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Mar. 30  2024
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Bush’s Speech: Declaration of War Against Iraq

In his prime time half hour television speech on the evening of October 7, the anniversary of the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan, U.S. President George W. Bush ordered Iraq to disarm immediately, or face attack.

Source  :  BASE21

by Christian/Base21 Media Activist
dvs-b@t-online.de


In his prime time half hour television speech on the evening of October 7, the anniversary of the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan, U.S. President George W. Bush ordered Iraq to disarm immediately, or face attack. His speech, delivered in Cincinnati, Ohio, was the most hysterical Bush has delivered to date as he attempted to provide "arguments" to convince the big powers in the Security Council and the American people to support a U.S. war against Iraq as an act of "self-defence."

Lacking any justifiable argument, Bush is reduced to the crass use of disinformation, marked by hyperbole and personal attacks against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein which he sought to pass off as "evidence" of the U.S. right to "self-defence". It was only matched by the parade of U.S. political and media personalities who commented on the speech in an attempt to give such a shocking display of ignorance credibility. However, none of this should divert from the fact that the speech was tantamount to a declaration of war against Iraq. Either "the UN" agrees to go along with the U.S., or the U.S. will go it alone with "coalition partners," Bush said.
Arguing that "the case of Iraq is unique," the main thrust of the speech was to argue that "regime change" is the issue, not weapons inspections. As has become his custom, Bush spoke in the name of "the civilized world." Referring to the resolution to be passed in the U.S. Congress authorizing the President to wage war against Iraq, Bush said, "The resolution will tell the United Nations and all nations, that America speaks with one voice and is determined to make the demands of the civilized world mean something."

As the world increasingly reaches the conclusion that any new UN Security Council resolution on weapons inspections is merely a tool to give legitimacy to a U.S. attack, Bush's speech fully corroborated that fact. This is why, no sooner Iraq agreed to unfettered access for inspectors including to "sensitive presidential sites," Bush upped the ante on Iraq once again. In his speech he declared a new condition which Iraq must meet: "To ensure we learn the truth, the regime must allow witnesses to its illegal activities to be interviewed outside the country -- and those witnesses must be free to bring their families with them so they all (sic) beyond the reach of Saddam Hussein's terror and murder. And inspectors must have access to any sight, at any time, without pre-clearance, without delay, without exceptions." Clearly, Bush thinks that he can act around the world like the FBI is acting in the United States, running roughshod through neighbourhoods with vulnerable people of Arab origin and the Muslim faith, entering and searching houses without a warrant, holding women and children at gunpoint. The hooliganism of the United States administration and monopoly-owned media is such that talk about U.S. policy authorizing the assassination of Saddam Hussein and appealing to others to assassinate him or stage a coup d'etat is reduced to commonplace, lowering the level of human dignity in an unprecedented manner.

In conclusion, it is perhaps not for nothing that news agencies report that ABC, CBS and NBC "all decided not to carry George W. Bush's speech live last night because, they said, the White House never asked them to. The White House said there was no formal request because it didn't want the public to think America was going to war." The U.S. administration may not want the majority of the American people to think so, but this is precisely where the United States is headed.

We vigorously denounces Bush's speech and condemns the attempt to divert attention from the gross violation of international rule of law which the U.S. imperialists are preparing by making the issue whether the UN Security Council should have one or two resolutions authorizing the use of military force against Iraq. Far from giving any attack on Iraq legitimacy, this speech merely underscores the urgent necessity for the working class and all peace-loving people to oppose any conciliation with the U.S. imperialists on any grounds.
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