So now we've been told the truth. TWGSP (The World's Great Super-Power) must invade Iraq because it has already announced its intention of deposing (and killing) Saddam Hussein. If TWGSP backs off now, says former Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Energy and Director of the CIA, James Schlessinger, the one-person brain trust of TWGSP, having served both Republican and Democratic presidents, it will forever lose its credibility. In short, TWGSP will cease to be TWGSP, leaving that illustrious title to China, which has been lurking in the wings to assume that coveted title. Is George II going to give in to the people who wash and iron his shirts? Never.
What is wrong with this logic? Even though TPOR (The Paper of Record, otherwise known as the New York Times,) reports that the invasion of Iraq will be an economic catastrophe for America (except for the Carlyle Group) and even though our best friend in the Middle East, King Abdullah of Jordan, tells us that America is on the verge of blowing up the entire region and that the Bush hawks "don't get it," the Cheney-Wolfowitz cabal relentlessly pursues its goal, failing to consider that a truly great power could adopt a "flexible objective" without fear of losing its prestige.
The argument that TPTB (The Powers That Be) keep reiterating is that Saddam Hussein is on the verge of creating an atomic bomb. This is not startling news. Israel has 400 atomic bombs and one hydrogen bomb, all in the hands of Ariel Sharon, who is, by all accounts, as insane as Saddam Hussein. We also know that Iran is close to developing nuclear weapons and that Pakistan and India have loads of them. Why, then, is Saddam Hussein such a special case, and shouldn't we consider invading all of these countries?
In the not too distant past, Saddam Hussein was our ally; until he invaded Kuwait because the greedy Al Sabah family demanded he repay the money they had lent him to prevent an Iranian take-over of the Middle East. If it is so essential to off Saddam now, why didn't George I do it when he had the chance?
The answer is simple. By not getting rid of Saddam, the U.S. created a permanent danger to justify the eternal presence of our troops in Saudi Arabia, so that oil rich country would remain a virtual colony. In case anyone has forgotten, it was the presence of U.S. troops (including women) in the Islamic holy land, which contains both Mecca and Medina, that so incensed Osama bin Laden, he declared war on the United States. 9/11 was the direct result of that, not the Palestinian question.
For TWGSP to just pull up stakes and high tail it out of Saudi Arabia would make it look as though Al Queda had won. But be defeating Saddam Hussein and driving him from power, TWGSP can declare total victory and relocate its troops to less inflammatory locales in the Middle East.
Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, who is also an eminent physician, has advised that we should just relocate the troops now and contain Saddam Hussein. He also has offered us another prescription-constructive neutrality in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Like many medicines, these prescriptions will be hard to swallow for TPTB of TWGSP. But why should the rest of us care? It behooves us to adopt as our motto, the title of one of Pat Buchanan's books: A Republic, Not An Empire. Do that, and watch the Dow soar.
July 31, 2002
Richard Cummings [send him mail] served as Attorney-Advisor for U.S.A.I.D., Near East South Asia region and is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. A playwright (“Soccer Moms From Hell,”), he is the author of the forthcoming novel, The Immortalists.
