BUSH ARROGANCE AND BARBARISM

By Peter Fredson

We wonder by what right American soldiers are walking around in Iraq with weapons in hand, far from Brooklyn or Crawford, Texas, shooting at the inhabitants of Iraq, destroying their homes, knocking down their businesses, destroying their infrastructure, lobbing grenades into rooms, pointing automatic weapons ceaselessly at people? We know they didn’t go to Iraq as tourists to look at one of the earliest civilizations in the world.

We know they were commanded, as obedient soldiers, by a cowardly AWOL schemer, to use all available weaponry to kill anyone who resisted the irritable God-approval of their commander.

And why are American soldiers using huge tanks, armored vehicles, gun ship helicopters, attack jet planes, with the Bush-Rove-Rumsfeld tactics of Shock and Awe to kill countless innocent inhabitants of Iraq? We wonder by what moral principle American soldiers have killed thousands of Muslims who were enjoying their country and lives, despite brutal treatment from Saddam Hussein?

Does brutal treatment from one dictator deserve another from another arrogant dictator? Bush seems to believe that it is moral to kill thousands of Muslims in order to capture one. It certainly must be moral to steal a country. Bush said “It was worth it.”

We have at least one skeptic, Cindy Sheehan, who wants to know what “noble cause” impelled Bush to declare war on a country that did not threaten us. But most of the media are not interested in such details.

Bush exerted his Christian God-given prerogative of being able to determine who is EVIL and must therefore be eliminated. He evidently is a helper to his God, and will help in the fight against Satan by using the same weapons that Satan does: lies, deceit, seductive promises, lack of pity, and stealth. His God evidently approves of murder to further political ambitions.

After all he says he speaks to his God(s), and if his triple God(s) are all they should be they should be open, honest, candid and forthright. They should not lie, deceive, cheat, or misinform. If they use stealth and deception, as Bush did, then such God(s) must be pretty miserable creatures.

Or, perhaps, an alternative explanation is that Bush exploits religion, as he does patriotism and terror, waving flags, ordering national prayer, quoting Bible passages, posting commandments, approving wording of pledges, terrorizing gays, making nonsensical statements about Creationism and Creative Intelligence, dedicating a day in Congress to giving Terri Schiavo a good drink of water, and thanking Katrina for getting rid of undesirable trash. Faith-basing obviously requires a LOT of faith, and money.

But we will never know what Bush’s God says to him, or even if he has never answered Bush. Did Bush’s God say that Saddam Hussein had many weapons of mass destruction and should be immediately punished? Did Bush’s God tell him that Saddam had mighty pilotless planes loaded with nuclear weapons and would bomb his ranch at Crawford to smithereens?

Did Bush’s God tell him about vast quantities of poison gas or bacterial weaponry that Saddam was planning to use “imminently?” Surely an omniscient omnipotent omnipresent deity would know the truth of such things.

Did Bush’s God tell him that the oil of Iraq really belonged to the U.S. and should be given to Millennium Corporation because it is so honest, incorrupt, efficient and Christian?

Did Bush’s God tell him that he should seize Iraqi property in perpetuity, because he approved of large military bases from which Bush could sally forth to dominate the entire Middle East?

Did Bush’s God tell him that he should declare a crusade against Muslims because he was still angry over the last Children’s Crusade and this time wanted finally to do away with those nasty Islamists?

Did Bush’s God tell him that he admired Bush’s courage so much that he should put on a uniform and parade around on the deck of an aircraft carrier like a conquering hero who was willing to shed his blood and give his life for his country?

Did Bush’s God tell him to go on vacation just before national crises, like on 9/11 or Katrina. Did Bush’s God tell him that he dislikes Negros and poor people and wants to punish them. Did Bush’s God tell him to continue occupying a foreign country after the EVIL dictator was captured.

Did Iraqi oil and land really need special spiritual care from Bush? Did Bush’s God tell him he needed no exit strategy because he should stay there permanently in occupation applying duress and bullets as he wished.

Did Bush’s God ever explain to him what “sovereignty” means? Or did Bush’s God tell him to wear the robes of an emperor and dominate Iraq forever, doing his imperial will, in the name of God?

If Bush’s God(s) did not approve of his actions, did not tell him what truth was, did not laud his imperial ambitions, then who is Bush listening to?

Surely Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Condi Rice cannot claim to be omniscient. But, what if they DO make such claims, and state that death, destruction, theft, corruption and torture come from their own imaginations and are good means to their ends?

Would their Fundamentalist supporters still support them? Would they excuse arrogance and barbarism because their godly leader smiles, swaggers, gives little Negros pats on the head, and doesn’t give a damn about poor people?

Are they fooled by all the showbiz of photo-ops, with all the hugs, sincere looks, and prophecies that “everything is going to be all right?” Do Bush supporters really want a semi-fascist neo-con theocracy instead of a democracy? Sometimes it seems so.

The new Bush-appointed Supreme Court will certainly help to bring that about.

But, if the world is going to end soon, then Bush is fundamentally-approved to lead us into the apocalypse or the rapture, where he can strut or smirk to his heart’s desire.