MADRE, the International Women's Human Right organization, has recently analyzed the speech George W. Bush was holding in front of the United Nations last week. Check out their responses after W.'s quotes. They make a lot of sense ... at least to me. What about you?


1. “Our principles and our security are
challenged today by outlaw groups and
regimes that accept no law of morality
and have no limit to their violent
ambitions.”

- Conservative commentator Samuel Huntington has pointed out that
many people worldwide consider the US to be “the
single greatest external threat to their societies” (Foreign Affairs,
1999).
- Under Bush, the US stands in violation of international law for its
bombing of Afghanistan and ongoing bombing of Iraq (violating Article
51 of the UN Charter); its treatment of the Guantánamo Bay prisoners
(violating the Geneva Convention); and for its “first strike” nuclear
weapons doctrine (violating the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty).
Bush has declared his willingness to commit another grave breach of
international law by bombing Iraq without authorization from the
Security Council.
- The Bush Administration has also undermined the US Constitution by
declaring the War Powers Act (requiring Congressional authorization
to launch a war) irrelevant.
- As for “violent ambitions,” Bush’s are indeed limitless. In June 2002,
he described his doctrine of “pre-emption:” “the military must be ready
to strike at a moment’s notice in any dark corner of the world.” Who
are the targets? “All nations that decide for aggression and terror.”
And the US has the power to back up its threats. Its military budget
dwarfs that of all other countries combined; and US troops are
stationed in 148 of the world’s 188 countries.

2. “By refusing to comply with his own agreements [Saddam Hussein]
bears full guilt for the hunger and misery of innocent Iraqi citizens.”

- According to UNICEF and the World Health Organization, US-led
sanctions against Iraq have killed over one million people, half of them
children under five.
- In 1991, the US bombed the civilian infrastructure of Iraq, including
bridges, roads and facilities that protected the water supply of 22
million people.

3. “…sanctions were maintained after the war to compel the regime’s
compliance with Security Council Resolutions.”

- Every US administration since the Gulf War has stated that sanctions
would be maintained even if Iraq cooperates with the UN: “Iraqis will be
made to pay the price while Saddam Hussein’s in power. Any easing
of the sanctions will be considered only when there is a new
government” (Robert Gates, National Security Advisor to Bush I).
- The US position actually undermines Security Council resolutions by
nullifying any incentive for Iraqi compliance.

4. “Iraq likely maintains stockpiles of VX, mustard and other chemical
agents…the regime is rebuilding and expanding facilities capable of
producing chemical weapons.”

- The keyword is “likely.” Credible analysts such as former chief UN
weapons inspector Scott Ritter maintain that the military threat from
Iraq is exaggerated. They point out that since the Gulf War, Iraq has
been largely disarmed and that it lacks the delivery systems (e.g.,
long-range missiles and rocket launchers) to turn chemical agents into
“weapons of mass destruction.”
- Iraq’s possible stores of chemical and biological agents are courtesy
of the US, which supplied Baghdad with stock for anthrax, botulism, E.
coli and other deadly diseases throughout the 1980s.
- If Bush is concerned about chemical and biological weapons, he
should stop manufacturing and selling them. The US has much larger
stockpiles of such weapons than Iraq or any other country.
- Bush has rejected a UN draft agreement to enforce a biological
weapons ban, refused to sign the chemical weapons treaty and (like
Saddam Hussein) refused to grant UN chemical weapons inspectors
full access to US laboratories.

5. “[Iraq] retains physical infrastructure needed to build a nuclear
weapon… And if an emboldened regime were to supply these
weapons to terrorist allies, then the attacks of September 11 would be
a prelude to far greater horrors.”

- Retaining the infrastructure “needed to build” a nuclear weapon is not
the same thing as building it. None of Bush’s references to Iraqi
nuclear capability demonstrate that Iraq possesses or plans to use
nuclear weapons.
- By contrast, George Bush has ordered the Pentagon to draw up plans
for dropping nuclear bombs on seven countries. The US is the world’s
leading producer of nuclear weapons and the only country in the world
to ever drop a nuclear bomb.
- Raising the specter of Iraqi cooperation with “terrorists” is a cynical
scare tactic. Attempts by US intelligence agencies to link Baghdad to
al-Qaeda in the wake of 9/11 quickly proved groundless. There remains
no evidence of Iraqi collusion with international terrorism.

6. “Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced or cast
aside without consequence?”

- Good question, George. Let’s ask key US allies, like Turkey and
Israel, which have long stood in violation of multiple Security Council
Resolutions and enjoy overwhelming support from the US. (The US
response to Israel’s defiance of the Security Council is $3 billion a
year in funding).
- The US itself is not in violation of Security Council Resolutions
because it can veto any proposed resolution that is not to its liking.
Thus, the US has vetoed more Security Council resolutions than any
other country in the world.

7. “Free societies do not intimidate through cruelty and conquest.”

- The US has bombed civilians indiscriminately (Afghanistan, Serbia,
Iraq, Sudan);
- attempted to assassinate heads of government (Congo, Cuba, Libya,
Iran);
- subverted democratic elections (Greece, Guatemala, Chile);
- blockaded civilian supplies of food and medicine (Nicaragua, Iraq,
Cuba);
- supported policies of rape, torture and mass killing (Guatemala,
Nicaragua, El Salvador);
- and backed regimes responsible for the world’s worst human rights
violations (Indonesia, Zaire, Iran, South Korea, Israel, Philippines).

8. “Saddam Hussein attacked Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990. He’s fired
ballistic missiles at Iran and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Israel. His
regime once ordered the killing of every person between the ages of
15 and 70 in certain Kurdish villages in northern Iraq. He has gassed
many Iranians and 40 Iraqi villages.”

- Most of Saddam Hussein’s atrocities were committed while he was a
close US ally and trading partner.
- The US sold Iraq military hardware and biological and chemical
weapons equipment even after learning that Iraq used illegal chemical
weapons against Kurdish civilians (in the Halabja massacre of 1988).
- US intelligence agencies believe that the massacre was carried out
with US-made helicopters.
- Only in 1990, when Saddam Hussein disobeyed the US with his
unauthorized invasion of Kuwait, was he converted from a key asset to
a “rogue leader.”

9. “These nations can show by their example that honest government,
respect for women and the great Islamic tradition of learning can
triumph in the Middle East and beyond.”

- “Honest government?” Bush owes his presidency to a stolen election.
Key members of his Cabinet and Bush himself are implicated in the
shady dealings of corporations including Enron, Halliburton and
Harken.
- “Respect for women?” Bush banned federal aid to international family
planning programs that offer abortion counseling and closed the White
House Office for Women’s Health Initiatives and Outreach.
- “Tradition of learning?” Bush cut federal funding to libraries by $39
million and sought to eliminate a federal program that gives free books
to poor children. His proposed tax cut for the richest 1% of the
population is 128 times more than what he proposed to spend on
federal reading programs.

10. “By heritage and by choice, the US will make that stand. And,
delegates to the United Nations, you have the power to make that
stand, as well.”

- Bush’s closing remark was a prime example of what Michael Moore
refers to as the president’s “bite me” foreign policy. Here, Bush bluntly
informed the world that the US will pursue its war against Iraq with or
without authorization from the United Nations.

11. “The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the
United Nations and a threat to peace.”

- Here’s what Bush thinks of the authority of the United Nations: Since
taking office, he has scrapped more international treaties and violated
more UN conventions than the rest of the world has in 20 years.
- Under Bush, the US has opposed the Kyoto protocol on global
warming, boycotted a conference to promote the comprehensive
(nuclear) test ban treaty and ripped up the anti-ballistic missile treaty.
- Bush refuses to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child or
sign the treaty to ban landmines. The US walked out of the 2001 UN
World Conference Against Racism and virtually ignored the 2002
World Summit on Sustainable Development. And Bush is the only
President in history to “unsign” a UN treaty – the Rome Treaty creating
the International Criminal Court.
- As for being a “threat to peace,” there’s little doubt that Bush’s “war on
terror,” which violates international law, the US Constitution,
international human rights instruments and principles of international
cooperation and collective security, is the single greatest threat to
peace in the world today.


In light of the grave and gathering danger posed by the Bush Administration, we
hereby call on the United Nations to declare the United States to be a “threat to
peace” under Article 39 of the United Nations Charter. The Security Council, acting
under Article 7 of the Charter, must countermand this threat.

In the event of a US veto of the Council’s “enforcement action,” we call on the UN
General Assembly to invoke its Uniting for Peace Resolution of 1950 and assume
the Security Council's mandate of enforcing international peace and security.

To quote the “president” of the United States, “Will the United Nations serve the
purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?
[This message was edited Fri Sep 20 4:45:13 PDT 2002 by soulpower]

! Read, noted, thanx. What a fucked up world we live in...

REDFEATHERS said:

Hi Red... and you thought Friday 13th this month was bad

soulpower said:

P*ss Off! Troublemaker! - you wanna send me down?


Ok, not Piss off because Ian will me again! so Poss Off! Soulpower!
[This message was edited Fri Sep 20 5:00:18 PDT 2002 by REDFEATHERS]


Actually, Soulpower, you seem to 'get' off in making peoples lives a misery! Well I may wear feathers but I am not a piece of fluff! You are cordially invited to RedFeathers funeral - see thread "When I am Dead"...

Right! I am gonna leave this thread alone, so people can post their valid arguments, to your text...

When I am serious, am I joking? and when I am joking am I really serious?

P.S. R U Saddam?
[This message was edited Fri Sep 20 5:11:18 PDT 2002 by REDFEATHERS]

anybody else? no comments?

i have a comment. do we really need 15 threads about the same subject?

that's my comment. or question, rather.

Beast said:

now i know your aaron...this is the exact same comment you gave to another thread..

muahahahahahaha...


what did i win Chuck?

YES

SkletonKee said:

I'm not Aaron, but he does often sit next to me and give me guidance. He is my Org guru. And he should be yours too!

Beast said:

While you're at it, will you also deny the rumors that you should really be named aeron?

Thank you.

Beast said:

he made me say that but he's stepped away. someone call 911. i'm being held hostage

Beast said:

yes, we do. if you read them carefully, which I dont think you did, you would have found out that all "15" are having something new to offer. and until people dont seem or want to understand whats going on, there will be more threads coming.
besides, you dont seem to be bothered by "whats the best prince song" thread number 364.