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DELUSIONAL BUSH CYNICALLY USES FEAR AS WEAPON IN SINKING RE-ELECTION BID

By Bill Gallagher

DETROIT -- More madness! President Bush says Iraq is the forefront in the war on terrorism while his alarm-sounders tell us to beware and brace for attacks from al-Qaida this summer.

Al-Qaida has different leaders with drastically different agendas who come from different "hoods," but that doesn't stop George W. and his gang from tossing them all into the same pot to serve his political purpose.

Of course, this confusion regarding our real enemy is beyond cynical, it is the greatest lie of our times.

Bush created more terrorists in a war waged for all the wrong reasons and then uses the disastrous results to instill fear in the minds of the American people, in order to enhance the power of the corporate masters he serves and their investment in his re-election.

Bush's policies in the war in Iraq have accelerated the recruitment of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network and made America far less safe. That's according to a British military think-tank that actually supported the war.

The International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) says al-Qaida's ranks have swelled to more than 18,000 potential terrorists around the world and the war in Iraq is adding to its ranks.

The IISS says the Iraq conflict "has arguably focused the energies and resources of al-Qaida and its followers while deluding those of the global counter-terrorism coalition that appeared so formidable" after the Sept. 11 attacks and the military action in Afghanistan.

The organization sees the war in Iraq as a "potent global recruitment pretext for al-Qaida."

According to a British newspaper, the invasion of Iraq "galvanized" al-Qaida while weakening a campaign against terrorism, and at the same time split the Western alliance, leaving the United States and Britain isolated.

Far from being weeded out, al-Qaida is blossoming around the Muslim world. In Iraq, where it was hardly a factor before the invasion, it is now a growing force.

The IISS also notes that, in order to restore any political stability there, it could require up to 500,000 U.S. and allied troops. The great coalition the president speaks of, which includes the Solomon Islands and Bulgaria, may not be up to the task. I am still waiting for one Bush scion -- or any child of the creators of this madness -- to volunteer for military service in order to stay the course in Iraq.

But a glimmer of hope in all of this appears under the heading of "occasionally even a blind squirrel finds an acorn." A top Saudi diplomat speaks the truth about the Bush crusade, calling it what it certainly is: "a colonial war."

The president is in total denial and delusion about the reality of the more frightening world he's created. Frankly, he doesn't have a clue. He's just reading the lines with that "just goosed" look after landing on his head in the bike-riding mishap (why am I smelling pretzels?).

He is again trying to sell the nutty notion that Iraq represents the frontline in the war on terror, a feeble fabrication that more and more Americans are seeing right through. Prince Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi Ambassador to Great Britain, says Bush's stated reasons for war cloak a more cynical reality.

He told the Irish Independent, "No matter how exalted the aims of the U.S. in that war ... in the final analysis it was a colonial war."

The Saudi prince, who certainly is versed in these issues, was in touch with people in the United States who pushed the war as a means of getting their hands on Iraqi oil. This is a rare and refreshing assessment of the true motives of Bush and company from a Saudi royal whose family's business and political interests are inextricably tied to George W., his family and his corporate godfathers.

Meanwhile, Bush the Elder says they're pickin' on his boy. The Washington Post reports George H.W. Bush complains in an upcoming "Today Show" interview about the way the media is covering "43."

"The economy is strong ... but even without that, the country is looking for a strong leader. They've got one, and they're going to want him to serve more," President "41" bristled. "It's pretty horrible ... it's all anti-Bush. It's all anti-family. It just burns you up." But a respected human rights organization says the world ought to be inflamed over his boy's record on human rights.

Amnesty International says young Bush's policies have led to a "global security agenda ... bankrupt of vision and bereft of principle."

Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan says the Bush administration "is sacrificing human rights in the name of security at home, turning a blind eye to abuses abroad and using pre-emptive military force where and when it chooses," and these policies "have neither increased security nor ensured liberty."

The world view of the Bush administration, Khan says, has "dealt a mortal blow" to the UN's vision of universal human rights and virtually paralyzed its efforts to hold states to account.

But the president remains unwilling to share the terrible and frightening truth with the American people that he and his handlers simply don't understand the forces at work in Iraq.

Asad Abu Khalil, professor of political science at California State University, tells "Salon" online magazine, "Bush and neo-conservatives foolishly refer to a 'free Iraq' as a model for the region. They may be right if other Arab populations are eager to incorporate into their lives daily car-bombs, shootings by soldiers at checkpoints, torture of prisoners by liberating armies, the rise of fundamentalist groups and violent militia, clerical control of political affairs and many empty promises of democracy. Colonization does not work in the 21st century and Iraqis who suffered under Saddam will settle for nothing less than full independence."

Prince Turki, who has a handle on Bush's colonialism, sees a more reasonable approach to end terrorism in the region and threats against the United States.

"To bring bin Laden to justice will go a long way," he says.

George W. Bush is too busy fighting "the frontline of terrorism" in Iraq and protecting his family's fortune and political interests to do that.


Bill Gallagher, a Peabody Award winner, is a former Niagara Falls city councilman who now covers Detroit for Fox2 News. His e-mail address is gallaghernewsman@aol.com.

Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com June 1 2004