Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Iran War: Bush lies awake at nights worrying about the oppressed Iranians

"God may smile on us, but I don't think so." - anonymous Pentagon adviser quoted by Seymour Hersh April 2006 on Bush administration plans to pressure Iran militarily

    Liberation is at hand!

Robert Fisk in The Great War for Civilsation (2005) describing George Bush's appearance at the United Nations four years and one week ago:

How small he looked in the high-backed chair.  You had to sit in the auditorium of the UN General Assembly to realise that George Bush Junior - threatening war in what was built as a house of peace - could appear such a little man. But then again Julius Caesar was a little man, and so was Napoleon Bonaparte.  So were other more modern, less mentionable world leaders.  Come to think of it so was General Douglas MacArthur, who had his own axis of evil, which took him all the way to the Yalu River.  But on 12 September 2002, two-thirds of the way through George W. Bush's virtual declaration of war against Iraq, there came a dangerous, tell-tale code which suggested that he really did intend to send his tanks across the Tigris River.  "The United States has no quarrel with the Iraqi people," he told us in the UN General Assembly.  In the press gallery, nobody stirred.  Below us, not a diplomat shifted in his seat.  The speech had already rambled on for twenty minutes but the speechwriters must have known what this meant when they cobbled it together.

Before President Reagan bombed Libya in 1986, he announced that America "has no quarrel with the Libyan people."  Before he bombed Iraq in 1991.  Bush the Father told the world that the United States "has no quarrel with the Iraqi people."  In 2001, Bush the Son, about to strike at the Taliban and al-Qaeda, told us he "has no quarrel with the people of Afghanistan."  And now that frightening mantra was repeated.  There was no quarrel. Mr. Bush said- absolutely none - with the Iraqi people.  So, I thought to myself as I scribbled my notes in the UN press gallery, it's flak jackets on.  (my emphasis)

In Bush's address to the United Nations 09/19/16, the phrase "no quarrel" did not appear.  But how close is this?

To the people of Iran: The United States respects you; we respect your country. We admire your rich history, your vibrant culture, and your many contributions to civilization. You deserve an opportunity to determine your own future, an economy that rewards your intelligence and your talents, and a society that allows you to fulfill your tremendous potential. The greatest obstacle to this future is that your rulers have chosen to deny you liberty and to use your nation's resources to fund terrorism, and fuel extremism, and pursue nuclear weapons. The United Nations has passed a clear resolution requiring that the regime in Tehran meet its international obligations. Iran must abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions. Despite what the regime tells you, we have no objection to Iran's pursuit of a truly peaceful nuclear power program. We're working toward a diplomatic solution to this crisis. And as we do, we look to the day when you can live in freedom - and America and Iran can be good friends and close partners in the cause of peace.  (my emphasis)

Achtung, heathens!  Bush the Magnificent, Liberator of Peoples, is ready to scourge thy terrorist iniquity away with the mighty sword of the Lord!

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