HOPE

"What oxygen is to the lung, such is hope for the meaning of life."

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Why we are where we are today financially, and as a country that is spiraling out of control!



As I have always stated and will always declare, the American people and America are the greatest People and Nation in the history of the world. America and its people have given much to the world and it is my belief that we would continue on that path, provided we have the means to do so. (History repeats itself – if we are not mindful it could be 1940’s all over again)

But, the reality of America lies not only in the eight years of the George W. Bush Administration; but also the Clinton Administration; George Herbert Walker Bush Administration; and especially, the Reagan Administration.

Ronald Reagan set out to destroy the Unions in America – The Unions that gave people the right to collectively bargain for better working conditions, health care that really was the engine that helped to create the middle-class. Reagan began the deregulation of the Banks that took us on a path of Wanton Waste by the Bakers and people working for the Government that created losses of hundreds of billions of dollars of tax payer’s money. Reagan also took a 930 billion dollar National Debt and increased it to 2.7 trillion dollars; George W. H. Bush enhanced it to 5.1 trillion dollars; under Bill Clinton the debt only grew to 5.6 trillion but he left a balanced budget with a surplus 5 trillion dollars; and then, George W. Bush spent the entire surplus and added 4.6 trillion dollars to our National Debt, that when he left office on January 20, 2009 our debt stood at 10.4 trillion dollars.

All of the money that got spent; the wars that were initiated that still exist today; the two humongous tax cuts and other monies that were spent, was borrowed money and nothing was never paid for. And so, President Barak Obama got saddled with a Country and 99% of it people in deep and unforgiving waters. To Obama’s credit he infused the necessary cash into the financial system that prevented us from becoming a bankrupt Nation, and despite what his critics espouse, he did stop the hemorrhaging of the loss of jobs despite the 9.1% employment that exist today.

I wrote an entire book titled America’s Paroxysm sometime ago, but I decided not to publish it when it was done because of some significant changes that took place, hence I would have to re-write various parts of the book, before publishing it. However, the first chapter of the book is listed below. You can read or not read it, but should you choose to read it, I feel certain that it would help to provide you with a balanced perspective that would assist you in understanding your country and what you can do, individually and collectively, to help us climb out of the mere we were tossed into by the end of 2008.

AMERICA’S PAROXYSMS -SEEING “BUSH” AS THE “VIRGO INTACTA”

At the inception of the present Bush Administration, it was clear then, as it is now, that Arrogance, Ignorance and Ineptness, combined with Myopia, was the catalyst that allowed the September 11th tragedy to occur. This became the worst destruction ever to transpire on American soil. These same factors were also the catalyst that resulted in the preemptive strike against Iraq.

In the first instance, the President’s argument to act unilaterally against Iraq, to enforce United Nations Resolutions, was nothing short of futile. To act unilaterally is to discard the United Nations, yet enforce resolutions by the very body that you are ready and willing to ignore. This defies common logic.

Saddam Hussein, measured by a standard of the meek or the strongest, the good or the worst of Humanity, is a very “Evil”, insane, demented demon. The irony was however, to demonize one’s self and an entire nation in order to get this one demon, Mr. Hussein, takes one’s breath away.

With the astonishingly high number of historians and the vast number of credible institutions, the rhetorical question is if these historians do not see the “parallel" between the present day and 1933.

President Carter, who turned out to be a most productive ex-president, even with a stretch, by no means performed his duty on International Affairs, save that of the “Camp David Peace Accord” with Israel, Jordan and Egypt. Once sworn into office, he allowed self-righteousness and the illusion that he had a “Monopoly” on morality, to determine and define his job. This became the catalyst for this present situation that faces the world today. His reluctance to help the Shah of Iran, a most devoted and most loyal ally, to remain in power, resulted in the Shah’s collapse and allowed Ayatollah Khomeini to take control of a country that was always on the side of the United States. This paved the way for the seizure of the American Embassy and the American citizens for more than one year. Therefore, Iran went from ally to foe.

Then came the Iran- Iraq war. With Iran now being the enemy, the United States threw their support for the pernicious dictator – Saddam Hussein. Thus, the answer to the question, “who helped arm Saddam Hussein’s military with chemical and biological weapons, making him a threat to the world?”, is not so difficult to answer after all.

All the deceptive adjectives that are being used now about Saddam Hussein were used prior and during the Gulf War:

1)      The weapons of mass destruction!
2)      Using chemical weapons on his own people!
3)      Attempting to eradicate the Kurdish Iraqis!
4)      Attempting to possess nuclear weapons!
5)      The butchery of countless Iraqis!
6)      Torching over 500 oil wells in Kuwait!
7)      Launching missiles on Israel and other Arabic nations!
And the list goes on.

Now comes the big question, “Why did the first President Bush leave Saddam in power?” Easy answer, “OIL”.
Next question, “Why did the second President Bush attack Iraq, remove Saddam Hussein and occupy Iraq?”
Another easy answer, “OIL”.
Thus the reason for the present, but not new, hyped-up propaganda for unilateral action is, OIL.

Russia had a window of opportunity to quash their past benevolent neutrality [Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact, August 1939], by using their Veto against any military action without first exhausting every avenue of the United Nations ability to seek and destroy any and all weapons of mass destruction. It is absolutely frivolous to suggest that the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, is incapable of undertaking and carrying out this task. If this were so, then there should be no existence of the IAEA.

1)      When the first President Bush vacated the White House January 20th 1993, one month prior - December 1992- he gave the new incoming president, President Clinton, a gigantic present, twenty-six thousand US troops into Somalia, to supposedly feed the hungry. There is no doubt that the Somalian population, most of it anyway, was starving, but they were starving before. The question still remains: Why not coordinate the effort with the new president and deploy them after the new president was sworn in?

2)      The Haitians had over-crowded Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They had flooded the doorsteps of Florida and a large number were floating in the Atlantic Ocean in old overcrowded rafts and boats, perishing. While these disasters were taking place, the democratically elected leader, Aristede, was sitting in a hotel in Washington DC waiting for Bush to do something. All the while the dictator Cedras was brutalizing the Haitian people and devastating further an already devastated country. What did Bush do? Absolutely nothing!

3)      Bosnia, Herzegovina exploded into war on April 6th 1992 and even until the minute Bush vacated the White House on January 20th 1993, he did absolutely nothing. Like Haiti they possessed no Oil. Nevertheless, tens of thousands died.

4)      Rwanda and Burundi also exploded in war. The Bush Administration did absolutely nothing – some one and a half million people died. Again, no oil, no US leadership. Except for President Clinton, no recent president intervened when “no oil exists”.


It is a fact that at the conclusion of President Clinton’s tenure, as President of the United States, vital information sighting the biggest, single threat to the United States of America was Al Qaeda.

During the Clinton Administration, the Republican lead house and senate were too busy investigating President and Mrs. Clinton’s financial life, and President Clinton’s sex life, to the point that they allowed the Non-Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, NNPT, to die on the vine, while they moaned and groaned about what rooms the President carried out his lewd acts of immorality. These self-righteous, self centered, conceited bunches of egotistic maniacs were fully cognizant that Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda fanatical infidels were dangerously on the loose, blowing up Embassies, the USS Cole and committing other heinous crimes. Where were the US Senate Intelligence Committee and the US House Committee? – “Hearings!”

Subsequent to the September 11th tragedy, the Bush Administration, rather than accept the responsibility for their failure to disseminate the intelligence information that was provided to them, their Modus Operandi, (MR.), became their obsession in trying to conceal the failure of this Administration and the Intelligence Agencies that work at the behest of the Whitehouse. They embarked on a path of words that has been consistently and constantly filled with hyperboles. To this date no one in the Bush Administration has ever accepted the responsibility for their failure to protect the American people. It is blatantly shameless to witness the blame game that has been permeated on the American people and the rest of the world.

I wonder who is counting the number of people that took the blame for the "mythical" State of the Union Address, before Bush himself exclaimed on July 30th, “I accept the responsibility for my words. Well, did he? And if so, why now? First it was the CIA director, Tony “the lonely” Blair, an assistant advisor, and now Mr. Bush and Ms. Rice. With so many "blame" takers, one can't help but wonder who is responsible? How many other fabrications have occurred and continue to occur? This Whitehouse made so many statements about Saddam and Al Qaeda links that have never to this moment manifested, except in the story teller’s mind.

One also wonders, did arrogance, negligence and myopia play a role in allowing the September 11th tragedy, and was that the catalyst that permeated the Iraqi war, to distract the American people's attention about the facts of that great tragedy? It seems evident that the commission report subsequent to redaction, gave the American people everything and anything, but the truth. I think that Mr. Bush and his oligarchy are without shame or conscience. They care about no one but themselves and their pocket books. Dick Cheney, George Bush and their families are not in the employment lines and the ever lengthening "food hand-out lines."

The Washington elites are making "strange bed-fellows." Imagine Presidents Clinton and Bush ending up on the same page, saying, "It is time to move on, we have to look forward and not to try and re-write history." Easy for them to say, for they or their families are not burying dead soldiers every day, neither are they, or their families, being brutalized and killed every day by the so called coalition of "would-be" liberators. Further, they and their families enjoy 24-hour protection and they live in houses that are a trifle smaller than Saddam's palaces with all of the amenities and then some. It is air-conditioned for the hot weather and has a heating system for the winter that prevents them from feeling the slightest of chill.

Therefore, it is not a problem for them to read liturgies exclaiming how brave the soldiers are and what great sacrifices they are making. They never mention the 120 degree temperature the soldiers endure, never knowing if the next minute a bomb or bullet would remove their leg or make them dead: no, the elites never mention these things.

When mankind works hand-in-hand to promote justice, based on truth and moral principles, or through contriteness, it is most admirable. However, when they work in-sync to cover their negligence, their nuances make them pathologically pathogenic. It is unequivocally clear that President Clinton’s statement on Larry King Live, with Senator Bob Dole as the guest on his 80th birthday, was an attempt to cover the very transparent "nexus" that shines as bright as the morning sun. Clinton's failure to deal with Al Qaeda and Bush's negligence, due to arrogance, for not heeding Clinton’s warning of the Al Qaeda threat that lead to the September 11th tragedy, is one and the same.

Notice for a moment how silent President Clinton has been on all of the malfeasance that lead to the invasion of Iraq. Thus the conclusion here is that Clinton threw [jet fuel] unto the “nexus” with his words of concinnity, and President Bush [lit the match] by invading Iraq to obliterate the "nexus" in an attempt to allow both of them to go unscathed for their complicity in the September 11th tragedy.

Both of these Presidents, like other Presidents, always end their speeches with the words "God Bless America." Logically, they must believe in God to wish God's blessings on America. Bush more so than Clinton always speak about how "Jesus" changed his life at the age of forty from the vices that plagued him. I believe that Jesus can and does change lives. However, Jesus preached that "only" the truth can set you free and that with a contrite heart and a broken spirit one can be redeemed. Jesus however, never preached that duplicity, deceit, lack of contriteness, blaming others, malfeasance, killing innocent people and other such things, bring redemption or change lives.

The Reverend Billy Graham presided over the swearing in of President Clinton. Reverend Graham’s son, Franklin, presided over Bush's swearing in as President. Thus I think that it is important for both Clinton and Bush to know about the book published by The Billy Graham Ministries and about a very important sentence in the book. The title of the book is; "A Beacon in Darkness. The sentence that should awaken Bush and Clinton says:-

“When men come to believe that the wrong they have done is finally covered up, then God in his wonders begins to bring light to every hidden thing.”

Mr. Clinton usually keeps his belief and God to himself, but Mr. Bush draws "God" like a 44-magnum. I think that Mr. Bush has convinced himself that he is the authorized modern day "Messiah" with the right to eradicate evil as he sees. I noticed in his July 24th speech he referred to Saddam's two sons as two "henchmen." I wonder how does Bush measure up from God's standpoint, not man, to the people he passes judgment on. By any standard, it seems that Saddam's two sons were, or probably still are, henchmen. But at the same time I wonder if this Bush’s ochlocracy is any less of a myrmidon.

During Mr. Bush's campaign for president, and thus far in his presidency, he has always quoted scriptures from the book of "Isaiah". His demeanor when he speaks about good and evil, God and Satan, henchmen and good men, I was always struck by the manner in how and what he said. However, in his July 30th news conference, his use of the word "I" gave me the answer to perhaps why he so frequently quotes “Isaiah”. I think part of it is his ideology that he and he alone, is the judge of all people, including the American people. He believes that he is good and those with whom he disagrees, well, they are evil, Satan, or whatever demonic name he labels them. What is amazing about how he uses the word "I" is found in Isaiah, chapter 14, verses 13 and 14, where Isaiah recorded the fall of Satan, as quoted in these two verses as Satan said:

"I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will be like the most high."

We should not be surprised if in the very near future Mr. Bush holds a news conference and says to America and the world; "I am god, the most high." I personally would not be surprised how many die-hard Bush supporters would bow and say to him, "Yes lord! What can I do for thee?” Mr. Bush, however, should read the following verses as to what God said to Satan, verses 15-18-

"Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the lowest pit. Those who see you will gaze at you and consider you saying: “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities?"”

The decision to invade Iraq by the Bush Administration was made long before September 11, 2001 tragedy. Irrespective of all the lame and deceptive reasoning given by Ms. Rice, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld and President Bush himself, the rationale was revenge and oil. All September 11th did was to buttress a decision that was already made. Manipulation and fabrication was what was behind the escalation in the Vietnam War that took some 58,000 American lives and injured hundreds of thousands. As for the Vietnam death toll, who really knows? Thus it is true that history repeats itself. Enosimania prevailed again and that is the reason for the hundreds of deaths of American soldiers and the thousands of Iraqis.

The United States has no credibility as to the justification for invading Iraq, and even if another 150,000 troops are placed in Iraq, the danger to the soldiers would just further escalate. Pride kills, and that is exactly what is happening in Iraq. Bush's pride is the rationale behind the continuing deaths of the American soldiers. All this hyperbole of daily raids to "root" out the people carrying out the attacks against the American soldiers is exactly that, hyperbole. Neither now nor one year from now would this tragedy end, so long as America continues to occupy Iraq. The only answer to the problem in Iraq is that America has to swallow its pride and allow the United Nations to take control of Iraq with forces that would be seen by the Iraqis as "trustworthy". Bush and Cheney know this, but their vision of controlling the Iraqi oil is more important to them than the lives of these soldiers that are being blown apart each and every day. A few months ago the photos and ages of three soldiers that got killed were shown on CNN. They were 22, 23, and 24 years of age. My youngest child will be 25 in November. Not one of these three kids even lived to be her age. The dolorousness that penetrates your very soul when you see another dead soldier, your very heart bleeds, unless and of course you have the hearts of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest of the Whitehouse gang. I wonder how many bodies it would take before the American people demand the withdrawal of their sons, daughters, husbands and wives from Babylon. Arrogance was the catalyst that lead to the 9/11 tragedy. Rather than accept the responsibility and deal with that problem, Bush had to invade Iraq and further endanger the United States and the world as a whole. This futile exercise has now created another Israel/Palestine conflict. Just wait until you hear the 26 million Iraqis start shouting "jihad". [The Soviet Union could not thwart the will of the Afghan people even after eight years of occupation and that was a very poor country. What makes anyone think that 26 million people would allow themselves to be subjugated by this Bush Administration?] Bush wants the American people and the world to respect him, but what he does not understand is that respect out of fear only breathes animosity. Until he learns that true respect is born out of love and care, the tragedy that he initiated will only get worse, and love and care is not something he can claim is his best suit.

This writer wants to be unequivocally clear that he is no defender of the Saddam Hussein and the Osama Bin Laden of this world. However, the writer’s view is that every problem stems from two components: the Symptom and the Cause. When this unspeakable tragedy transpired on September 11th, it was only right that America and the world attacked and dealt with the symptoms of this egregious machination. However, it is important to note that treating the symptom without ever addressing the cause only allows the problem to become greater and perhaps compounded.

Isolating one such “cause” is Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, and their refusal to adhere to the numerous United Nations resolutions, to return the occupied territories of the Golan Heights and the other areas seized in the 1967 war. This continues to be a manifestation of anger and hate between the Arabs and the Israelis. It does not require a miracle to resolve the Palestinian and Israeli conflict that has claimed so many lives on both sides. As much as the Palestinian suicide bombers must be labeled “terrorists”, beyond any doubt, Israel is no less a terrorist for their responsibility in destroying the homes and the lives of the Palestinian people.

The American government, over the past two decades, has always had at their disposal, the non-military weapon, to resolve this conflict. At the cost of the American taxpayers, Israel is the largest recipient of America’s Foreign Aid, which totals some 3.8 billion dollars annually, in direct and indirect aid. Neither the incumbent President of the United States, nor his predecessors, had the will to take the one step to resolve this conflict that continues to breed such hatred. Senator George Mitchell’s fact finding report, the European Union and even this present Administration, have all concluded that two independent states with a buffer zone separating them is what is required in order for sanity to prevail. The United States should demand that Israel withdraw its forces from the Palestinian territory and simultaneously allow the United Nations a “peace keeping” role as the separation of both states take place. Even NATO forces can be utilized to further enforce the stability of the Palestinians.

Lengthy liturgies, and as the Bush Administration calls it, “Road Maps”, are not required to bring peace subsequent to the year 2005. For Israel to comply the U.S. government has only to take a stand that Israel adheres to the separation of these two states or they would face a halt in any further aid being provided to them. I do not ascribe to the thoughts of so many who promulgate that America’s politicians are afraid to take such stands due to the backlash of the Jewish population living in America that would possibly threaten their re- election. I believe that it is a profound fact that the reason why there has only been talk of a Palestinian state and no substantive action, is due to the American Government’s position that the continued instability between the Palestinians and the Israelis would keep both people in a state of anarchy, which allows the entire region to remain unstable, and thus continue to create the necessity for “big brother”, America’s military presence, in the region.

Geo-technical studies concluded that Saudi Arabia holds the largest oil reserves in the world, some 260 billion barrels, followed by Iraq with approximately 112 billion barrels, and then Kuwait, with 95 billion barrels. With the world consuming approximately 84 million barrels of oil daily, of which America alone consumes 30 million barrels, for which 20 million barrels are imported, it is not too difficult to see that the U.S. Government’s involvement with the Middle East is not liberation, democracy or peace, but rather instability to keep the oil flowing to fuel their economy.

Personally, I believe it is rather easy to visualize and comprehend the Bush Administration’s rationale for going to war with Iraq. In the same manner as all rivers flow into the sea, it takes all the different situations and circumstances that brought about a common denominator, irrespective of the various facts, that made the war with Iraq inevitable, even before the September 11th tragedy.

So many of the people closest to the present President Bush, had worked for his father in the first Bush Administration: Condoleezza Rice, the now National Security Advisor, was advisor to the first President Bush on Russian affairs; Colin Powell was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Richard Cheney was the Defense Secretary in the first Bush Administration, Donald Rumsfeld was Defense Secretary in President Gerald Ford Administration, Paul Wolfowitz and others were all part of the previous Bush and Regan Administrations. One might remember that the first President Bush had a 91% approval rating subsequent to the victory in the first Gulf War. Even at that time, his critics had conceded that his victory in the impending 1992 Presidential elections was a foregone conclusion. Imagine for a moment the thoughts of all these people, when it was concluded that a Governor, from one of the poorest states, had won the 1992 election! In the days following Mr. Clinton’s victory, very disparaging remarks were beamed across the world by Saddam Hussein. It was reported in the news media that Mr. Bush’s son, President Bush, was devastated by his fathers defeat. It was also reported that the first President Bush stated that the American people had betrayed him after all the good he had done for them.

I believe that the first President Bush never seemed to comprehend that the American people’s focus on International Affairs was very limited and very short lived. The economic situation is what mattered most, and for all the “thousand points of lights” vision that Mr. Bush proclaimed, the prosperous life that most Americans enjoyed had dissipated, because as good hearted as the first President Bush was, he was economically blind.

 For the record, when President Regan succeeded President Carter, our national debt was 930 billion dollars. Regan’s promise to the American people was two-fold, in that he would wipe out the very small deficit at the time and he would eradicate the 930 billion dollars debt. By the time his term expired, America’s national debt was 2.2 trillion dollars. The first President Bush’s vision of lights during his campaign in 1988 assured the American people that he had a definitive plan to deal with the expanding deficit and the growing national debt. When he was removed from office due to Clinton’s victory, the deficit was larger than it had ever been and our national debt stood at an astonishing 4.6 trillion dollars. Unemployment was out of control, yet he wanted another four-year term.

We must not forget three issues that occurred during the first President Bush’s bid for re- election:

1)      Despite an agreement that President Regan made with China, that America would not sell advanced weaponry to Taiwan, Mr. Bush, at the Lockheed Plant, during a campaign news conference in 1992, told the employees that if they helped to re-elect him he would sell the Taiwanese Government one hundred and fifty (150) F-16 jet fighters. [Since then China has never voted with the United States in matters involving the United Nations Security Council.]

2)      Despite Mr. Bush’s promise not to raise taxes and his words “read my lips” during his 1988 campaign, he broke his promise and did exactly the opposite. He signed the tax increase bill late one Friday night and flew down to Florida on vacation. The following day when he was confronted by a reporter as to what he would tell the American people about him breaking his pledge of no new taxes, “read my lips”, Mr. Bush responded, “Now they can read my hips”. If this is not arrogance, then I don’t know what is!

3)      In 1991 when his approval ratings were sky high, the American people in both personal and business capacities were filing for bankruptcies at an alarming rate. Eastern Airlines was just one of the victims of bankruptcy. Prior to Thanksgiving of 1991, the democratically lead congress had passed an emergency bill to extend unemployment benefits to some of the hard-hit airline employees who lost their jobs. Mr. Bush vetoed the bill. Perhaps this was his interpretation of compassion.

One person in particular, who worked for both the present President Bush and his father, is Colin Powell. In rendering service to the “MASTER”, it is quite easy to forget the “Garbage” we are sometimes fortunate to exit. Colin Powell, this “supposed” reluctant warrior’s blind loyalty to Bush Senior, and now Bush Junior, has manifested Colin into a Bushido.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers sacrifice their families and their own lives, for Leader and Country and they end up dead-broke, living on the streets, sleeping on park benches and side-walks, most subjugated by the bureaucrats of the Veteran’s Association - mostly living in “hell on Earth”.

Not so for Colin Powell, for he is a “Bushido”! (Japanese) [Treachery and brutality to ones enemies, blind loyalty and unquestioning obedience to ones superiors, are cardinal characteristics of the “Bushido” code.]

Is it fair to call Colin a “Bushido”? We can examine the facts and each individual can cast their lot.

a)      Colin Powell did serve in Vietnam and for that he deserves full credit and the financial stability he has acquired

b)      During his tenure in the Regan Administration he gained name, recognition and prestige that could have been utilized for a lot of good. However, he and the Administration he worked for, brought nothing but death and destruction, in untold and unaccounted numbers to El Salvador and Nicaragua, with their hell bent ideology, arrogance and “might is right” attitude. In Nicaragua, the Contras (US backed), killed the Sandinistas (Nicaraguan Army), and vice versa, all because Daniel Ortega, the Nicaraguan President, would not subscribe or ascribe to Regan’s ideology.

c)      President George H. W. Bush appointed Colin Powell Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, replacing Admiral William Crowe. On October 3rd, 1989, less than 24- hours on the job, Colin Powell participated in a botched amateurish coup d’état to overthrow Manuel Noriega of Panama. Subsequent to the Coup’s failure, Colin Powell, at the behest of President Bush, used the United States military to invade Panama on December 19th 1989, capturing Noriega on December 24th 1989. All at the cost of countless military and Panamanian civilian lives and some American soldiers.

[Manuel Noriega, the only American prisoner of war, is serving a forty-year sentence in a Florida Federal prison for attempting to sell Narcotics to the United States]

The Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS), explicitly states that the United States of America would not invade an OAS member state, under any condition whatsoever.

The OAS guarantee prohibiting an invasion by the United States of America on an OAS member state is further buttressed in the case of Panama by the Torrijos - Carter Treaties.

      Imagine the magnitude of America’s enosimania.

      Columbia refused to sign a Treaty for the construction of the Panama Canal for which Panama was a territory of Columbia. America engineered Panama’s independence in 1903 and concluded the Treaty with the then Independent State. In 1936, the United States of America paid Columbia twenty- five million US dollars as an apology for their act.

Despite all the guarantees by the United States to Panama, America, prior to the invasion in 1989, had invaded Panama fourteen times before. [It is possible the United States government’s guarantee to Panama is quite similar to the guarantee they gave to the American Indians.]

d)      At the end of July 1990, Colin Powell was still Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
     
The Pentagon became cognizant that Saddam Hussein was at the Kuwaiti border with 400,000 troops, over 4000 tanks, armored vehicles, and helicopters. The Whitehouse sent a telex to the US Ambassador, April Gillespie, in Baghdad:

MESSAGE:    Deliver a personal message to Saddam Hussein that any problems he has with Kuwait, the United States will not get involved because the US have no treaty with Kuwait.

            No warning from President Bush not to invade!
            No warning from Colin Powell not to invade!
                                          No warning from Dick Cheney not to invade!  
                                         
Thus Saddam invaded Kuwait and four hours later Bush threatened to use all means to eject Saddam.

The Gulf war took place, hundreds of coalition forces were killed and no one has released the number of Iraqis who were killed.

The question is, did we have to go to war? The answer is probably not. I contend that Saddam was wrong to invade Kuwait, but I also contend that Bush’s willful failure to warn Saddam about the consequences of invading could have averted war, because Saddam perhaps would not have invaded. [Saddam Hussein is evil, but he is not stupid.]

e)      Prior to and subsequent to the Gulf war, crimes against Humanity -Atrocities were being carried out in Rwanda, Burundi, the Balkans and other countries. However, no outcry came out of the first Bush’s Whitehouse. The question remains; where was Colin?

f)        October 1993 - Colin Powell was still Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Clinton Administration. Colin advised Clinton to use the US Rangers to capture Mohammed Farah Aided in Somalia. The mission went terribly wrong. Eighteen soldiers died and some of their bodies dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. Colin accepted no responsibility; he has never said a word about that horrific incident.

g)      Colin retired, wrote his memoirs and got in excess of six million US.

h)      George W. Bush became President in 2001. Colin Powell became Secretary of State. For nine months the entire Bush Administration sat around. September 11th tragedy occurred - to date numerous people say they accept “blame”, but no one accepts responsibility.

i)        Subsequent to 9/11, the Whitehouse embarks on massive public relations propaganda - [Iraq, Saddam Hussein, weapons of mass destruction, Al Qaeda ties, Uranium Oxide]. Colin displayed a vial of “Talcum Powder” at the United Nations as a metaphor for Saddam’s thousands of tons of Anthrax.

j)        The International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA), and UN inspectors got unfettered access to Iraq. They were unable to find any weapons of mass destruction and requested more time but was denied by Bush, Colin, Rumsfeld, Cheney and Tony Blair.

k)      The US with Britain invaded Iraq, decimating Iraq’s infrastructure. Hundreds of U.S. and British soldiers died, much more wounded. Thousands and thousands of Iraqis were killed and injured.  The Iraqis suffering is much greater now than under Saddam.

l)        Bush in his “Draft- Dodging Garb” landed on the Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier declaring that the major combat was over. More than one hundred soldiers have died since May 1st.

Secretary of State, Colin Powell’s present position is one of the most influential and prestigious positions any minority has ever held since the founding of America in 1776, to the present day.

During the run up to this most recent war with Iraq, it was quite evident that Mr. Powell was one of the more moderate voices in this present Administration. At times, it became public knowledge that Mr. Powell’s disenchantment with the Pentagon and specifically with Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, allayed speculation that Mr. Powell would either get his way or he would resign. I often wondered if this true soldier was going to live up to his calling as the reluctant warrior that brought fame to his name. Unfortunately, Mr. Powell capitulated to being nothing more than a Bushido. He along with Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and others, escalated their vituperate malapropos whereby Mr. Powell became the respected promoter for invading Iraq.

Life is amazing, because neither Bush, Cheney nor others, had ever served in active duty, and knowing about the malfeasance they have permeated over the years, sending other people’s children to die in a war based on fabrication of information, would be easy for them, because their adamantine maladies would always prevail.

In the case of Colin Powell, it is difficult to continue to view him as the reluctant warrior. Mr. Powell’s position as Secretary of State provided him with all the necessary National Security information that enabled him to determine truth from fiction. A poignant factor is, he refused to use the information pertaining to the Uranium Oxide Niger accusations. The documents pertaining to this Niger transaction was certified as forged documents by the head of the IAEA, months before this war was initiated.

Therefore, one cannot help but remain mystified as to why Colin Powell compromised on the very principle that he seemed to have thrived on all of his life. So, perhaps in the final analysis the percipience of Colin Powell being a “relentless warrior” may be more mythical than factual. Mr. Powell’s active duty as a soldier makes him no stranger to the fact that being in the middle of Gorilla warfare, soldiers endure wretched living conditions and every passing moment of each day, they live in incomprehensible fear of being wounded or killed. So how could Colin Powell have ever supported this Iraqi war that was based on manipulation and fabrication of information?

The topography and culture of Vietnam and the Vietnamese people are far different than that of Iraq and the Iraqi people. Nevertheless, there is a very transparent nexus with these two wars. The Vietnam War was nothing short of manipulation and deceit by verdant ordacious leaders, whose ideology can only be described as egregious machination. Thus, the common denominator in this Iraqi conflict bears all the scars by today’s leaders, as it was back then.

Unless one’s heart is similar to that of George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and the likes, your very soul encounters unbearable dolorousness for the pestilence that this Bush Administration permeated on these American soldiers and the Iraqi people that are caught in the midst of Bush’s enosimania.

It is quite clear that the present sitting President is no different than his father in the decisions that he has made. It is easy to see, when the whole picture comes into focus, why the sitting President took the initiative of starting a pre-emptive war with Iraq. Saddam Hussein by any stretch of the imagination cannot be viewed as a good man, but so are many of today’s world leaders who are nothing but dictators and tyrants. Unless there is a definitive, imminent threat, no country should engage in a pre-emptive strike against another, especially for personal reasons, retribution, and revenge or to conceal their own short comings.

Subsequent to one of America’s most contentious presidential elections, the people of the state of Florida, were disenfranchised by the Supreme Court of the United States, which made Governor George W. Bush, “President” George W. Bush.

The erosion of the constitution began to take effect. The founding fathers were very firm on the states’ sovereignty, which made them self-autonomous, unless there was a nexus between Federal and State. [Thus, for the first time throughout America’s 226-year history, we cannot say that this is a government by the people and for the people].

Mr. Bush’s oligarchy subsequent to September 11th became Bush’s ochlocracy. The United States of America that proclaims democracy, law and order, has become precisely the opposite of that which this great nation was built on. I firmly blame President Bush and his Administration for this catastrophe. Equally important, the American people who have given their “blind” support to all that George Bush and his myrmidons has promulgated, is just as responsible for the recklessness that this Administration continues to permeate on the American people and the rest of the world.

The commission investigating the September 11th tragedy has released its 900-page report. It is important that the American people understand that they have been given and told, everything and anything but the truth. This obstructionist Whitehouse intervened on the investigators’ work with no regard for the truth that was so essential to bring closure to the thousands of lives that have been affected by this unspeakable act. Yet, the polls continue to reveal America’s trust in the Bush oligarchy. [Paroxysms]

Two things are very certain about President Bush and these two things are more important to him than the American people’s security and justice, and the well being of their economic situation. I believe that Vanity and Tyranny is what drives Mr. Bush. It is important for us to understand the true meaning of these two words, as was explained by two great minds of the past.

[TYRANNY]- “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered, but we have a consolation within us that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” - [Thomas Payne]. For all the people that have suffered, and continue to suffer, at Mr. Bush’s tyranny, their day of glory is neigh, but I wonder, for Mr. Bush and all those who support his debauchery, what price would be exacted upon them.

[VANITY]- “Vain are the sharp swords of infernal malice and the perpetual battles of the serpent’s seeds, for in the midst of the church, the lame take the prey and the feeblest of the warriors are crowned.”– [Charles H. Spurgeon]. Perhaps man has never learnt that vanity and futility are synonymous. A simple statement written by William Shakespeare can help us all to alleviate the malapropos in our lives-

                        “To thine own self, be true and it must follow as the night, the day,
Thou then canst be false to any man.”

Most people when asked whether they are an Optimist or a Pessimist, 99% of the time, they opt for the word “optimist”. I cannot lay claim that I am an optimist, but I can state without any equivocation whatsoever that I am unequivocally pessimistically optimistic. I have clarified this position in order that I am not viewed as an intransigent pessimist. It is noteworthy that we remember when President Bush was sworn into office on January 20th 2001, and up until September 11th 2001, his approval ratings was no more than 45 %. There was nothing that this Whitehouse had done that had caused the American people to place any hope in this President. We should also remember that the 45% approval rating was basically the support that came from those who were Republicans. When asked if they would vote for Bush for a second term, he had less than 40% support. That figure reflected that even the die hard Republicans’ support was eroding. However, as strange as it may seem, and despite overwhelming evidence that intelligence agencies that worked for the Whitehouse, failed in the most miserable manner in their ability to reveal this horrible plot that resulted in the worst disaster on American soil, the American people’s support for this President increased and to this day, his rating still remains between 55 and 60%.

In full reflection of the September 11th tragedy, though negligence was the catalyst, America had the support of the entire world in the fight against terrorism. This involved a coalition of countries that were never allied with the United States. Mr. Bush’s presidency was helped and the United States enjoyed the sympathy from people all over the world. This was a great opportunity to utilize this amazing benevolence that was bestowed on America, not only to fight terrorism, but also to address the ‘causes’ that breed and permeate such heinous crimes.

However, subsequent to September 11th, in order to distract and re-direct the focus of the American people on the cause of the September 11th attack, the Whitehouse propaganda machine launched a determined verbal attack, directed at Iraq. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice and others, repeatedly exclaimed that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and that there were links to Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. With the assistance of Tony Blair, they went as far as stating that Saddam Hussein could launch weapons of mass destruction that would not only affect Saddam’s neighbors but it could reach the shores of America. Bush emphatically stated that Saddam Hussein had purchased uranium oxide from Niger. Colin Powell, addressing the United Nations, metaphorically using a vial of talcum powder, stated that Saddam Hussein had in his possession thousands of tons of Anthrax and VX-nerve gas. Dick Cheney stated to the world, that the Bush Administration knew precisely where all of those weapons were hidden inside of Iraq. Despite the various uses for Aluminum tubing, Condoleezza Rice, emphatically stated that Saddam’s purchase of Aluminum tubing could only be used for centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium that would procure the atomic bomb structure.

Reflect for a moment on the state of mind of the American people. There they were, living in fear, by the threat of terrorism, Vis a Vis the homeland security threat-level bar code that seemed to go from yellow to red, whenever Bush’s poll numbers seem to be decreasing. Imagine for a moment what the thoughts of the American people were, when they were undeniably told that there was a link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, and that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, or in the alternative, would give them to Al Qaeda and terrorists groups. In conjunction, the United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution authorizing the use of force to be determined solely by President Bush. It is not difficult to comprehend the rationale behind their support to preemptively strike and invade Iraq.

Let us not forget history:

“Another mad-man persuaded the “Reichstag” to invest him with emergency powers, suspending the constitution in the so-called enabling act of February 28th, 1933.”

Officially, this madman in 1933 became FUHRER. With the aid of his colleagues, they perfected totalitarian control. Once internal control was assumed, the madman began mobilizing his country’s resources for military conquest and domination with vast rearmament coupled with a propaganda campaign to prepare his nation for war with its’ mythical enemy. With internal and external obstacles removed, allowing total power, the “Mythical Enemy” was ruthlessly attacked in mass propaganda, economic sanctions and, the final blow, physical destruction.

Absolute and unchecked powers throughout history have led nations, big and small, to commit the most egregious acts upon societies, in the name of Justice, when in truth and in fact, it is to promote their own ideology.

President John F. Kennedy said that it is never too late to do the right thing. Thus, even in the midst of all the devastation that has transpired, for which it seems that the situation in Iraq is deteriorating rather rapidly and terrorists worldwide are regrouping, we can still do the right thing.

As we are certain to learn, this war with Iraq was based on manipulation and fabrication of information, and in so many cases, outright deceit. There can be no justification for the death and destruction and the continued suffering inside Iraq, not only for the Iraqis, but for the one hundred and sixty thousand coalition forces that are embedded inside of Iraq and their loved ones on the outside.

On May 1st, President Bush became no different than the “tin-pot” dictators that he is always condemning and trying to displace. Since this declaration on May 1st that major combat had ended, more than 100 soldiers have died and a lot more have been wounded. We have no idea as to the death toll of the Iraqis, but we know their plight is full of pestilence and their dolorousness seems to go unheard. All of this misery has been committed and the facts leading up to this catastrophe are being defended or concealed or both. The question we must ask ourselves,  
      
            “Are Our Pangs Any Different From Those To Whom We Victimize?”

 I doubt that anyone who possesses even a partial conscience can say that these things do not bother them. Therefore, there is only one conclusion that we can come to, that is, we must do the right thing. We cannot undo the past but we can learn from it. “Today’s tears can be tomorrow’s laughter, today’s failures can be tomorrow’s successes, and today’s wrongs can be tomorrow’s rights.” With no weapons of mass destruction found to this date, imputed malfeasance leading up to the Iraqi war, soldiers and civilians alike are being killed everyday, we must do the right thing.

David Kelly, a respected British scientist, committed suicide because the pressure was too much, subsequent to his accusations by the British Government’s hyped up intelligence to justify the war. All of these tragedies and the continued suffering and the aftermath serve what purpose? So that Boygeorge can put on his “tin-pot, draft dodging” garb and land on the air craft carrier, [Abraham Lincoln], to further escalate his pedigree. America has been duped by this ochlocracy that is controlled by the extreme right wing ruritan. We can fix the problem only if the American people can seek and find the will to demand a thorough and proper, impartial, investigation, subsequent to the September 11th tragedy, and prior to the Iraq war and subsequent to the invasion of Iraq.

The greatest asset to people and their country is the humility of that nation. Pride has been the most destructive force throughout history, and to this day. People often say, big men don’t cry, but I say, it takes a big man to cry. The American people must right the wrongs that they have supported their government in committing. There can be no excuse of not knowing. It does not make the demise any less dead and the suffering any less painful. If America and its government will turn sincerely to humility rather than duplicity, and take the next step in doing what is morally right, rather than what is politically expedient, I believe that America’s credibility, respect and blessings would be so enormous that they can actually repast the whole world. Should they however, fail to do the right thing, America will fall unto the same path that Russia fell into, [economic collapse]. The only difference between Russia and America would be that it would be even more economically devastating for the American people.

By September 30th we would have the largest deficit in the history of the world. [550 billion U.S. dollars plus]. Clinton’s surplus has now turned into a 2.5 trillion dollar debt, in addition to the 6.4 trillion dollars that America already owes. There will be no way out of this.

For the record, my desire is to see America regain its credibility, respect and economic stability, as it has in the past. This can be accomplished with the impeachment of George Bush and the prosecution of Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and others, who deliberately embellished in all of these wrong doings.

In conclusion, the facts needs to be consolidated in order that the mind be refreshed, thus constantly bringing conviction to the conscience.

At the time President Bush was inaugurated, the American economy remained robust, unemployment was at its lowest level, for which we must not forget, and 22 million jobs were created during the Clinton Administration tenure. The country had turned enormous mile stones, one of them being, America’s “red ink” turned into “black ink” as we went from enormous deficits to trillions of dollars in surpluses. Except for minor skirmishes in different parts of the world, America and the world as a whole were living out dreams and aspirations of peace and prosperity. Real wages had grown and people’s lives were in a much better state than when Mr. Clinton first came into office.

However, the first act by the Bush Administration was a massive tax cut that benefited those who were already wealthy, but for those of middle class, those tax cuts did nothing to help their lives and the lives of their children. Much time was spent on trying to undo many of the things that President Clinton had implemented. One important factor is the land that Clinton had set aside for the endangered wildlife in Alaska. The Bush Administration has made every attempt to drill for the approximately six billion barrels of oil. Imagine destroying the wildlife preservation for just 200 days supply of oil! America’s credibility came into question when the Bush Administration rejected the KYOTO environmental protection act. Here we are in one breath condemning societies for damaging the world’s environment and yet we abstain from the KYOTO accord. America’s insistence to create an International Court was nothing but a sham when the Bush Administration adamantly demanded that Americans cannot be subjected for adjudication. It is evident that America’s position is that others must do as they say, but not as they do.

Irrespective of the fact that no conclusive permanent resolution was achieved between the Palestinians and the Israelis, much was accomplished even during the last days of the Clinton Administration. President Clinton remained a very active, impartial broker between the parties and always breathed life into what was sometimes deemed to be hopeless situations. However, Mr. Bush turned a blind eye and totally ignored the importance of America’s role. This brought about catastrophic damages to both the Palestinian and the Israeli people. Suicide bombers killed themselves and others, and Israel, capitalizing on the Bush Administration’s silence, utilized America’s military equipment that decimated most of the Palestinian cities. Neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis gave heed to what Gandhi said about the law of “an eye for an eye”. Mr. Gandhi said that, “this eye for an eye business is what has the whole world blind.”

As time lapsed, the economic situation inside of America began to erode and statistics from the labor department reflect that we now have the highest unemployment in a decade. Since Bush took office, some three million people have lost their jobs. The chairman of the Enron Corporation, Bush’s friend and ally, and Cheney’s energy advisor, filed bankruptcy, placing thousands out of work, collapsing pension funds, and as of July 1st, Enron’s indebtedness to investors totaled some 67 billion dollars. WorldCom filed another humongous bankruptcy for which Mr. Bernard Ebbers, chairman of WorldCom, and Kenneth Lay of Enron, have never been prosecuted by this present justice department. Because of Mr. Ebbers’ and Mr. Lays’ greed and their protection that comes from high-level government officials, retirees have to return to work because pension funds have become defunct and stockholders of these two companies, who were supposed to be millionaires, are now in the line of bankruptcies.

Combined with the intelligence that caused the September 11th tragedy and the malfeasance that lead to the invasion of Iraq, the American people have no choice but to regain control of their country, by demanding prosecution of the bureaucrats who have placed them in this precarious predicament. One thing is for certain, the American people’s illusion that they hold a monopoly on morality, and their self-righteousness must be eradicated in order for the barriers of inegalitarian to be removed. The American people had better stop living like Ostriches with their heads buried in the sand. America has defeated Iraq in war, but the immediate and after effects is ricocheting, not only in the Middle East but also throughout the world.

America who proclaims, and is most hawkish on democracy, knows fully well that no democracy existed in the Middle East. As a matter of fact, the world knows that there was no democracy at all. The dictators of the Middle East are in the category of the Saddam Hussein’s of this world. Others choose the path of Diplomatic Dictatorship, but irrespective of how the cake is sliced, the end result is that a dictator is a dictator, and dictators always suppress the population as a whole. Some people live and die in suppression. Some choose the suicidal path, as do the Palestinians, the Saudis and Egyptian kids, who commit some of the worst crimes in modern times. People, like us, who live in Freedom, with hope, dreams and aspirations, never think of killing others or ourselves. Thus we are quick to condemn those who take that path but who can tell what our actions and deeds would be if we became suppressed. Suppression such as living under the constant suppression of the American backed Israeli military might, where Helicopter gun-ships and F-16 Fighters drop bombs in residential areas, killing innocent men, women and most sadly, innocent little children. How would we feel not knowing where the next tank shells are going to fall, when the F-16 bombs and bulldozers would mull us to death and pulverize our children? Yes! How do we know or how can we say for sure what we would do? It would be nothing short of profound presumptuousness to say what we would or would not do!

So America please wake-up to reality. For 226 years you have been a government by and for the people. This all changed when the Supreme Court decided for you. Now you have a government for themselves, for their friends of Enron, WorldCom, Halliburton, Bechtel, and the likes. Your four billion dollars per month for the war in Iraq, is, in truth and in fact, returned to the friends of the Bushes’, the Cheney’s’ and the Rumsfeld’s’.

Your tyranny can be overcome by impeachment and prosecution of all those who aided in this conspiracy. Time won't solve any of these problems, for time itself is stagnant. The bad people are using time to their advantage to promote the directions they are taking from the depths of "Sheol", while you wait on time to right the wrongs. Demand action and take action within the law. This Administration and the congress owe the truth to you and your children, for their future are at stake. (Unedited at the time of posting)

Sheriff Ali

© Sheriff Ali 2003-2011




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