Editorial from Kommunistisk Politik, No. 3, February 1, 2003
George W. Bush's State of the Union address has been received as it were not a declaration of war. It was. One thing is certain: Bush wants war now. Therefore, protests are taking place all over the US as a reaction to the speech. As a first reaction, the big US anti-war movement International A.N.S.W.E.R. commented on the speech in the following way:
"It is clear from George Bush's "war speech" (a.k.a. the State of the Union address) that February 5 has been selected as the "go date" for a declaration of war against Iraq."
On February 5, the US will convene the UN Security Council, where Colin Powell
will present the US "reason" for war. According to Bush, Powell will
there "present information and intelligence about Iraq's illegal weapons
programs; its attempts to hide those weapons from inspectors; and its links
to terrorist groups."
In the next sentence, Bush declared:
"We will consult, but let there be no misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein
does not fully disarm, for the safety of our people, and for the peace of the
world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him."
The countdown for war has begun. Bush has given the UN Security Council an
ultimatum: Either you join this war or we wage the war ourselves.
The war will come no matter what, according to Bush.
According to Commander-in-Chief Bush, the US is motivated only by the noblest
ideals when it goes to war. A long series of empty phrases was meant to hammer
that into the heads of the people in the US and around the world.
The US will come as liberators, of course:
"And tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq:
Your enemy is not surrounding your country - your enemy is ruling your country.
And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your
liberation."
There was also a comforting word to the thousands of Iraqi civilians who will lose their lives due to the US bombings and invasion: The US only goes to war when others force the US to do it (and Saddam Hussein does), and spares, in every possible way, the innocent. The US even brings big presents:
"If war is forced upon us, we will fight in a just cause and by just means - sparing, in every way we can, the innocent. And if war is forced upon us, we will fight with the full force and might of the United States military - and we will prevail. And as we and our coalition partners are doing in Afghanistan, we will bring to the Iraqi people food, and medicines, and supplies ... and freedom." (here Bush made a well-rehearsed rhetorical pause, looking deeply into the camera lens).
The number of lies in these sentences is too high for counting: The US war is not just. It is an imperialist looting war for oil and strategic hegemony (Bush did not mention oil with one single word). It will be waged not only with unjust means, but also with illegal weapons. The US is even considering using nuclear weapons. The war is not being forced upon the US. Bush has decided to go to war a long time ago, and all along he has been trying to find a pretext for launching it. The US is not liberators, but an occupying power, which seeks to install an Iraqi Karzai, a vassal, that shall serve US interests.
Not since the time of Hitler, an aggression war has been excused with so palpable lies. Bush even called the US forces "keepers of peace". It is not strange that he, just like an absolute monarch, finished his speech by pleading almost divine authority:
"We exercise power without conquest, and sacrifice for the liberty of
strangers.
Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person
and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to
the world, it is God's gift to humanity. We Americans have faith in ourselves
- but not in ourselves alone. We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence,
yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all
of life, and all of history."
We shall see if the UN Security Council says amen. That the Fogh Rasmussen
government does is clear to everybody. But nor is there any reason for having
any confidence in vetoes of France, Russia or China. They are all imperialist
and capitalist Great Powers without any principles, and they will sell the UN
Charter any time for their own benefit.
The only hope lies in the anti-war resistance of the peoples, in the powerful
anti-war movement that has been developing all over the globe even before the
war has begun. This movement will now face its biggest test.
January 29, 2003