If we do not learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. Apparently, someone forgot to teach this maxim to President George W. Bush. In Sept. 11 speeches that were supposed to be about reflection and mourning on our national tragedy, Bush instead attempted to call our nation to war. He inappropriately made his battle cries at a time when our nation needed healing, not more violence.
Yesterday morning, Bush took his cry to what he must have considered a more important sector - the United Nations. Although he couldn't link Iraq to specific terrorist attacks, he insisted that they were continually breaking U.N. sanctions. He called for tighter enforcement, even though no one, not even American weapons inspectors, found any hint of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
Before the president spoke, Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, delivered a slight rebuttal. He asked Iraq to allow inspectors back in, not just to appease the United States, but to show that war plans are unnecessary. He went as far as calling American actions "a simple matter of political convenience." Annan is wise enough to know what is behind this plan, so why are Americans, and the mainstream media, giving him a free pass?
Perhaps Annan's remarks made reference to the way that the Bush camp has favored putting billions of dollars into weapons contracts. Rather than addressing the concerns which are affecting U.S. citizens closest to home - such as a rising unemployment rate and lagging economy - Bush is attempting to divert public attention overseas to a country that is a convenient scapegoat and has a leader all too easy to demonize. The president is doing nothing more than capitalizing on the United States' fear of terrorism in an effort to promote his own agenda, while allowing the image of the United States as war-mongers meddling in the affairs of other nations to be perpetuated.
Bush needs to wake up to the voices of the public and learn that he will only make things worse. He is asking for a guaranteed disaster on many fronts; an attack on Iraq will not only violate the wishes of our allies and the United Nations, but it will bring unparalleled outrage and hatred from that portion of the globe. By killing their civilians, terrorists will be given yet more impetus to continue their violence. Attacks will either be pointed towards the United States or towards Israel, which today began bulking up their army for fear of an Iraqi reaction directed at them. The circle of violence must not start anew.
Besides the fact that this war would destroy many innocent lives, war against Iraq can only be a band-aid for a bleeding economy. In the end, the repercussions of mismanaging government resources will come back to haunt us. The billions upon billions the president would like to funnel into the military would be better spent improving dozens of programs at home, including aid for schools, social security and the environment. But if the United States intends to take an active role in international politics, Bush should be an advocate for improving conditions in foreign countries, not for bombing them.
As it stands, Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld have their hearts set on attacking Iraq. If they possessed definitive proof that Saddam Hussein had nuclear weaponry, they would not need to beg for support on "Face The Nation." It is only a matter of time before the propaganda begins and the war against Iraq becomes the cover story every day. Bush needs to abandon his cowboy politics and for once do what is right. If he thinks he can use the war to obscure the real issues come election time, then the American public must make clear that peace is the only option. We need more than the United Nations to stop this war before it starts; we need the voting, tax-paying public to take a stand and refuse to be taken in by these lies.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
