George "Gen. Jack Ripper" Bush
Another leaked British memo ("everywhere you dig you find a body") reveals that Bush and Blair sat around on January 31, 2003, thinking up crazy schemes to provoke a war with Saddam since they didn't have any real casus belli.
What is worse, the memo confirms that our genius president knew about the dangers of messing with Iraq's internal stability and did it anyway.
'There was also a discussion of what might happen in Iraq after Saddam had been overthrown. President Bush said that he "thought it unlikely that there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups". '
So this means someone could make a lot of money by finding out on which team Bush is betting to win the Superbowl, and putting a bundle on the other team.
Revised: For all the world like a latter day Gen. Jack Ripper as depicted in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, Bush was going to fly a US spy plane over Iraq painted in UN colors, in hopes Saddam would have it shot down, so as to provoke a war (and 'protect our precious bodily fluids?'). This crackpot idea suggests the truth of the rumors that Bush never really did give up drinking heavily (or maybe it can only be explained by doing lines). Its context is explained by a kind reader who wrote in about my initial puzzlement to say:
' The Bush administration did get Saddam to agree to allow U2 flyovers under the nominal control of UNMOVIC in February. It seems likely that they expected Saddam to refuse, thus provide a suitable excuse for war. When he didn't, they upped the ante by sending two at once in mid-March. The Iraqis still refused to shoot at them and instead complained through official channels. '
Bush also still hoped that Scooter Libby and Ahmad Chalabi could produce a defector out of a hat who would testify to Saddam's weapons of mass destruction stockpile. I suppose this desperate measure was made unnecessary by the discovery that Colin Powell would be willing just to read out Libby's science fiction novel about sinister aluminum tubes and an Iraq armed to the teeth before the UN Security Council.
The memo also makes clear that Bush and Blair had already decided to go to war no matter what, regardless of the United Nations Security Council. Bush had "pencilled in" March 10 (was it an item in his social calendar?) Blair committed to the plan, though he preferred a second UNSC resolution. That he committed in advance is embarrassing to him, since he only received British parliamentary approval to so commit on March 18, a month and a half later. Blair's office refused to comment on the memo, discussed in a new edition of Philippe Sands's Lawless World.
According to The Independent:
' George Bush considered provoking a war with Saddam Hussein's regime by flying a United States spyplane over Iraq bearing UN colours, enticing the Iraqis to take a shot at it, according to a leaked memo of a meeting between the US President and Tony Blair.
The two leaders were worried by the lack of hard evidence that Saddam Hussein had broken UN resolutions, though privately they were convinced that he had. According to the memorandum, Mr Bush said: "The US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach."
He added: "It was also possible that a defector could be brought out who would give a public presentation about Saddam's WMD, and there was also a small possibility that Saddam would be assassinated." The memo damningly suggests the decision to invade Iraq had already been made when Mr Blair and the US President met in Washington on 31 January 2003 when the British Government was still working on obtaining a second UN resolution to legitimise the conflict.
The leaders discussed the prospects for a second resolution, but Mr Bush said: "The US would put its full weight behind efforts to get another resolution and would 'twist arms' and 'even threaten'. But he had to say that if ultimately we failed, military action would follow anyway." He added that he had a date, 10 March, pencilled in for the start of military action. The war actually began on 20 March.
Mr Blair replied that he was "solidly with the President and ready to do whatever it took to disarm Saddam." But he also insisted that " a second Security Council resolution would provide an insurance policy against the unexpected, and international cover, including with the Arabs" .
Andy McSmith notes that the memo contradicts the allegation in the memoirs of Christopher Meyers, the British ambassador in Washington at that time, that Blair had missed an opportunity to convince Bush to seek a second UNSC resolution. Obviously, Bush's mind and long before been made up.
The parade of leaked British memos that have gradually emerged paint an increasingly detailed picture of Bush and Blair as Machiavellian warmongers-- fully aware of the illegal character of their enterprise, cynical about the United Nations Security Council, and fully apprised of the profound dangers that might ensue, but determined to attack aggressively nevertheless, and to propagandize and to twist the truth until neither any longer knew where it lay.
posted by Juan Cole @ 2/04/2006 12:30:00 AM
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19 Comments:
"Machiavellian" does them a little too much credit, methinks.
This sounds too stupid even for Bush. Is this memo authentic? By the way, there should be no doubt that Bush is drinking again. Anyone who has seen the stump speech Bush made for Kilgore on the election eve, can recognize the signs of a pathetically drunken frat boy. I believe it is available on www.crooksandliars.com
While you refer to Gen Ripper, the image on the ordnance is that of Maj. T.J. 'King' Kong (Slim Pickens) who rode the device to infamy and oblivion. Ripper was, as I recall, the paranoid and delusional demented supermacho fellow who got it in a shootout in his office.
Anyway, the Republicans' Fearsome* leader is quite a piece of work, something that is the hodge-podge product of a variety of influence and sources. This can be easily seen by all of the varied references to him as one-time movie characters and historical personalities, none of which fit very well because he is -- hisself -- so ill-defined to begin with. The closest I could come would be to put him in the same category as Tom Hanks who has rarely, if ever, played a "winner" in any one of his roles in the flix. We don't concern ourselves so much with Hanks' supposed "winning" performances that got him the fools' golden statuettes, but with the actual roles as losers getting him to where he is. So goes George Bush, someone who could be considered objectively a "winner" but even a little analysis of his character always reveals a loser.
The only other role that I would easily put Fearsome* into would be the "Guv" in "Blazing Saddles," especially during the rubber stamping scene while he really wants to attend to more important matters that appeal to his ego needs. Buscists sitting around the campfire, emitting their odeuriferous noxiosity is merely characteristic of the Rummy, Aris, Dicks, and others who have developed the art of redirecting their flatulence. Chuckles all around. Snickers, sniggering, smiles ...
We all know that very few if any people associated with this administration has any regard for history, especially that of the past (Buscisms are easily come by). With the constant drive to obfuscate and blur the realities associated with George hisself, it seems all too reasonable that those around him would want to avoid any contact with real knowledge, relying solely on manufactured fabrications and concoctions that make the World look differently than it really is. As we well know, George is all hung up on this "born'd agin" stuff that substitutes real spirituality with mere social compliance and accepted appearances. There is nothing there to indicate that reality ever enters the picture. All is fictive made-up fantasy that passes for substance and legitimacy. Another role to divert the attention from the actualities of the person and his condition. His action figure probably has more thought and substance put into it than he, hisself, has. A doll for a leader? We can only imagine who's doing the positioning and posing as an eight-year-old with a pre-adolescent imagination or post-senile dimentia.
We know that the events in Iraq were all but pre-ordained once the invaders broke up the established lines of authority. We knew this from the latter part of 1991 when his father, GHW, refused to assist the opposition to Saddam Hussein and allowed the tyrant to remain in power to fulfill his will and destiny as one of Iraq's -- and the Middle East's -- most durable and successful leaders, not a nice one but his abilities to assert his will and survive attest to his capabilities. And he's still in control in the courtroom!
We can liken the Georges Bush to surgeons, not particularly good ones, in view of their penchant for "operations" (Desert Shield/Storm, Iraqi Freedom). B41 was of the ilk that opened up the patient (Iraq) and immediately called for it to be closed, not having dealt with the internal discomforture at all. B43, on the other hand, went and reopened the patient and, instead of addressing the malady, he removed all of the other organs until he found the one that was dysfunctional (like himself, more denial and delay), THEN put all of the others back in, calling the operation a success. Now, we have the (increasingly im-) patient under observation that takes more and more time and effort and money and manpower and materiel to maintain, simply because of the father-son dysfunctional duo who were both incapable and incompetent in their operational skills.
And who's against frivolous lawsuits and paying out for medical malpractice? Denying science? And why?
*fear·some (fîrsm) adj.
1. Causing or capable of causing fear: "The Devil is a fearsome enemy" Jimmy Breslin.
2. Fearful; timid.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fearsome
HI Prf Cole, I love the blog, keep up the great work.
About the leaked memo, the part that I find the weakest is the whole idea of painting a plane in UN colors and taunting the Iraqis to shot it down. And what if this happened? Was Chimpy going to howl that Saddam had shot down a UN plane? And what would Kofi Annan say? That it was one of his planes? And how about when plane parts surfaced and no one claimed ownership? Im sorry, but this is very weak, which would make me wonder about the veracity of the whole memo.
Rob
FWIW, the photoshopped picture was originally of the B-52 pilot, Col. Kong (Slim Pickens), rather than of General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden). Col. Kong was almost completely sane, but worked in a totally insane social environment.
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I've thought for a long time that Bush and the Neocons were Gen. Jack Ripper revived, and it is good to see you bring it up. Dr. Strangelove is a great movie, and characterises the Cuba period wonderfully.
It's absolutely typical of the present-day situation that the madman is not the isolated commander of an airbase, but the president in the White House. Of course in 1964, nobody could have believed that the president, with his finger on the nuclear button, could be a madman, and Sellers plays a president who is a serious statesman. It is different today.
Listening to what is being said today about the referral of Iran to the Security Council, I could genuinely believe that they really intend to go to war again and attack Iran. It is difficult to believe, but it is obvious now that a war plan can't be excluded. It doesn't appear to matter that no evidence of Iranian nuclear weapons has been published.
A second round of military folly was always on the cards, and, if it happens, I would imagine that is the point where the Bush presidency will really go off the rails, unfortunately for all of us.
The Bush administration did get Saddam to agree to allow U2 flyovers under the nominal control of UNMOVIC in February. It seems likely that they expected Saddam to refuse, thus provide a suitable excuse for war. When he didn't, they upped the ante by sending two at once in mid-March. The Iraqis still refused to shoot at them and instead complained through official channels.
Given the contents of the memo, it seems reasonable to assume that Bush and Blair were extremely disppointed by the restrained reaction from Baghdad.
Juan,
I'm terribly concerned that the "run-up" to the Iraq war with its propaganda and deceptions is now being repeated with Iran. I've seen reports that a military strike is set for the end of March, possibly with nuclear tipped bunker buster bombs. This seems entirely feasible given the paranoia of Israel and the recklessness of the Bush regime. Would you please comment on the dangers and likely consequences of such an aggressive move in the Middle East?
Everybody is quoting Dr Strangelove these days! On Friday's network news, an anonymous pentagon spokesman, when asked if the military option against Iran was viable, replied, "Hell yes, it's viable!". What we don't know is whether the pentagon spokesman was standing on a chair with his arms held out like airplane wings, ala George C Scott in the war room.
Recovering alcholics make a distinction between being "dry" and "sober". Simply not drinking doesn't mean one is sober. It only means one is dry, but that one is carrying the same mental baggage as when one was drinking. To be sober means having lost most of this baggage. My guess is that Bush is dry, but not sober.
This U2 provocation scheme reminds me of the Gulf of Tonkin fabrication.
Wonderwaffe for the 21st century
The idea that strike lasers can be important in a guerilla war screams with vicious technical ignorance.
First problem is, locating proper targets needs local contacts on the ground regardless of attack technology. But these contacts will use foreign air force in their local feuds.
Next, laser firepower will be incomparably lower than that of existing AC-130 systems while being much more expensive. This is exactly what guerillas want - to drag regular troops into spending millions to destroy bikes and donkey carts.
The analogy with the Germans who spent their last resources on futuristic weapons in the end of WW2 is too obvious.
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The military plans to test the Advanced Tactical Laser, a laser weapon mounted on a C-130H air transport that could destroy any weapon system without collateral damage.
The laser could have tremendous repercussions on the battlefield, particularly in urban warfare in such countries as Afghanistan and Iraq. "It's the kind of tool that could bring about victory within minutes," an official said.
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Goebbels, not Kubrick
The idea of using a US plane under false colors is actually more reminiscent of how the Germans initiated the invasion of Poland in 1939, than of Dr. Strangelove. They had SS soldiers dress up in Polish Army uniforms, slip into Poland, and attack German border posts manned by regular German, Wehrmacht, units. Not clear that anyone was at all fooled by this brilliant scheme.
There is an important distinction between President Bush and General Ripper. Ripper, of course, was insane. The whole subject of the movie was that anyone who would wilfully instigate a nuclear confrontation with the U.S.S.R. must be insane. This judgement obviously does not apply to Iraq, which certainly did not possess the capacity to strike back. Drawing Iraq into war would certainly lead to the deaths of several thousand American soldiers and many more thousand Iraqi civilians, but it would not require an insane man to make such a decision. I think, in fact, that the sanity of Bush's decision reflect the rather poor quality of Bush's morality.
Bush and Blair had good reason to hurry up and invade. The UN inspectors were using what Tenet termed the CIA's best WMD intelligence, and coming up empty. There must have been someone in the CIA who was screeming "we were wrong!!!", and Tenet must have mentioned it to someone in the Whitehouse.
Another month or two of inspections would have cinched it - no WMD. There is no way Bush could have come up with a believable new rationale for invasion, but he probably figured the public would buy anything once the troops were on the ground, taking casualties and rounding up bad guys. He was right about that.
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The war in Iraq has basically turned out to be a disaster ....Most of the Iraqi people are now losing hope that the promised reconstruction is going to happen and that the quality of their lives is going to increase... It just gets worse and worse. Christiane Amanpour
Surely another relevant moment from Strangelove: when Group Captain Mandrake (Peter Sellers in one of his three roles) finally escapes from Ripper and is trying to place a phone call to the president so that the bombing of the USSR can be cancelled. All he can find is a pay phone, so he asks his soldier escort to shoot a Coke machine at the end of the hallway so he can get a coin and halt armageddon. The good soldier's first reaction: "That's private property!"
During the American War on Vietnam, we repeatedly heard numerous "reasons" advanced for why we had to continue the madness long after its self-destructive, counter-productive nature became clear. Self-styled "Big Thinkers" like Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger essentially boiled these rationales down to a matter of presumed "prestige." As they put it:
America's friends would lose confidence and America's enemies become emboldened if America stopped acting so bloody stupid.
This line of "thinking" presumed, of course, that America's friends respected our stupidity and our enemies feared it: both undemonstrated propositions.
We hear the same bogus rationales advanced today to justify America's continued participation in its self-destructive, counter-productive War on Iraq. Nonetheless, it remains true that our friends hardly respect our stupidity nor do our enemies seem in the least to fear it.
I very much dread that Deputy Dubya and Sheriff Cheney will choose to follow the Nixon-Kissinger "prestige" phantom to the utter ruination of us all. They don't call America the Nation of Sheep and the Land That Forgot Time for nothing.
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