents in their tens of thousands were blown apart in a country that Condaleeza Rice and Colin Powell had said only months before was contained and incapable of harming even its neighbours? What was lost when a people who had struggled through twelve years of punishing sanctions following a war and following decades of living under a brutal dictatorship were then hit by traumatising force from the most powerful country on Earth? What was lost when Bush divided the whole world into America plus a few politicians from Britain, Spain and who knows where else and the rest of us? What was lost when we watched the market in Shula full of everyday poor Iraqis doing their daily shopping when it was bombed and the old men, women and children alike were weeping uncontrollably and inconsolably? What was lost in Abu Ghraib when the bestiality that is in some men and women was harnessed by an intelligence service to abuse those who it is estimated were most likely innocent of any crime? What was lost when a concentration camp was set up at Guantanamo where the inmates were given the minimum of rights and where we hear that psychological and sexual torture is used? What was lost was every last bit of that awesome power for good, that determination across the world to change things so that neither America or anyone else were ever threatened with or hit by terror again. What was lost was the one opportunity to walk together to a new day. What was lost was America's connection with the world and its hope of safety in a bond of union with us that we had wished for and still do… Bush has left America isolated, alone and feared. But sadly not feared by the terrorists. Why?. Because they FEED on violence. It is meat and drink to them. With his attack on Iraq Bush lost his ethical bond with the world and created a cause for al Qai'da and its followers more potent than any they could ever have wished for in their wildest dreams. With his attack on Iraq Bush fractured a country which had actually been one of the most resistant to al Qai'da. That was no reason to keep Saddam in power or the regime in power. No. But it is still a fact that al Qai'da were as nothing in Iraq before Bush's war and now Bush has given them the opportunity and of their lifetime to take over that country and create the most anti-american Islamic state ever seen. Already the US military have estimated that one in four new police recruits is an agent of the Iraqi resistance. It was all lost. Every last piece and prayer of goodwill. Not only that, Bush managed to totally reverse it so that the whole world rather than fearing al Qai'da and Osama bin Ladin began to fear the United States and George Bush instead. In my view it is quite clear that attacking Iraq was the most counter-productive thing Bush could have done. The people of the Arab nations are more set against America and American than EVER before. The whole region is radicalised. All other hard-line Islamic states look at the mess of Iraq and realise that America will NEVER touch them in the same way. The possibility to wield huge influence on these nations through international co-operation is lost forever. Bush is not trusted. Not one inch is Bush trusted. And for the future trust will be ESSENTIAL in order to build an adequate defence against terror. Bush blew it all, reversing the goodwill from total positive to near total negative. Essentially because of his irresponsible, unethical and divisive attack on a country that was near defenceless. So, you see what my solution would have been. To maintain at all costs the cohesion of a total coalition of peaceloving nations. No power could have withstood it. It would have been working today to make our lives safe. But it was killed stone dead. By Bush and those who ran him like a puppet because he knew no better. There was a wondrous opportunity to take us to a civilisation of security and new opportunity for all. The actions of Bush, spurred on by the shadowy figures of influence in America made sure all was lost. All of it. All evaporated as though it never was. Like precious water thrown carelessly on hot desert sand… [comments] => 0 [counter] => 215 [topic] => 41 [informant] => steeleyes [notes] => I think this is a story rather than poetry, and maybe should be in the new stories section ! Admin. [ihome] => 0 [alanguage] => english [acomm] => 0 [haspoll] => 0 [pollID] => 0 [score] => 0 [ratings] => 0 [editpoem] => 1 [associated] => [topicname] => political )
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