Aug. 22, 2002

NEW YORK - US forces are rapidly massing in the Gulf to invade Iraq. Four heavy brigades have been positioned near Iraq, a huge new air complex is now operational in Qatar, and American special forces are active in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The White House is hoping its threats of war will provoke a coup against Saddam Hussein by the Iraqi Army. But if one does not come, the Bush Administration shows every sign of plunging into an unprovoked war that the rest of the world will view as blatant aggression.

Even America's closest allies are appalled by the tide of warmongering and jingoism that has engulfed the United States. Bush's recently proclaimed doctrine of `pre-emptive intervention' anywhere on earth is nothing less than a frightening revival of the old imperialist Brezhnev Doctrine of 25 years ago that called for Soviet intervention wherever socialism was threatened.

`Bush, himself the most intellectually backward American president of my political lifetime, is surrounded by advisors whose bellicosity is exceeded only by their political, military and diplomatic illiteracy.'

Such were the stinging words of Gerald Kaufman, the highly respected former foreign affairs spokesman of Britain's ruling Labour Party, America's closest ally. Bush's accelerating campaign to invade Iraq and turn it into another US oil protectorate is also provoking a storm of outrage across Europe, the Mideast, and Asia where people believe pollution and climate change are far bigger and more urgent threats than the boogeyman of Baghdad.

There are two important exceptions. First, Israel. Last week, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, sounding like he was giving orders to a subordinate, demanded Bush speed up plans to attack Iraq. Right on cue, American supporters of Sharon's far-right Likud Party, led by the Bush Administration's Rasputin, Richard Perle, intensified their clamor to send American GI's to fight Iraq. These bloodthirsty `neo-conservatives' - most of whom evaded military service in their own country - currently dominate the Pentagon and exercise a virtual monopoly on US media commentary of the Mideast. They are ardently backed by Armageddon- seekers of the Christian loony far right.

Senior Republican Senator Chuck Hagel spoke for many when he asked if Perle was so eager to attack, why didn't he join the first assault wave against Baghdad. Former national security advisor to Bush's father, Brent Scowcroft, warned an attack on Iraq would be a disastrous mistake.

Meanwhile, in Congressional hearings last week, former UN Iraq arms inspector Scott Ritter courageously stated what many Americans believe, but dare not say: `A handful of ideologues have hijacked the national security policy of the United States for their own ambitions.' Ritter insisted Iraq was totally disarmed and no threat to the US or Mideast. The Bush Administration - more precisely, the people pulling its strings - do not want renewed inspections of Iraq, Ritter said, they only want war.

A torrent of propaganda, lies and half-truths about Iraq have been pouring from the White House in a campaign reminiscent of old Soviet agitprop. The government-appointed `defense' team representing accused 9/11 plot member Zacharias Moussaui, reportedly urged him to falsely claim that Iraq was behind the attack. Moussaui refused. The head of Czech intelligence said there were no contacts in Prague between Iraq and al-Qaida, a key Bush reason for attacking Iraq. CIA veterans and European intelligence officials scoff at White House claims that Iraq is a threat to the world.

The other exception to worldwide outrage over America's Mideast policies was Osama bin-Laden's al-Qaida. In 1998, bin Laden carefully outlined his grand strategy to:

a. liberate Palestine;

b. drive the US occupying troops from Saudi Arabia; and

c. end the punishment of Iraq's people.

To attain these goals, bin Laden planned to provoke the US into a large number of fruitless military involvements that would wear out the US and bleed its military and financial power. Afghanistan, which costs American taxpayers $5 billion monthly, is the first step. Iraq, whose leader is hated by Osama bin Laden - a hatred equally returned by Saddam - will be number two. Then, Iran, Syria, Libya - all also on Perle's hit list - and so on until a host of Lilliputian conflicts tie down the American imperial giant.

George Bush, who takes pride in not reading books, and calls Greeks `Grecians,' is charging like a Texas bull into the trap set for him by both Osama bin Laden and General Sharon. Israel has been trying for 20 years to get the US to go to war against the Arabs and Iran, knowing this will permanently enlist America's vast wealth and power in its cause, and permanently alienate the US from the Islamic World. The extremists in both camps need one another, The main beneficiary of the 9/11 attacks on the US was Israel's Sharon. Bin Laden would never have achieved notoriety and a wide following without Israel's oppression of the Palestinians.

If ever the United States needed real friends, it is now. Real friends, like Canada, Germany, and France are trying to deter the empty, misled George Bush and his hijacked cabinet from committing an outright aggression that risks plunging the Mideast into chaos or even nuclear war.