Wednesday January 3, 2007
On Saturday, newspaper readers awoke to headlines heralding Saddam Hussein's execution. Stories reported that while the execution provided Iraqis some closure, Saddam's hanging was not expected to quiet the sectarian civil war and violence unleashed by the American invasion in 2003.
Good riddance to the blood-soaked tyrant. Too bad that what we've created might be worse than Saddam himself.
Rising to regional significance on the back of oil profits, Saddam initially set about building a westernized - if not abjectly authoritarian - sectarian Arab state. But deluded by visions of a greater Iraq and fueled by weaponry fronted by America, Saddam instead squandered his peoples' resources, launching Iraq into years of devastating wars - first with Iran, partially as an American proxy, and later with Kuwait.
Yet even amid these disastrous wars, Iraq remained the rare Arab country where women had rights to practice professions, drive cars, wear Western clothes, and where 1.2 million Christians felt free to worship.
Iraq's big downside? Saddam's Iraq was a belligerent nation. And challenging Saddam was a sure death sentence for any Iraqi. Saddam's conviction for genocide was fair justice. But that the U.S. partially outfitted Saddam's aggression isn't completely secondary to the story. U.S. handprints were all over Saddam, nearly from the start.
With Saddam now executed and gone, a world longing for peace has one bloody tyrant down - with two warmongers to go.
I'm not suggesting we stage a Iraq-style kangaroo court and hang George Bush and Dick Cheney in front of taunting crowds at the gallows, with cell phone cameras recording the botched proceedings. Rather, impeachment is the appropriate process for the trial of their offenses.
Equal to Saddam, Bush and Cheney are part and parcel of the crime of the Iraq war and the mass killing and destruction committed therein.
Without Bush and Cheney, we would have no Iraq war. Had the Supreme Court given Al Gore the nod in 2000, we'd still be suffering boring international weapons inspectors peacefully keeping Iraq in check. Jets would still routinely fly routes along "no-fly zones," pinning Saddam within his borders. And instead of the $500 billion Bush has squandered, President Gore would be spending peanuts in Iraq.
But America is an attention-deficit nation, and peace doesn't drive presidential popularity like action-packed war. So in our anger from Sept. 11, you and I granted Bush permission to launch an unprovoked war against a country innocent of Sept. 11 complicity. And our tough-talking president's ratings indeed did soar as our deficit-funded bombs plummeted and pummeled the peoples of Iraq.
Most of what goes up eventually does come down, and the true facts surrounding the war have finally crashed down on Bush. Like bombs in Iraq, the facts have buried Bush in their wake. Bush staggers clueless amidst his war's ruin, unable to shove the genie of violence unleashed back into its bottle.
However, with Saddam's execution, the world now has a singular opportunity to bring acceptable closure to Iraq's and America's shared nightmare. Saddam's execution was the first leg kicked out from under a mistaken war. Impeachment of Bush and Cheney would kick out the other two complicit legs, as well.
Saddam was convicted of genocide. For their part, Bush and Cheney should be made to stand trial in for lying to the American people, for provoking the needless deaths of 3,000 American soldiers, and for conducting and unleashing the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis.
Considered in the best light, America was led to war by an incompetent president advised by incompetent advisors, leading to 600,000 lives lost, $500 billion wasted, and a ruinous civil war. This alone seems practical cause for removal from office.
More realistically, George Bush crafted a politically motivated war, stitching together obscure lies to add the appearance of "truthiness" to the sales job. Bush-Cheney tricked us into war.
"The smoking gun is a mushroom cloud." "Uranium from Africa." "Mobile weapons labs." "Shock and awe." "Mission accomplished." "The insurgents are in their last throws." "Bring 'em on." "As the Iraqis stand up, we'll stand down." "Stay the course."
National headlines no longer read of shock and awe and glorious victory over evildoers. This New Year's Day, we reached the tragic milestone of our 3,000th soldier lost. Nearly 25,000 others have sustained serious injuries. Iraq itself loses upward of 100 civilians per day - courtesy of George Bush blasting open Iraq's Pandora's box of sectarian strife and warfare. In Bush's new "free" Iraq, every Iraqi risks slaughter and mayhem. Fear of death and torture is no longer limited to Saddam's old enemies.
The Signal recently ran the story, "President Bush worked nearly three hours at his Texas ranch on Thursday to design a new U.S. policy in Iraq, then emerged to say that he and his advisers need more time to craft the plan he'll announce in the new year."
Three hours. Republican Sen. Ron Wyden suggested Bush might be guilty of criminal negligence.
Other recent news lines haven't been nearly as ironic: "Baghdad Reels After String of Bombings - death toll in Shiite area is 152." "Youths Playing Ball Killed in Baghdad - eight are slain on soccer field." "Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Gage, 28, Modesto, killed by bomb in Iraq." "Army Spc. Matthew Creed, 23, Covina, shot to death by sniper in Iraq." And another 25 soldiers from across America also were listed as killed in that one week alone.
American soldiers die in Iraq at the rate of one every seven hours. And Bush gives the problem three hours thought.
The world will not be a settled place until America disposes of its warmonger leaders. Anything less than impeachment will send the world the continuing message that America is more interested in empire than in justice and democracy.
With warmongers Bush and Cheney removed and new and honest leadership in place, we can again work within the community of nations to bring peace to the region we've single-handedly set ablaze.
Gary Horton lives in Valencia. His column reflects his own views, and not necessarily those of The Signal.
Copyright:The Signal
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