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Vol. IV, No. 51 January
23 - 29, 2005 Quezon
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Copyright 2004 Bulatlat bulatlat@gmail.com |
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Dancing the War
Away
By BOB HERBERT
NYTimes
Watching the inaugural ceremonies yesterday reminded me of the scenes near
the end of "The Godfather" in which a solemn occasion (a baptism in the
movie) is interspersed with a series of spectacularly violent murders.
Even as President Bush was taking the oath of office and delivering his
Inaugural Address beneath the clear, cold skies of Washington, the news
wires were churning out stories about the tragic mayhem in
Iraq.
There is no end in sight to the carnage, which was unleashed nearly two
years ago by President Bush's decision to launch this wholly unnecessary
war, one of the worst presidential decisions in American history.
Incredibly, with more than 1,360 American troops dead and more than 10,000
wounded, and with scores of thousands of Iraqis dead and wounded, the
president never once mentioned the word
Iraq in his Inaugural Address. He avoided
all but the most general references to the war. Lyndon Johnson used to
agonize over the war that unraveled his presidency. Mr. Bush, riding the
crest of his re-election wave, seems not to be similarly bothered.
In January 1945, with World War II still raging, Franklin Roosevelt
insisted on a low-key inauguration. Already gravely ill, he began his
address by saying, "Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, my friends, you
will understand and, I believe, agree with my wish that the form of this
inauguration be simple and its words brief."
Times have changed. President Bush and his equally tone-deaf supporters
spent the past few days partying hard while Americans, Iraqis and others
continued to suffer and die in the Iraq conflagration. Nothing was too
good for the princes and princesses of the new American plutocracy. Tens
of millions of dollars were spent on fireworks, cocktail receptions, gala
dinners and sumptuous balls.
Ten thousand people, including the president and Laura Bush, turned out
Wednesday night for the Black Tie and Boots Ball. According to The
Associated Press, one of the guests, Lorian Sessions of San Antonio,
"donned a new pair of black kangaroo boots, decorated with a white star
and embroidery, with an aqua-colored mink wrap she bought on sale at
Saks."
An article in The Washington Post mentioned a peace activist who
complained that the money lavished on the balls would have been better
spent on body armor for under-equipped troops in Iraq.
As the well-heeled Bush crowd was laughing and dancing in tuxedos and
designer gowns, the situation in Iraq was deteriorating to new levels of
horror. The Black Tie and Boots Ball was held on the same day that 26
people were killed in five powerful car and truck bombs in Baghdad. With
the elections just a week and a half away, American commanders, according
to John F. Burns of The Times, are seeking "to prepare public opinion in
Iraq and abroad for one of the bloodiest chapters in the war so far."
A photo at the end of Mr. Burns's article showed an Iraqi National Guard
member carrying the remains of a suicide bomber in a garbage bag.
The disconnect between the over-the-top celebrations in Washington and the
hideous reality of Iraq does not in any way surprise me. It's exactly what
we should expect from the president and his supporters, who seem always to
exist in a fantasy realm far removed from such ugly realities as war and
suffering. In that realm you can start wars without having to deal with
the consequences of them. You don't even have to pay for them. You can put
them on a credit card.
People traveling in the real world may see Iraq as a place where bombings,
kidnappings and assassinations are an integral part of daily life; where
police officers are blown to pieces as they line up for their pay; where
innocent men, women and children are slain by the thousands for no good
reason; where cities like Falluja are leveled in order to save them; where
America's overwhelming superiority in firepower has not been enough to win
the war; and where the upcoming elections seem very much like a joke since
many of the candidates have to keep their identities secret and the
locations of many polling places remain undisclosed.
People traveling in the real world may see Iraq that way. But in the
fantasy-laden Bush realm, Iraq is a place where freedom is on the march.
So why not raise a toast to freedom, and dance the night away.
January 21, 2005
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