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Recent
Stories
May
6, 2003
John
Stanton
Bush's War on Jesus
Sam
Hamod
W. Bush: the Little Snot, the Little
Bully
Robert
Fisk
Bush Says the War is Over: Tell It to
the Shi'a
Kathleen
Christison
A Roadmap to Nowhere
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 5/06
May
5, 2003
Gary
Leupp
Phase Two: Syria and Iran
Jorge
Mariscal
The Militarization of US Culture
Ishmael
Reed
A Family Values Man
Tarif Abboushi
Sharon's Confidence: Bush Won't Come to Shove on Roadmap
Leila
Matsui
Regime Change Begins at Home...Literally
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars
Sam
Smith
Coalition of the Shilling
May
3, 2003
Ron
Jacobs
Tears of Rage: Remembering May 1970
Elaine
Cassel
William Bennett, a Freudian Perspective
Sam
Hamod
Understanding the Shi'a of Lebanon
Scott
Fleming
Getting Shot on the Oakland Docks
Mickey
Z.
Cuba and Puerto Rico: 100 Years of Terror
William
S. Lind
Don't Take Col. John Boyd's Name in Vain
Dr.
Bruce Blair
The New Nuclear Terrorism Threat
Joanne
Mariner
Cluster Bombs Over Iraq
Anthony
Gancarski
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Ilian Pappe
Searching Jenin
William
MacDougall
America's Kids Are All Right: Pre-Teen Conservative Commentators
Seth Sandronsky
Incarcerated and Invisible
Rich
Procter
Over Our Dead Bodies
Lenni Brenner
How Bob Dylan Found His Voice
Adam
Engel
American Bulk
Poets'
Basement
Reiss, Guthrie, Albert
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 5/03
May
2, 2003
Caoimhe
Butterly
Crowd Control American-style
Neve
Gordon
US: No Right to Know About the Disappeared
John
Chuckman
Tom Friedman's Life as a Pet Hamster
Bradley
Burston
Betting on Abu-Mazen...To Lose
Harvey
Wasserman
Bush's Military Defeat
John
Troyer
Question Those Writing History
Saul Landau
The Cuba Conundrum
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 5/02
Website
of the Day
Moussaoui's
Quiz
May
1, 2003
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Santorum: That's Latin for Asshole
Iain
Boal
A May Day Message to the FCC: "We
Are Many; They are Few"
Diana
Johnstone
About Cuba
Sam
Hamod
Killings at Al Fallujah, City of Mosques
Veteran
Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Intelligence Fiasco
Lee Sustar
Greed Air: Airline Workers Agree to Pay Cuts, While Bosses Stuff
Their Pockets
Peter
Linebaugh
May Day at Kut and Kenthal
Stew Albert
Straight Shooters
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 5/01
Website
of the Day
South Bay Mobilization
April
30, 2003
Ashley
Smith
Under Uncle Sam's Thumb: a History
of Washington's Occupations
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/30
Gary
Leupp
Shooting Schoolboys: Preliminary Thoughts on the Fallujah Massacre
Robert
Jensen
Fighting Alienation in the USA
Wayne
Madsen
The Four Horsemen of Propaganda
Ahmad
Faruqui
Bush's Strategic Myopia About the Middle East
Gabriel
Kolko
Iraq, the US and the End of the European Coalition
Adolfo
Perez Esquivel
A Nobel Laureat's Letter to Bush:
"You Talk of Freedom; You Detest Freedom"
April
29, 2003
Gary
Leupp
Disorder and Opportunity: the Results
of the Iraq War
Uri
Avnery
Don't Envy Abu-Mazen
Anthony
Gancarski
Brush with the Law
Mickey
Z.
POWs: Then and Now
CounterPunch
Wire
How to Spin Israel on the Hill: Internal Lobbying Documents
Robert
Fisk
Did the US Murder Journalists?
Chris
Floyd
Bush Telegraphs His Punches on Syria
Wayne Madsen
About Those Iraqi Intelligence Documents
Wallace
Gagne
Pilgrimage or Demolition Derby?
Eliot Katz
Playing Catch with Cracked Globes
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/29
Hot Stories
Elaine
Cassel
Civil Liberties
Watch
Michel
Guerrin
Embedded Photographer Says: "I
Saw Marines Kill Civilians"
Uzma
Aslam Khan
The Unbearably Grim Aftermath of War:
What America Says Does Not Go
Paul de Rooij
Arrogant
Propaganda
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
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for More Stories.
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May
7, 2003
Bush Used Military as a Stage
Prop
A Troubling
Speech
by Sen. ROBERT BYRD
In my 50 years as a member of Congress, I have
had the privilege to witness the defining rhetorical moments
of a number of American presidents. I have listened spellbound
to the soaring oratory of John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. I have
listened grimly to the painful soul-searching of Lyndon Johnson
and Richard Nixon.
Presidential speeches are an important
marker of any President's legacy. These are the tangible moments
that history seizes upon and records for posterity. For this
reason, I was deeply troubled by both the content and the context
of President Bush's remarks to the American people last week
marking the end of the combat phase of the war in Iraq. As I
watched the President's fighter jet swoop down onto the deck
of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, I could not help but
contrast the reported simple dignity of President Lincoln at
Gettysburg with the flamboyant showmanship of President Bush
aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
President Bush's address to the American
people announcing combat victory in Iraq deserved to be marked
with solemnity, not extravagance; with gratitude to God, not
self-congratulatory gestures. American blood has been shed on
foreign soil in defense of the President's policies. This is
not some made-for-TV backdrop for a campaign commercial. This
is real life, and real lives have been lost. To me, it is an
affront to the Americans killed or injured in Iraq for the President
to exploit the trappings of war for the momentary spectacle of
a speech. I do not begrudge his salute to America's warriors
aboard the carrier Lincoln, for they have performed bravely and
skillfully, as have their countrymen still in Iraq, but I do
question the motives of a deskbound President who assumes the
garb of a warrior for the purposes of a speech.
As I watched the President's speech,
before the great banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished,"
I could not help but be reminded of the tobacco barns of my youth,
which served as country road advertising backdrops for the slogans
of chewing tobacco purveyors. I am loath to think of an aircraft
carrier being used as an advertising backdrop for a presidential
political slogan, and yet that is what I saw.
What I heard the President say also disturbed
me. It may make for grand theater to describe Saddam Hussein
as an ally of al Qaeda or to characterize the fall of Baghdad
as a victory in the war on terror, but stirring rhetoric does
not necessarily reflect sobering reality. Not one of the 19 September
11th hijackers was an Iraqi. In fact, there is not a shred of
evidence to link the September 11 attack on the United States
to Iraq. There is no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein was
an evil despot who brought great suffering to the Iraqi people,
and there is no doubt in my mind that he encouraged and rewarded
acts of terrorism against Israel. But his crimes are not those
of Osama bin Laden, and bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will
not bring justice to the victims of 9-11. The United States has
made great progress in its efforts to disrupt and destroy the
al Qaeda terror network. We can take solace and satisfaction
in that fact. We should not risk tarnishing those very real accomplishments
by trumpeting victory in Iraq as a victory over Osama bin Laden.
We are reminded in the gospel of Saint
Luke, "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be
much required." Surely the same can be said of any American
president. We expect, nay demand, that our leaders be scrupulous
in the truth and faithful to the facts. We do not seek theatrics
or hyperbole. We do not require the stage management of our victories.
The men and women of the United States military are to be saluted
for their valor and sacrifice in Iraq. Their heroics and quiet
resolve speak for themselves. The prowess and professionalism
of America's military forces do not need to be embellished by
the gaudy excesses of a political campaign. War is not theater,
and victory is not a campaign slogan. I join with the President
and all Americans in expressing heartfelt thanks and gratitude
to our men and women in uniform for their service to our country,
and for the sacrifices that they have made on our behalf. But
on this point I differ with the President: I believe that our
military forces deserve to be treated with respect and dignity,
and not used as stage props to embellish a presidential speech.
Yesterday's
Features
Ron
Jacobs
Tears of Rage: Remembering May 1970
Elaine
Cassel
William Bennett, a Freudian Perspective
Sam
Hamod
Understanding the Shi'a of Lebanon
Scott
Fleming
Getting Shot on the Oakland Docks
Mickey
Z.
Cuba and Puerto Rico: 100 Years of Terror
William
S. Lind
Don't Take Col. John Boyd's Name in Vain
Dr.
Bruce Blair
The New Nuclear Terrorism Threat
Joanne
Mariner
Cluster Bombs Over Iraq
Anthony
Gancarski
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Ilian Pappe
Searching Jenin
William
MacDougall
America's Kids Are All Right: Pre-Teen Conservative Commentators
Seth Sandronsky
Incarcerated and Invisible
Rich
Procter
Over Our Dead Bodies
Lenni Brenner
How Bob Dylan Found His Voice
Adam
Engel
American Bulk
Poets'
Basement
Reiss, Guthrie, Albert
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 5/0
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