Michael Rectenwald responds to a CLG website visitor and asks: Is the Iraq War a War for Democracy? (First email exchange is below.)

Dear R.,

Thanks for the reply.

Firstly, I support a defense of our nation against terrorism, but I think that much of what has passed for a "war on terrorism" has nothing to do with the stated aims of fighting terrorism and much more to do with predetermined political aims, many of them quite repressive in terms of civil rights, imperialistic in terms of international policy, and regressive and damaging to the majority in terms of economic policy. The "war on terrorism," has, in short, served as a cover for a myriad of policies that are very bad for the country and the world at large.

For the most part, we are in a very bad recession and Bush's policies not only haven't averted it, but rather have greatly exacerbated it while also contributing to it in the first place. Many economists have agreed that the initial tax cuts were very bad for the economy and should be repealed. The deepening of these cuts for the rich and the subsequent deepening of the deficit will only deepen the recession. Millions of jobs have been lost in Bush's short term. Six and a half trillion dollars worth of national debt have been accrued. Record surpluses have gone to enormous deficits in two long years. The economic "stimulus" package will only make matters worse, should we have the misfortune of experiencing it. And the war on terror has served to cover this atrocity. But it shouldn't. It was on the way, it was in the cards, and it could have been avoided.

Secondly, the Pax Americana imperialist plan that was hatched long before 9-11 is being marshaled supposedly in response to 9-11, which is serving as its apologetic. Pax Americana is an unmitigated, post-Cold War American imperialist scheme hatched in conservative think tanks by pugilistic, greedy and immoral rightwingers to basically unleash the military as far as it can go, use force wherever we want, become utterly unilateralist in our policies, and simply control the world's resources, regardless of how. But this plan was pre-9-11 and is not about defense. It is about imperialism and world dominance, which are undemocratic in the extreme.

The situation in North Korea and the differential treatment of Korea and Iraq makes it all too obvious to even the casual observer, that Bush's proposed war on Iraq has nothing to do with WMDs. So far, there has been NO evidence found by UN Inspectors that Iraq had reinitiated its weapons programs. We insist, nevertheless, that they have, and say we will bomb them for it. The irony of this situation is almost unbelievable: tons of Weapons of Mass Destruction lurk all around Iraq, ready to be unleashed at any moment, in the claims that it is IRAQ that has Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is like the evidence seeking the crime! This is like the whole LAPD surrounding a prostrate, hand-cuffed, and detained person on the street, threatening to shoot him if he doesn't drop his guns. Meanwhile, all the guns of the LAPD are drawn and ready to fire. No gun can be found on the prospective victim and those that the prospective victim did have were actually given or sold to him by the LAPD in the first place!

No, this proposed war is, like the last one before it, all about oil. It's not about democracy in Iraq either. Let's take a vote in Iraq and ask the people if they want the US to bomb them into "freedom and democracy." I guarantee you that there won't be more than a handful of affirmative votes, and that those will come from those politically motivated partisans who've been promised a part in the "democracy" to be installed by the US. This war is about oil but they won't say so up front, just like they didn't say so up front in the first Gulf War. But this war will cause another war, and this crisis could escalate into a world war, or at least an international crisis unparalleled for its suffering, hunger, disease, anarchy, and violence.

In short, no, I do not yield unqualified support to Bush to wage war, willy-nilly, all about the globe. Bush has seized office undemocratically, and his entire agenda has been undemocratic. He has bullied his way into office, bullied congress to impose his plutocratic domestic agenda, and is bullying the world to impose his imperialistic international agenda. He cannot be supported; rather, he ought to be impeached.

Sincerely,

Michael Rectenwald
Founder and Chair
Citizens for Legitimate Government
January 9, 2003


Letter from R., as a follow-up:

Dear Michael,

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your response.

However, you almost implied that I was uninformed, which I am not. I believe there is some truth about protecting our national security interests in Iraq, which is oil. I also believe that President [sic] Bush has made some mistakes. Please show me a quote where he called me fodder. Like Bush or not, you must support him in this war on terrorism. I would have supported Clinton if this issue had been his, and even in 1980, I supported President Carters choice to try to rescue the American Hostages in Iran. Do I think that the Saudis are our friend. For the most part, I would not trust them as far as I could fly! But they have at least as far as I know, spoke out in public at least, that they do not support terrorism.

In closing, we were attacked! I am ready to protect our homeland. If it first takes unseating Saddam, and then moving on I am for it. Thank you for your information, I appreciate your viewpoints. Have a great week.

Coach R. S.

First email exchange:

Dear R.:

Thank you for your emails regarding the epithets we aim at [p]Resident Bush.

We do not agree that Bush wishes to avert war with Iraq. In fact, we believe he will do everything in his power to make war, regardless of the findings in Iraq, regardless of the strong probability that Iraq has no more of the weapons of mass destruction sold to it by US businesses.

Bush's 'idiocy' is not really stupidity. Rather, it is a studied ignorance of the world--an ignorance of its inhabitants, an ignorance of its needs, an ignorance of its best interests. This ignorance is not really the result of dumbness, but is rather a very intentional ignorance--ignoring of the interests of others out of a completely maniacal "self-interest", or the interests of his backers and friends. Given his propensity to favor none but the interests of big, especially oil interests, he has condemned the planet to being on the losing end of all of his policies--from environmental, to war criminal, to war policies.

War in Iraq is needed to control the oil there, not because Iraq supports terrorists or harbors WMDs. As it has been shown, Saudi Arabia has clear links to terrorism, but because they are already a pliant OPEC oil supplier to the US client state, there is no way in hell the US will bomb them. Iraq is being targeted not because it is morally more repugnant than other states, but because its leader refuses to play by the rules of US Oil Imperialism. The recent revelations of Saudi money support to the 9-11 terrorists and the complete failure of the US to do anything about this, makes the truth of the matter all too clear.

We appreciate your concern and willingness to do what is right. We are simply saying, given more knowledge, you very well might change your mind about what is right, because what is going on is not what you thought it was. George Bush doesn't care for your interests, or my interests, or the interests of any "fodder units," as he and his refer to US citizens. He is not a patriot. He doesn't represent the US, per se. Rather, he represents the interests of a tiny elite (in terms of number) who happen to control enormous resources. Their aim is to control even more resources, and they will tell you anything they think you'll believe in order to gain your acquiescence. We urge you to learn more before giving your assent to such murderous policies conducted not for your protection, but for the wealth of a few at the expense of the vast majority.

Thanks,

Michael Rectenwald
Founder and Chair
Citizens for Legitimate Government
December 1, 2002

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