Soros Soaring

I just returned from the breakfast with George Soros. ABC News has compiled the story detailing how the fake memorandum stating Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction made its way into our foreign policy decisions. It is further disturbing that Vice President Cheney and Dr. Rice knew from Energy Department intelligence that the aluminum tubes they cited as being used for weapons were in fact not for weapons productions. This means the Bush Administration deliberately lied to the United Nations and the American public to rally support for the occupation of Iraq. Of course, ABC News is holding off running the story until after the elections. No sense in confusing the American public with the facts.

It has been my point ever since a Defense Department study estimated that over 200,000 Iraqis died in Desert Storm that Americans do not understand Iraqis. Saddam Hussein was a brutal dicataor, and we acted appropriately by containing him. We had him dismantle his weapons program, we had inspectors on the ground attempting to find it he had violated that agreement, and much of Iraq operated under a no-fly zone that had stopped Saddam Hussein in his tracks. Instead, before weapons inspectors finished the job of confirming that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction (his hinting he did was a ploy to keep his nemisis Iran off balance), we violated international law by invading Iraq. We then violated the Geneva convention by our illegal and brutal detainment and mistreatment of Iraqi civilians. And then we wonder, as Dr. Wofkowitz had promised, why Iraqis are not greeting us as liberators and instead we are facing strong guerilla-like military opposition.

We have not restored the infrastructure of Iraq, as promised. We should be showing Iraqis that our intentions our good and we should be showing a population unfamiliar with democracy that there are benefits to our system of government. Instead, we have put our military operations ahead of reaching out to the Iraqi people. Our occupation of a foreign country is being met with resistance from growing nationalistic and religious resistance. As George Soros pointed out, when Iraqis hear George Bush explain that Iraqis are being killed to make Americans safer at home, the cycle of violence is likely to continue as Iraqis then feel the need to retaliate and make our presence in Iraq feel less safe.

Meanwhile, we have neglected the threat that al Queda poses to the stability of governments in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan shows signs of moving towards a government that is willing to find a peaceful solution to its problems with India. The Taliban and al Queda seek to create instabilities and topple the shaky governments in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Much of the world community would have been sympathetic to our responding to the threats here, as al Queda had struck us on American soil. Instead, we have lost respect throughout the world by instead attacking Iraq.

If we really were concerned about genocide, we would be responding better to crises in Sudan and Rwanda. African nations have stated they have the troops to protect civilians against being slaughtered, and we have been very slow to see that those preventing killings have the support to see their operations are successful. We should be seeing that food and supplies reach people whose lives are being threatened. Yet, here, we have not acted to save lives.

For those expecting a joke in this blog entry, I am sorry this has been all serious. But I will leave you with the biggest joke of all:

George Bush.

And one other joke I just thought of: Why did George Bush cross the road? Because he invaded it.