BUSH DOCTRINE PLANS GLOBAL DOMINANCE, WAR FOR OIL
By CHARLES LEVENDOSKY
Casper Star-Tribune
The United States has entered one of the darkest phases of its history. Under the guise of protecting American citizens from Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, the Bush administration has marched Congress toward global imperialism.
President Bush pressured Congress to quickly pass a war resolution to grant him sole authority to initiate and wage war against Iraq. The "Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution" is an aberration of constitutional history. The founders granted only Congress the authority to wage war.
U.S. forces can now initiate a military strike against a nation -- not in response to an attack but because the president perceives the nation to be a threat. The non-partisan Congressional Research Service issued a report in September that noted such authority is unprecedented in American history.
Congress surrendered its rightful duty and responsibility under the Constitution by handing Bush carte blanche to initiate pre-emptive strikes.
Roughly two-thirds of the members of Congress caved to the beat of the drums of war coming out of the administration hourly. They caved in because they wanted to get back to their home districts to campaign before the general election.
Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who voted against the war resolution, warned: "From this day forward, American Presidents will be able to invoke Senate Joint Resolution 46 (Senate version of the war resolution) as justification for launching pre-emptive military strikes against any sovereign nations that they perceive to be a threat. Other nations will be able to hold up the United States as the model to justify their military adventures."
A newly declassified CIA report on Iraq undercuts the Bush administration's view of the threat from that nation. The 11-year policy of containment has been successful -- it has deterred Saddam Hussein from attacking his neighbors or carrying out other hostilities. The report noted that Iraq has been deterred from initiating terrorist attacks again the United States -- but if the United States invades Iraq, Hussein would be more likely to conduct such attacks.
In lieu of the CIA report, Ivan Eland of the Cato Institute wrote an opinion piece in which he states, "because the president is the one who would put American sons and daughters in harm's way, the burden of proof is on him to show that it is not possible to continue deterring and containing Hussein."
The CIA report notwithstanding, the administration continues to beat the drums of war. The Bush administration has been pressuring the United Nations to adopt a new resolution to authorize an invasion of Iraq unless Baghdad accepts unparalleled disarmament terms -- terms that ignore the sovereignty of that nation.
Washington is also demanding a resolution from the U.N. Security Council that would essentially give Bush the right to declare war on Iraq without further consultation with the U.N. -- if he decides that Iraq has violated the terms of the disarmament resolution.
Whether the U.N. passes the tough disarmament terms for Iraq pushed by the Bush administration doesn't really matter. War with Iraq is now inevitable. It's not a war against terrorism, not a war against weapons of mass destruction. It would be more accurate to call it an "oil war" -- a military invasion to secure Iraq's vast oil resources for American oil companies and the American people.
On Sept. 15, Former CIA Director James Woolsey, spilled the oil out of the can in an interview with the Washington Post. He said, "France and Russia have oil companies and interests in Iraq. They should be told that if they are of assistance in moving Iraq toward decent government, we'll do the best we can to ensure that the new government and American companies work closely with them."
Iraq has proven reserves of 112 billion barrels of crude oil, the largest in the world, except for Saudi Arabia. The war resolution is about oil.
The Bush administration has initiated a global policy designed to expand and diversify the sources of oil for the United States. Military forces are one arm of that policy.
The New York Times reported on Oct. 4, that U.S. Special Forces will arrive in Colombia next month primarily to guard and protect Occidental Petroleum's 500-mile oil pipeline from guerrilla and paramilitary groups. American troops will put their lives on the line for Occidental Petroleum.
In September, Bush released a blueprint for an imperialism, entitled "The National Security Strategy of the United States of America." The Bush doctrine is an update of Manifest Destiny on a global scale -- American expansion and domination over world resources. It's a chilling document that portends the use of U.S. military force in every corner of the globe, in essence, waging continuous war.
One section of the National Security Strategy document reads: "Our forces will be strong enough to dissuade potential adversaries from pursuing a military buildup in hopes of surpassing, or equaling, the power of the United States." The war resolution passed by Congress promotes the unprecedented Bush doctrine of preventive war and pre-emptive strikes -- as outlined in the Bush blueprint for national security.
The Bush doctrine implies there will be other Iraqs, other pre-emptive strikes and other wars -- based solely on the president's discretion -- without the ability of Congress to halt this nation's move toward militarism in the service of oil.
Copyright Casper Star-Tribune
October 13, 2002 |
