The following was a speech given at the national convention of Concerned Voters, receiving a standing ovation to a crowd of over 2800 people, on October 5th, 2002.

It’s really very interesting when you think about it, in realizing the fact that throughout all this talk of war with Iraq, never does anyone in government or the media ever ask; “Hey, why is this our business?” Iraq isn’t a state, or a territory, or a province of the United States.  It doesn’t hold any special obligation to our country that I know of, which specifies how it should run its own affairs.  So who do we think we are, telling another country what to do?  Who are we to invade and occupy any other country, simply because we don’t approve of their leaders or policies?  Who are we to install puppet dictators out of convenience one year, and knock them down the next?

Some will say that “Being the only remaining ‘superpower’, makes it our responsibility to guide the world”.  Yeah?  Who says so?   Upon what democratically granted or God given powers, is the United States supposedly invested, to dictate to the world how it should govern its affairs?  We have no such power.  No one “voted us into office” as a world policeman.  No one elected the U.S. as Judge, Jury and Executioner, who holds all worldly wrongs to the light of our superior justice.  The world does not bankroll us to militarize it’s borders or agreements, nor do we have any special providence through international law to function as an Overseer for the people’s of all nations.  Only WE claim to have such authority, (by “WE”, I mean the U.S. government currently in power).  Why?  Because we have such a huge military….everybody else is scared stiff of us, that’s why.  But that isn’t real authority is it?  This is merely the power of the bully who hasn’t yet been seriously challenged.  It is by no means the authority invested in having any “moral high ground“.  Quite the contrary, ours is increasingly the “moral low ground”.

Some will say that “Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction” and is a menace to the world.  Others say that although there is no proof Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, he never the less wants and actively seeks them.  Now here’s another question the government and media never ask;  “Out of the 200 largest countries in the world, how many DO NOT either possess weapons of mass destruction or actively seek them out?”  Well the answer is obvious…NO ONE.  So what does this imply regarding our indictment of Saddam Hussein, and his not-so-special desire for such weapons?  It implies that he is only one in a very large crowd, and by no means special, nor is he deserving of any special criticisms or treatment in the international community on that basis.  So how then can the American government justify going to war with Iraq on these grounds?  It absolutely can’t.  It CANNOT!  The possession of a weapon is insufficient grounds to convict a person of murder, much less execute them for a crime against their fellow human beings.  Under any honest or logical standard of international law the same should, and in fact MUST, be said of any country.  We do not execute people as murderers for crimes they MIGHT commit, nor do we have the right to destroy countries who MIGHT use weapons of mass destruction.  Also, is it not more than just a little ironic that throughout all this discussion of removing weapons of mass destruction from Saddam Hussein, that the United States openly discusses when, how and where they will use those very same weapons to accomplish this end?  

Is it not more than a little ironic that WE GAVE nerve gas and various biological agents to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war, less than two decades ago, urging them to use these on their neighbors?  Where was all our moralizing then?  That’s another issue the media and government wont touch.

In all this talk of war and its “cost” to taxpayers, never is there any real consideration of how many Iraqi lives will be lost, most of which will no doubt be civilian.  It’s clear that the government and medias’ focus, is as usual, money considerations before lives or mass suffering.

Some will say that Saddam Hussein is a ruthless dictator, a despot and a tyrant, and therefore cannot be trusted by the international community.  Well here’s another question never asked by the government or the media…”How many governments in the world are run by ruthless dictators, tyrants and despots?”  If you are any student of international relations or history, then you know the answer….COUNTLESS.  Once again we are faced with the quandary of U.S. government insanity…On the one hand we are told that we must kill Saddam Hussein and by necessity, 100,000 or so of his fellow Iraqi military and civilians, because he is a tyrant..  On the other we are faced with the fact that the world is full of tyrants, not the least of which, it is arguable, the current president of the United States, via his virtual declaration of war on half the world through the so-called “War on Terror”.  Who would be more ruthless and tyrannical, Saddam Hussein and his “threat to the world community” or US, (the U.S.) in the carpet bombing of Baghdad and all other Iraqi cities?  Who’s talking about killing who here?

The Bush administration has openly discussed the “option” of using nuclear weapons in battle, and has constantly repeated the “pre-emptive strike” mantra of “hit them first before they hit us”.  Once again, who does the law hold accountable for assault and battery, when one person hits another without provocation?  The person who strikes first, that’s who.  I can just see the defendant in such a case pleading with the judge…“But your honor, I only hit him because I figured he might hit me in the future!“  The Judge would not only put him away because this is a ridiculous defense, he would probably unload a few more years of prison time on this guy, for being a maniac..  So why should international law be any different?  Why should one country be able to appoint itself as the policeman of the world, and then proceed to sock “the other guy “ in the jaw first, as a so-called “pre-emptive” strike?  So let’s not look too closely at what tyrants and despots do as an excuse for U.S. war plans, because there lingers here the unmistakable stench of hypocrisy and war mongering.  At least, don’t look too close if you want to remain “loyal” to the so-called “war effort”.  Face it people!  This government line is WHOLLY CRIMINAL and outright mass murderous!  There is no excuse for such behavior as going to war with Iraq “pre-emotively”.  Any one who supports this nonsense is just as liable for rightful punishment for mass murder, under any international war crimes hearing, as is George Bush and his team of war mongering murderers.  No more, no less, just like Hitler was.

Besides, who here doesn’t know yet, that all this “Showdown with Iraq” nonsense is about getting their oil?  Iraq has the second largest reserve of oil in the world, and this has nothing to do with it, we’re supposed to believe. Uh huh.  I wonder how God-awful hell-bent on war the Bush Administration would be, if there was no oil in Iraq?  Or better yet, what if the United Nations said, “Sure, take over Iraq, but give every drop of oil proceeds right back to the Iraqi citizens”.  You can bet that will never happen!

Let us also take a minute to discuss the possibility of creating World War 3, with our reckless and criminal actions as a country.  Some will say that even discussing this possibility is over-reacting, that this will never happen so long as the U.S. is “taking care of the world”.  Well stop and think for a minute longer, as to what kind of precedent our new set of international policies creates.  Rather than the old fashioned diplomacy and peaceful, mutual understanding approach to international relations, now we have “you are either with us or against us”.  Rather than disarmament we have a new escalation in military spending the world over, as every national leader tries to keep pace with the New World Order of George Bush.  Rather than working together for the greater good of humanity, we have the “War on Terror”, which would be more aptly named the “War of Terror” one that is literally terrorizing the majority of the world.  It’s got a number a nation states at each other’s throats, such as in the case of India and Pakistan.  It’s got every nation persecuting their political opposition by branding them as “terrorists”,  as an excuse for torture, mass imprisonment and mass murder. You can literally cut the escalating world tensions with a knife on any given day, and guess what…the United States is behind it all.

Given the above mentioned criteria for going to war with another country, “pre-emptively”, who among you thinks that Iraq will be the last and final target of U.S. plans for world domination?  Who will bet their life savings that George Bush will not find another excuse, using yet another tireless media campaign, to go to war, destroy and conquer such countries as Iran, Libya, Yemen, North Korea and a host of others?  What? No one will take this bet?  Well, then, maybe you should begin taking this whole matter more seriously.  By “this whole matter” I mean the “War of Terror”, George Bush as a murdering maniac in control of the largest military in the world, just twitching with trigger happy glee as he rapes one nation after the next in the name of “democracy”?  People seem to think this whole affair is just a game…after all, it’s just, “those people, you know, over there” who are getting killed by the bombs we pay for, and by the military our sons and daughters belong to, and by the government whose flag we fly on our cars and homes. Is this what you stand for when you fly this flag?

Given the precedent we’re providing, who is to say that India should not launch a nuclear attack against Pakistan, or Pakistan against India for the same reason, to “pre-emptively” prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction?  Who could rightly criticize one invading the other, killing millions of people, based on such a criteria for war?  Who will criticize China for destroying Taiwan, or Japan for destroying North Korea, or Israel for destroying Palestine?  Or for that matter, anybody destroying anybody on behalf of half baked assertions, and big talk but little proof of anything?!!  Who will count all the bodies if everybody destroys everybody else “pre-emptively”.  It’s all sheer Madness!

So when the world gets so fed up with us that it simply will not take any more lies and bullying, just remember why nuclear and/or biological war began in the first place.  It began because WE CREATED IT, or at the very least, as average citizens, let it happen.  Don’t blame Saddam Hussein, or Osama Bin Laden or any other tyrant.  Blame George Bush and the Congress and Senate, as well as the average American who didn’t have the guts to speak their mind and say what’s right, while there was still time to prevent the destruction of mankind.

Concept by Matthew Webb
visionquest@eoni.com
The World Mind Society (http://www.eoni.com/~visionquest)