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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (21588)	3/16/2003 4:28:02 AM
From: PartyTime	Respond to of 25898

Wake Up America Tariq A. Al-Maeena, clsencounters@hotmail.com There is something morbidly fascinating about how President George W. Bush and his administration are going about selling their rationale for war to the rest of the world. And in their singular pursuit to convince the world of their noble intentions, they have chosen to override most established standards of decorum, adopting instead a modus operandi of provocation, intimidation, and deceit. But what has been emerging is the disturbing truth of an administration building the momentum for war on half-truths and lies. From the false evidence presented to the UN by Bush and Colin Powell, from Tony Blair?s plea to the British Parliament with a dossier written by a student 10 years ago and presented as evidence collected by the British Secret Service, to a myriad of other such inconsistencies, anything will serve on the road to taking out Iraq. Bush?s sales pitch to the American public is to appeal to naked fear. Fear that if he stops short of a war, terrorist attacks are imminent. Who could forget the recently launched Code Orange campaign to sow fear and terror among the American and British people? Who can forget the stories of duct tape and poisoned water supplies. Of Humvees mounted with anti-aircraft batteries deployed in the shadows of the Washington Monument and the Capitol, while machine-gun toting SWAT teams were sent into the streets of New York City. In London, tanks and combat troops patrolled Heathrow Airport. All in a deceptive effort to overcome widespread opposition to war. Surprisingly the US media made little attempt to critically examine the government?s claims. On the contrary, it accepted every one of these claims as fact, while working to hype the warnings and promote anxiety. While American eyes remain focused on terrorism and the Iraqi situation, Bush has been pledging billions of dollars to buy friends, but surprisingly hardly a fraction of that amount was earmarked for domestic health care or education. The charade including the promise of a fortune to countries like Turkey, Angola, Bulgaria, Cameroon and Guinea to name a few. This is an administration that has demonstrated a quick propensity to label any opposition to their message as pro-terrorist. On March 9. on CNN, Richard Perle, one of the key architects of the war on Iraq, when faced with allegations of hidden agendas behind the drive for war, dismissed them as nonsense, and branded Seymour M. Herch, a respected journalist uncovering some unpleasant truths behind Mr. Perle?s role, a ?terrorist.? Lest we forget, it was not so long ago that another member of this administration, Attorney General Ashcroft, authorized severe changes in laws protecting individual freedom, and sanctioned eavesdropping on conversations between lawyers and clients in federal custody, one among the many amendments that have silently forged themselves into the legislature. It has not just stopped at that. The largely compliant US media has also been dragooned into linking Al-Qaeda to the regime of Saddam Hussein without corroborating evidence. Eighteen months after the fact, this administration has yet to offer the American people an explanation of precisely what happened on that September day, choosing instead to zero on Iraq. The media that has largely chosen to remain silent on the spying and tapping by the National Security Agency into the phones and correspondence of UN members deemed swing voters on Mr. Bush?s war. Would the New York Times, the LA Times or the Washington Post care to elaborate on the media campaign to discredit nations that have publicly stood out against any US-introduced resolutions? Do not allow your conscience to be blinded by a fabricated assault on your patriotism by a government with hidden agendas and a largely muted media. The price tag would be the loss of countless innocent people, a people who have meant you no harm. And if the war does indeed begin, then you will be fed what you are meant to see. The Pentagon has made that very clear. Should war start in the Gulf, the Pentagon proposes to take radical new steps in media relations ? ?unauthorized? journalists will be shot at. Speaking on The Sunday Show on Ireland?s RTE1 last Sunday, veteran war reporter Kate Adie said she had been warned by a senior Pentagon official that uplinks, i.e. TV broadcasts or satellite phones, that are detected by US aircraft are likely to be fired on. What are they afraid of? Perhaps the sight of civilians being blown up may be too much to digest for the evening news viewer stateside. The UN must let the inspections continue for as long as necessary. Let all weaponry deemed offensive be destroyed. Let the truth be told. But save humanity from destruction. There is no threat to the United States. Dictators like Saddam and others around him will not be able to survive for long. But do not sow the seeds for future terrorism and dictatorship by being strong-armed into a war where all will be losers. Centuries ago, Julius Caesar said: Beware the leader who beats the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into patriotic fervor, for patriotism is a double-edged sword. It emboldens the blood and narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need to seize the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar. Arab News Features 15 March 2003 arabnews.com