Image courtesy of Bogdan Zaharie under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Resistance from President Bush’s administration to an independent investigation of 9/11 has produced a limited commission that will be chaired by someone Bush appoints. No one will ever explain how it came to be that hijackers were given visas by our own government to enter the United States. Borders remain open and a Department of Homeland Security is about to become Orwellian reality.
After the 2000 election and subsequent Supreme Court decision, the American people may have expected something different. But an apple does not fall too far from the tree. The first Bush Presidency was one of war, recession, and global empire building. So it is with the second, albeit more popular, President Bush. Government is now stripping American freedom and putting U.S. troops on foreign soil over major oil reserves as our economy declines — DжиjЯ vu.
Instead of demanding a full independent investigation into how 19 men from oil producing nations managed to plot and execute the worst mass murder-suicide in history, Congress authorized Bush to use whatever means he wanted to attack any country and we still let Osama bin Laden get away. But they did pass the USA Patriot Act. Do we feel better that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the same one that actually invented the internet, has initiated Total Information Awareness — complete tracking of any and every American?
In September 2001, Americans understandably rallied around a leader who stood on top of WTC rubble and said through a bullhorn, “…the people who knocked these buildings down are going to hear from all of us soon”. Events since that announcement have proven to be a great boon to militant authoritarianism, and a bust for working people.
Trillions of dollars in wealth that was ostensibly held by the middle class in America have vanished in just over one year. The money did not cease to exist. Thousands of dollars deducted from millions of paychecks every year in the form of 401k contributions went to those who took the money and now do not have to return it. A few less-cooperative corporate chief officers have taken the white-collar perp walk, but there will be no recompense for pure thievery on such a massive scale.
Millions of jobs have been flushed. And still greater treasures of the American people, our Constitution and freedom, are similarly being stolen.
Actions by the U.S. military, which are supposed to be in defense of American security, are now subject to review and approval by the United Nations. Congressman Bob Barr stood on the floor of the U.S. House and pleaded with his colleagues to declare war against Afghanistan, as that is prescribed by the Constitution, instead of just passing a carte blanche resolution allowing Bush to use military force willy-nilly. Congressman Barr was then defeated in his GOP primary campaign. Later, both House and Senate passed a resolution for yet another “police action” in Iraq.
While talking heads ridicule any politician who questions conduct of this war on terrorism, more than a dozen sniper attacks in and around our nation’s capital remain unquestioned as anything more than a former U.S. soldier gone mad. Are we really winning the war on terrorism? Who dares to ask? Senator Tom Daschle did. He’s getting his political head handed to him on a platter. Sure, Daschle is both a liberal and a Democrat so many Americans associate him with collectivism of the left. Rightly so, but the man has a point.
Current and former White House officials have strenuously resisted any independent investigation into the terrorist attacks. But if it was important enough to inquire about Bill Clinton’s testimony at the Paula Jones civil case, it is certainly important enough to get answers about what happened prior to and since 9/11. None are forthcoming. Instead of answers, we are getting unending war on any nation President Bush wants added to the “axis of evil” list.
Americans are peaceful people who have been horribly attacked on more than one occasion, the most horrific on September 11th. But we have a government that operates in secrecy and fails investigation into the important questions of historical significance. Washington has obtained an open license to launch attacks against any nation on Earth. If 20th century interference was the source of hatred toward America by millions of people around the world, the 21st Century Empire will begin an even worse global nightmare.
Instead of seeking to find out what went wrong in both Bush White Houses along with that of Bill Clinton, our now fully GOP-controlled Congress is busy laying a legislative foundation for the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, as thousands of unknown immigrants come streaming into our country every day and foreign trucks are rolling on American highways, President Bush and his staff are developing war plans for a new clash of civilizations.
Maybe the price of gas will drop.
“Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.”