Kirwan Articles 

The Circumspection - a Look back to the Future

November 2003

When The-Bush met with global resistance he attacked our former allies for cowardice, and for good measure destroyed the Atlantic Alliance. Next he attempted to whip NATO into line and when that failed he sought to make the United Nations irrelevant if they did not capitulate to American demands. The end result of all this blatant aggression and cock-of-the-walk posturing was to lead the United States, and it's one adoring ally, done a blind alley that led not to victory but to exacerbation. The situation created by our complete destruction of Saddam's regime, has created many more enemies than we had before, and it may yet result in the creation of a Muslim religious state that would probably not favor American interests - ever. It might be said that George-the-lesser is not a quick learner.

All this past week, members of the Burning-Bush Brigade have been blubbering over the national airwaves, singing the praises of what we have wrought in Iraq. At the same time they are steadfastly refusing to see or even admit the damage we have done to people's lives, to our international credibility, and to the stability of both the region and the world.

It is true we have restored some power, added more fresh water, and done some construction. But for twelve long years, 24-7, we were in control of 60% of that nation from the air, and we bombed it continually. Restoring Iraq to a par that equates with the kind of wealth that nation has, will be a huge undertaking, and that is something the USA has no intention of doing. We were counting on a quick victory and a simple handover of the operating oil fields to our control, so that we might build pipelines to Israel and re-direct the oil, while pocketing the profits, for the foreseeable future. This will not happen with the kinds of resistance that the Iraqi people have recently shown to this occupation by what they consider to be a hostile force of arms.

continues to demand more troops and more money from both the US and the world. In this endeavor Bush fails utterly to see just how catastrophic his failures have been, in this Lost Cause that he terms The War on Terror.

To state the obvious, the numbers of people who hate the United States have been greatly enlarged thanks to his actions. The stability of the region and the world have been dragged much closer to the edge of the precipice, by his irrational and barbaric attack upon a nearly defenseless country. Moreover, The-Bush has used the money that is so desperately needed here for everything from schools, and medicine, to infrastructure and a viable future for our citizens - in an open-ended funnel down a bottomless hole called "Fighting Terror."

Bush has said that he will never retreat. But that's because The Bush Brigade will only admit to a single avenue of response - bloody and brutal war - without any recourse to diplomacy or to policies that might alter the entire culture of relations between the peoples of that region and the interests of the United States. Bush sees only more missiles, bombs and bullets to remedy differences between these massive interests that are in conflict in the Middle East. When in reality, alterations of US policy would do far more toward stabilization of the differences in not only that region, but in the whole world as well.

If peace and stability were what was being sought by The Bush Brigade, then alterations in our policies would be the way to insure that change. But that was not and is not the goal - this is a power grab, and a simultaneous attempt to stem all global opposition to this arrogant act by a rogue state. And we are the state that is being seen as the aggressor around the world - which is why we can get no help from those whose help we so desperately now need, to salvage something from this nearly complete debacle.

If there were any decency in any of these stage puppets that call themselves our leaders - they would exercise some circumspection, and have the decency to give the public some credit for being aware that this adventure has turned out very badly. But then if that were true we would have seen these men and the Contessa of Lies, going from bed to bed in the military hospitals trying to comfort the wounded and the dying. Instead, we are given speeches bereft of opposing opinions, by anyone from either the public or the press. There is no balance in the administration's approach to this totally new role for America in the world: that if Bush gets his way, will remain that of Super-Bully-on-the-block.

What was done in Iraq will live in history as a blunder of staggering proportions. And given that this administration has a stated goal of six more wars to come - it would seem unconscionable in any eyes, except from those that reside within the Burning-Bush.

The footnote to all of this that truly makes all the difference is the money trail. The USA is broke. Our national debt has become a living, burning disgrace that will have to be born by many generations of our children already. However, the Bushites are demanding ever more treasure be tossed willy-nilly into the black hole of re-construction. That is a hole which we created and which we created on purpose, so that we could let the contracts to re-build it.

To "fight" the coming aggressions against Syria and Iran, will take hundreds of billions more, and of course the re-building of those countries would bankrupt several countries the size of ours. So of course we want help - but we're still unwilling to share the profits with any nation or group of nations. That kind of thinking is completely insane. And yet no official in this administration has been investigated, sanctioned, or fired for what has happened to date. And still there has been no real investigation, legal or otherwise, of the events that led us to all of this: The events of September 11, 2001.

Moreover the same docile congress that approved the war in the first place, is about to concur again: First on the $87 billion being requested now, and then on the coming joint military actions with Israel on Syria and Iran. Where is the public outcry in America? What happened to civilian control over the military? The Bush is completely out-of-control and his 'fire' must be put out. Our national freedoms and protections must be restored. American needs must be attended to first, not last, and we must make a supreme effort to restore the damage done by the Bushite belligerency in his headstrong rush to war on Iraq.

Bush now claims that Iraq is the front line in the WAR against Terror. There would be no WAR against Terror needed, if the USA began behaving in a civilized and even-handed way in its dealings with the rest of the world. Neither Safety nor Security can ever be guaranteed by bullets and defensive shields - because true security only comes with decent and open relations with one's neighbors, not to mention with one's own citizens. All the secret meetings, and all of Ashcroft's new laws only serve to enslave Americans and have done to this country what no enemy has ever been able to do - namely to silence our citizens, and steal our dreams with the stroke of a pen.

This must be stopped and reversed in its tracks. To do this we must fix the broken political machinery that has brought us to this place - and we must recognize the wrath and anger of the voters of this country who have had more than enough BS from the Burning-Bush and all his flawed and damaged operatives.