Over and over, George Bush has told us that we’re winning the so-called "War on Terrorism," and that the world is now a safer place.
Unfortunately, Mr. Bush’s State Department doesn’t quite agree with him. According to a State Department study, significant terrorist attacks worldwide rose from 175 in 2003 to 655 in 2004 – a more than tripling of the number of attacks. And despite Mr. Bush’s claims that we’re wining the peace in Iraq, the number of terrorist attacks there increased from 22 in 2003 to 198 in 2004 – more than nine times as many. In addition, terrorist attacks more than doubled in 2004 in Afghanistan – another site of a great U.S. victory.
Of course, the "War on Terrorism" isn’t really about security, lives saved, liberation, or victory. It’s about words – words that can roll off a president’s tongue with no regard to whether the words conform to reality. After all, who’s going to check? Who’s going to question the President of United States – the leader of the "Free" World?
Maybe that’s why the State Department has decided not to include the figures on rising terrorist attacks in its annual report on worldwide terrorism. The figures will be in the version submitted to Congress, but not in this week’s public version.
Scrutinizing the Scrutinizer
Vice-President Dick Cheney says "I have looked at all of the charges that have been made" against John Bolton and "I don’t think any of them stand up to scrutiny."
If only he’d applied the same scrutiny to the claims of WMDs in Iraq before he shot his mouth off so loudly and so often.
The Real Truth About Syria
Below I quoted Doug Casey’s remarks about Syria. He wrote that the Syrian embassy is relatively unguarded, while the American embassies and consulates are armed fortresses. This provoked a few responses, the most well-thought-out of which was:
Remember, you liberal moron, that Syria is the terrorist nation (attacker) and we are the target…..they don’t need fortresses….we don’t attack embassies.
To which I can only reply:
Remember, you conservative intellectual, that America has attacked or invaded Afghanistan, Libya, Lebanon, Panama, Iraq (2), Grenada, the Sudan, and many other countries. You’re right: we don’t attack embassies, we attack whole countries.
One writer, who signed him/herself Geneva, wrote from Switzerland to say:
The American Embassy here is surrounded with 2 or 3, very high, cyclone fences, topped with razor wire. Marine guards are in front carrying rifles. This has been the case for several years, long before 9/11.
A few blocks down the street sits the Russian Embassy – that evil ex-enemy with which we scared the world and used as an excuse for numerous wars – with children’s swings visible behind the fence and not one guard, armed or otherwise. The entrance gate is many times standing open.
Who won what with the cold war’s end?
And another writer says:
But it doesn’t stop there. All one has to do is look at Government buildings right here in America. Go to any Court House, Police Station, Tax Office, and – yes – even most Fire Stations, and you will find that all who are employed in these places are working behind bulletproof glass in buildings built like fortresses.
And still it doesn’t stop there. I have been amazed over the years to see Government Schools (warehouses for future slaves) being built without windows, where fresh air for their little brains and other gray matter has been cut off.
In fact, several people wrote to point out:
I’m sure our embassy architects worked here in firms specializing in government school architecture.
The War on Corporations
I have long assumed that the accusations of corporate malfeasance have been extremely exaggerated. One has only to look at how Martha Stewart was railroaded to become suspicious of the allegations against other corporate officials. I haven’t had time to examine the situation in detail, but I can steer you to a few articles that provide a different view from what you’re used to hearing:
Dennis Kozlowski’s achievements – Business Week, January 14, 2002 What the Tyco Chairman accomplished for his company before he was trashed for supposedly stealing paper clips.
How the SEC helped generate the scandals – Paul Craig Roberts, July 24, 2002 Not surprisingly, the government played a large – but typically unreported part – in the messes.
"Is Kenneth Lay a Criminal?" by William L. Anderson and Candace E. Jackson, August 16, 2004
"A Costly Nightmare for Corporations" by Robert Novak, April 7, 2005 covers the typical over-reaction by Congress to any popular scandal or crisis.
April 30, 2005
