By VIC RATSMA
Lengthy and sensational media reports, including discussions by the so-called "experts" have followed the capture of Saddam Hussein. But still the truth has not been heard.
It is being hailed as a major victory for the USA, a triumph for the Bush Administration and a justification for the war against Iraq. I am talking of course about the capture of President Hussein in December of last year. Over and over again and again the same pictures were shown of Saddam’s hideout, of his hair being cut, of Iraqi people celebrating in the streets and in homes and of politicians like Bush and Blair declaring the enormity of their catch, and how this may alter the situation of the war itself. And of course, not to forget, how this is supposed to enhance Bush’s chances for re-election this coming November.
Yet, I have to ask myself "Can a capture of one old man, who has been on the rum for the last eight months have that much impact on the course of history?" There is little doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein had conducted horrendous crimes and that, as leader, he has taken full responsibility for such actions. For his removal from power few people will shed tears. But Saddam’s crimes are not the reason why there is a war going on in Iraq, and that’s why his capture, while scoring propaganda points for Bush and Blair, will in the end not change the situation for the people of Iraq. Nor does it change the real reason why this war is being conducted and the Imperialist Agenda on which it is based.
I will not repeat all the reasons that were given by the Bush-Blair tandem to the United Nations Organization and to the people of the world, now about a year ago. You will no doubt remember all of the "evidence" provided by Colin Powell to the UN Security Council, massive evidence of weapons of mass destruction, numerous illegal long-range rockets, nuclear weapons, chemical ad biological weapons, mobile bio-lass etc. – all said to be in the possession of Saddam Hussein – who was ready to strike anytime. But one year later, none of these weapons have been found and they appear to have existed only in the imagination of the US-UK aggressors. Then there was the so-called link between Hussein and Al Qaida terrorists and the threat that this posed to America and the "free world". Americans were even told that Saddam was responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and unfortunately many people in America believe this to this day, even though it has long been proven that there is no such connection.
The fact that both the planning and preparation for war on Iraq and on Afghanistan long preceded the events of September 11, 2001 is today conveniently ignored by virtually all the mass media and commentators. Yet these plans are very well documented and publicly accessible. In 1997 a group of people created a Washington-based think-tank "The Project for the New American Century" (PNAC) who published a report in the year 2000 under the title "Rebuilding American Defenses"(1) in which they projected American economic and military hegemony over the entire world. William Rivers Pitt(2) in an article published Feb. 23, 2003 describes this report as " the institutionalization of plans and ideologies that have been formulated for decades by men currently running the American government." Among these men we find Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Defense Policy Board Chairman Richard Perle, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and others, and also among whom is George W. Bush’s brother and Governor of Florida Jeb Bush. The report recognizes that a major event (like the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor) will be necessary to obtain the broad support of the American people.
"Bring them on!" George W. Bush said publicly after the fall of the Iraqi regime, when speaking of terrorist attacks. Perhaps he also said that before the planes flew into the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon- but then, only quietly - the proof of that is still hidden in those Whitehouse briefing notes that no one was allowed to have excess to, and in the details of the forewarnings the Whitehouse had about the September 11 attacks, but which they conveniently chose to ignore.
Why is everyone from the Government’s CIA to the Opposition politicians and the major mass media ignoring the connection between the PNAC Report, the September 11 attacks and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? And why are the rest of the world’s governments, even those who opposed the war in Iraq are so silent about this connection?
The answers to these questions, I suggest, are simple. Follow the money trail. Private corporate interests (including the mass media) are not served by the (for them) horrendous consequences of a guilty verdict of the Bush administration, as stock markets would undoubtedly crash. Similarly, governments around the world are not only fearful of US retaliation, but also could suffer the consequences of a US economic collapse. Better therefore not to rock the boat. And so, not "Truth" but "The Lies Keep Marching On."
Hallelujah!
As for the capture of Saddam Hussein, it won’t make any difference to the real objectives of the USA for world domination. There will continue to be more American military bases and troops around the world, not only in Iraq, but also in all of the former republics of the Soviet Union, in the Far East and wherever they can persuade or force the governments to play their game. All this is now done in the name of "spreading democracy". Winston Churchill once said: "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others." The United States has discovered a better form of government: "The New World Order", previously known as the "Fascist Dictatorship".
It is time to wake up!
(1) PNAC:http://www.newamericancentury.org/publicationsreports.htm
(2) William Rivers Pitt is the Managing Editor of Truthout.org
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