So, Just Who Is The Evil Empire?

Ronald Reagan said it was the Soviets. George W. Bush said it was an International Triumverate that included Iran, North Korea and the nation formerly known as Iraq, (apparently known now as Neuvo Vietnam, Quagmire or Chaosistan) and called the "Axis of Evil". I think a sadder and more truthful answer to that may be found in the words of the renowned Southern philosopher Pogo, when he said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

I cannot help but come to this conclusion given the facts that lie in plain sight. I wasn't against the initial War on Terror that went after Osama and his ilk. On 9/11 I remember turning to my father, as we sat in the ICU Unit waiting room while my mother was dying and saying, as I watched the 2nd plane slam into the WTC, that it was a terrorist attack and that someone was going to pay dearly for that crime. And they should have. With a rational leadership in this country Osama and his ilk would all be taking dirt naps right now and we wouldn't be embroiled in the beginnings of what looks to be shaping up to become a new World War, one being instigated by our own government.

When we "liberated" Iraq it should have been painfully obvious that we had not only lost our way, but were lashing out in the wrong direction. Contrary to the Bush administrations protestations that this would bring stability to the region we see that it has done the opposite. Terrorism has escalated in that region and around the globe and Iraq is far from stable and could very well be looking at a new Iran/Iraq conflict, as Iranian troops are reportedly massing along the border, conducting raids in Kurdistan. The "government" in Iraq is just a corrupt, inept extension of what it was before, except these people have the blessing and annointing of the US and even links to Shiite Iran, by many accounts.

Iraqi Army recruits are voicing their displeasure at being sent away from their provinces, families and homes. I can't say that I blame them, either. In a country embroiled in sectarian fighting, daily acts of terrorism and chaos I would be loath to travel far from my home and loved ones, as well. Add to this the prospect of a war between the 150,000 American troops and gods only knows how many Iranians and their allies and there is no reason to expect an Iraqi Army to perform as commanded. It won't be their fight, will it?

The international community, led by the US is at this moment debating the fate of Iran and taking the decision to use force to bend them to their will, all because they fear Iran may someday create a nuclear weapon with uraniun which Iran says they are enriching as a nuclear power source. The IAEA issued their report last week and sent "diplomats" scurrying to craft a new policy with which to bludgeon Iran into submission.

The worst part of this debacle is that the Bush Administration has managed to place itself in the role of Nuclear Terrorist by threatening the use of nuclear weapons in any conflict with Iran. The Iranian's, logically enough have now called for the UN to sanction the US for its violations of UN treaties and international law. Honestly, I cannot say that I disagree with them on this. We are the only country which has ever used nuclear weapons in a conflict and now we have an administration in command which seemingly wishes to use them again, or at least the threat of them as a political lever. That is a textbook definition of terrorism by any sane persons standard.

All the posturing and bully boy attitudes on all sides are likely leading us to a place from which it shall be hard to retreat. With the "leaders" of the two major teams in this conflict being adherents of apocalyptic religious fundamentalism, the US and millions of others are being forced into a global game of chicken with Iran. There can be no winners in a game such as this and the harm it is doing to our country is going to be difficult to recover from. When the US starts to look and sound like the USSR it becomes clear that communist doctrine may well have won the Cold War, after all. We are becoming the new Evil Empire for the 21st century and it is an ugly, ugly thing, folks.

An American Hegemony backed by threats of nuclear annihilation is repugnant to every concept that this country was founded upon. The fact that so many people out there are seemingly supportive of this, (lead by the voices from their radio's) speaks volumes about the state of our "union" and its sanity.

(Thanks to Bill St. Claire for posting the link to Baghdad Burning).

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