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| October 6, 2005 | ||||
The Triumph of Ideology Over Reality |
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| by Paul Craig Roberts | ||||
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Not content with the terrorist-breeding instability he caused by invading Iraq, President Bush is plotting with Israel to repeat the disaster in Syria. The diplomatic editor of the London Telegraph reports (Oct. 5) that the U.S. is aiming at Syrian "regime change." The British newspaper quotes Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying that a report blaming Syria for the assassination of a former Lebanese government official will be the catalyst that starts the ball rolling. Mofaz says the report will be the pretext for Bush to impose sanctions on Syria, "beginning with economic sanctions and moving on to others." The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reports (Oct. 3) that the Bush administration has asked Israel's government to recommend a successor for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. No doubt, the Bush administration will describe Israel's selection of Syria's new president as the workings of democracy. The Stratfor Intelligence Brief reports (Oct. 5) that Bush's National Security Council is deciding whether to bomb Syrian villages along what are thought to be "the infiltration routes used by jihadists" and to have U.S. special forces conduct operations inside Syrian territory. Obviously, far from heeding demands from U.S. generals and congressional members of his own political party for a plan to withdraw from Iraq, Bush intends to widen the war. How can Bush, his National Security Council, and Israel be so blind to the consequences of destabilizing Syria? A CIA report concluded that the U.S. invasion of Iraq created a training ground for al-Qaeda. Doesn't Bush understand that creating chaos in Syria will have the same result? The National Security Council needs to quickly consult some real Middle East experts before Bush's reckless policies in the face of seething anti-American sentiment cause the overthrow of U.S. puppet rulers in Egypt, Jordan, and Pakistan, and dethrone the princes ruling the American oil protectorates in the Middle East. If the Bush administration cannot defeat insurgency in Iraq, how can it defeat insurgency in Iraq and Syria? In Iraq, Syria, and Iran? The Bush administration is fanatical, divorced from reality. Last week, Lt. Gen. William Odom, former director of the National Security Agency, said that Bush's invasion of Iraq was "the greatest strategic disaster in U.S. history." This is quite a distinction for Bush and his government. Are the morons now going to double the distinction by attacking Syria and quadruple it by attacking Iran? Why don't Congress and the American public understand that the U.S. cannot afford to worsen the disaster in which it finds itself? Nothing better illustrates the reality-denying capability of the Bush administration than its Secretary of State Condi Rice's speech at Princeton University on Sept. 30. It is a fantasy speech, devoid of awareness that "regime change" in Iraq substituted Shi'ite clergy for a secular ruler. The U.S. secretary of state has no inkling of the conflict generated among Shi'ite, Sunni, and Kurd by the U.S.-imposed attempt to produce and adopt a constitution? The Bush administration's Middle East policy is the triumph of ideology over reality. Something must be done to stop Bush before he mimics in the Middle East Hitler's invasion of Russia. The American people cannot afford the blood and treasure that the fanatical Bush administration is willing to squander in the Middle East. What can be done about a president who is immune to reason? A bill of impeachment is a good start. The Bush administration has already done more damage to Americans than the Sept. 11 attacks. The American people and their congressional representatives must hold Bush accountable before it is too late. The Bush administration has no intention of stopping with Iraq. At Princeton, Condi Rice again declared the administration's intention to use U.S. military force to transform the societies in the Middle East. "Now is not the time to falter or fade," declared the U.S. secretary of state. Such total oblivion to the "greatest strategic disaster in U.S. history" is far scarier than Muslim terrorists. |
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