Beating Around the Bush:
Hate of the Union
by Dave Zirin
March/April 2002
Volume 39, Number 2
If Bush's State of the Union address were food, it would have been one of those red novelty bagels you get on Valentine's Day. Why? Because it was begging you to buy it, it could make you physically ill, and it had a giant hole in the middle.
BEGGING YOU TO BUY IT:
Bush attempted to sell the idea that we are threatened by the "axis of evil." Only three nations are (for now) in this exclusive club: Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. The idea that these countries pose a threat to the US is high comedy: the US spends more on its military than the gross national product of these countries combined. It led Peter Jennings to title an ABC nightly news story, "Nations don't like to be called evil," with several members of the Irani and North Korean government saying, "Why is he calling us evil?"
This led to several on-line satirical web-sites running the following lead story:
ANGERED BY SNUBBING, LIBYA, CHINA, SYRIA FORM AXIS OF JUST AS EVIL
Cuba, Sudan, Serbia Form Axis of Somewhat Evil; Other Nations Start Own Clubs
Beijing (SatireWire.com) Bitter after being snubbed for membership in the "Axis of Evil," Libya, China, and Syria today announced they had formed the "Axis of Just as Evil," which they said would be way eviler than that stupid Iran-Iraq-North Korea axis President Bush warned of his State of the Union address.
Axis of Evil members, however, immediately dismissed the new axis as having, for starters, a really dumb name. "Right. They are Just as Evil...in their dreams!" declared North Korean leader KimJong-il. "Everybody knows we're the best evils...best at being evil... we're the best."
FEELING PHYSICALLY ILL:
But something stomach-churning lurks behind the saber rattling. That is the final reinstitution of a foreign policy of permanent war - a cold war for the 21st century. In post-9/11 clothes, this is simply the old Clinton policy that "rogue nations" constitute a clear and present danger to the United States. North Korea, Iraq, and Iran are on that musty rogue nation's list. Clinton, despite his best smile and wink, was never able to fully sell this. But Bush has. He demanded (and will likely receive) the largest hike in Pentagon spending in over 20 years. He can justify deficits, justify recession, and justify spending a billion dollars a day on military priorities while demanding cuts in education - all in the name of keeping us safe.
The Bush administration is also laying the ground-work for a war against Iraq, a nation devastated by sanctions and war. Once again both parties stand united. On "Meet the Press" February 10th, the only point of debate was whether to intervene alone or as part of a "coalition" sanctioned by the United Nations. There was disturbing uniformity on the questions of a ground war, toppling Hussein, and having all of this occur within months.
Of course, because it's always difficult to convince a nation to go to war for the good people at Exxon/Mobil, Bush dusted off his father's classic line about Saddam. "This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens - leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children." Since Dubya dusted this off, we need to dust off our response. The US (and US companies like Bechtel) sold Hussein this gas, funded him to the hilt and then did nothing as 5,000 Kurds were killed. They did nothing because Iraq was their partner against that other "axis of evil" Iran.
HOLE IN THE MIDDLE:
But far more interesting than what Bush said was what he didn't say. Nowhere in the speech is there any mention of Osama Bin Laden. Only briefly did we hear talk of the "Al Qaeda network." This blows the lid off the argument that seeking justice for the victim's of September 11th motivates this call for war. It's about dominance, not justice.
He also didn't say the word that had finally taken the gleam off the administration for the first time in months: ENRON. While it's no surprise that Bush didn't regale us with stories of trading energy deals for cold cash with "Kenny Boy" Lay, it was clearly, to paraphrase Eddie Murphy, the "poop in the room." Everyone knew it was there, but acknowledging it would mean having to address it and clean it up.
The next day, the New York Times praised Bush for ignoring the poop - while not mentioning it by name of course (that would be bad form). They wrote, "To his credit, President Bush delivered a war-time address, an honest and sober account of the long road that still lies ahead in the war against international terror."
This strategy can only work for so long. Americans now rate concerns over the economy far ahead of their concerns about terrorism. Bush's speech, while widely watched and well received, can only stave off people's real needs for so long. If Bush plans on invading Iraq in the coming months, he will be bombing a country over the objections of most of the world. He will be bombing a country that has seen 200 of its children die every day for ten years as a result of economic sanctions. At home, despite all the posturing and all the poll numbers, he will have a fight on his hands.
Dave Zirin is a member of DAWN, MGJ, and the International Socialist Organization. His opinion column appears regularly in the Washington Peace Letter.
