Conghaileach
28th March 2003, 22:50
The War
By Eduardo Galeano
Just think. In the middle of last year, when this war was still only
gestating, George W. Bush stated that 'we have to be ready to attack in any
obscure corner of the world'; ergo, Iraq is an obscure corner of the world.
Does Bush believe that civilization began in Texas and his fellow Texans
invented writing? Has he really never heard of the library of Niniveh, the
tower of Babel or the hanging gardens of Babylon? Has he really never heard
even one of the tales in the thousand and one nights of Baghdad?
* * *
Who elected him president of this planet anyway? I was never asked to vote
in any such elections. Were you?
Would we elect a president who was deaf to the population? Would we elect a
man incapable of hearing any but the echoes of his own voice? A man deaf to
the ceaseless thunder of millions of voices in the streets declaring peace
on war?
He has not even heeded a word of friendly advice from the German writer
Günter Grass. Realising that Bush felt driven to demonstrate something very
important to his daddy, Grass suggested that he see a psychoanalyst rather
than bombing Iraq.
* * *
In 1898, president William McKinley declared that God had commanded him to
seize the Philippines in order to civilize and christianize their
inhabitants. McKinley said that he had spoken with God at midnight as he
roamed the corridors of the White House. Over a century later, president
Bush assures us that God is on his side in the conquest of Iraq. What time
was it and where was he, we wonder, when he got the divine message? We
might also ask why the messages to Bush and to the Pope at Rome were so
contradictory.
* * *
War has been declared in the name of the international community, which is
sick of wars. And as per usual, war has been declared in the name of peace.
It's not about oil, they say. And yet, if Iraq produced radishes rather
than oil, would anyone seriously suggest invading?
Have Bush, Dick Cheney and sweet Condoleeza Rice really all given up their
top jobs in the oil industry? Why is Tony Blair so obsessed with the Iraqi
dictator? Could it be because 30 years ago Saddam Hussein nationalized the
British Iraq Petroleum Company? And how many oil wells is José María Aznar
expecting to get when the spoils are divvied up?
The oil-drunk consumer society is deathly afraid of withdrawal symptoms.
And Iraq is where the black elixir is cheapest, and possibly most plentiful.
In a peace demonstration in New York, one placard read: "Why is our oil
beneath their sands?".
* * *
The United States says it expects a lengthy military occupation following
its victory. US generals will be in charge of setting up democracy in Iraq.
Will this be a democracy like in Haiti, the Dominican Republic or
Nicaragua? They occupied Haiti for 19 years and set up a military power
base that eventually became the dictatorship of Francois Duvalier. They
occupied the Dominican Republic for nine years and laid the foundations for
the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. They occupied Nicaragua for
21 years and founded the dictatorship of the Somoza family.
* * *
The Somoza dynasty, set on the throne by the Marines, lasted half a century
before being swept away by popular fury in 1979. Then, president Ronald
Reagan got on his horse and set out to rescue the country from the threat
of the Sandinista revolution. Among the poorest of the poor, Nicaragua was
a country with all of five elevators, and one escalator that didn't work.
Nevertheless, Reagan proclaimed that Nicaragua was a menace; and as he
spoke, TV screens showed a map of the United States with a red stain
spreading from the south to illustrate the course of the imminent invasion.
Can president Bush be copying the panic-rousing speeches of his
predecessor? Can Bush be saying Iraq where Reagan said Nicaragua?
* * *
Newspaper headlines in the run-up to war: "The United States is prepared to
resist attack".
Record sales of insulating tape, gas masks, radiation pills ... Why is the
executioner more afraid than the victim? Is it only this climate of
collective hysteria? Or does it tremble at the foreseeable consequences of
its actions? And what if Iraqi oil sets fire to the world? Will this war
not be just the vitamin shot that international terrorism was looking for?
* * *
We are told that Saddam Hussein succours the fanatics of Al Qaeda. What is
this - his very own viper's nest? Islamic fundamentalists loathe him. Can
we say that a country is satanic where people watch Hollywood movies, many
schools teach English, the Muslim majority do nothing to prevent Christians
walking about sporting crucifixes and it is not uncommon to see women
wearing trousers and daring blouses?
There were no Iraqis among the terrorists who demolished the twin towers of
New York. Almost all of them were from Saudi Arabia, the US's number one
client in the world. Another Saudi is Bin Laden, the villain that the
satellites track as he flees on horseback across the desert and the first
to step forward whenever Bush requires his services as professional ogre.
* * *
Did you know that in 1953 president Dwight D. Eisenhower said that
"preventive war" was invented by Adolf Hitler? He said: "...frankly, I
wouldn't even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such
a thing".
* * *
The United States makes and sells more arms than any other country in the
world. It is also the only nation to have dropped atomic bombs on civilian
populations. And traditionally it has always been at war with somebody. Who
is it that threatens world peace? Iraq?
* * *
So Iraq does not heed United Nations (UN) resolutions? And what about Bush,
who has just dealt the most resounding blow ever to international legality?
And what about Israel, the leading specialist in ignoring UN resolutions?
Iraq has ignored 17 UN resolutions, Israel 64. Will Bush bomb his most
loyal ally?
* * *
Iraq was devastated by the war waged by Bush senior in 1991and has been
starved by the blockade following it. What weapons of mass destruction can
so thoroughly ruined a country possess?
Israel, which has been usurping Palestinian land since 1967, has an arsenal
of nuclear weapons that guarantees its impunity. And then Pakistan, another
faithful ally and furthermore a notorious hotbed of terrorists, flaunts its
own nuclear warheads. But the enemy is Iraq, because Iraq "could possess"
such weapons. If it did indeed possess them, as North Korea claims to do,
would they be so keen to attack? And what about chemical and biological
weapons?
Who sold Saddam Hussein the chemicals he needed to make the poison gases
that asphyxiated Kurds, and the helicopters they were launched from? Why
won't Bush let us see the receipts?
In those years of war against Iran and war against the Kurds, was Saddam
any less of a dictator than he is now? Donald Rumsfeld himself visited him
on a mission of friendship. Why are we so concerned about the Kurds of Iraq
and not about the much greater number of Kurds murdered in Turkey?
* * *
Defence Secretary Rumsfeld has announced that his country will use
"non-lethal gases" against Iraq. Will these be the kind of non-lethal gases
that Vladimir Putin used last year in a Moscow theatre, killing over a
hundred hostages?
* * *
There were a few days there when the United Nations covered up Picasso's
Guernica with a curtain so that Colin Powell would not be put off his bugle
calls by such nasty scenes.
What size of curtain will they use to cover up the butchery in Iraq, in the
form of blanket censorship imposed on war correspondents by the Pentagon?
* * *
Where will the souls of the Iraqi victims go? According to reverend Billy
Graham, president Bush's spiritual adviser and celestial surveyor, paradise
is none too roomy - no more than fifteen hundred square miles. The chosen
will be few. Now guess which country has bought up all the entrance tickets?
* * *
And one last question, borrowed from John Le Carré:
- Will they kill many people, daddy?
- No-one you know, dear. Just foreigners.
[translated by Alistair Ross]
---
George Bush in New Delhi
Sudhanva Deshpande
A large demonstration was held today, on 22 March 2003, at the American
Embassy in New Delhi. The demonstration was going on expected lines as
speaker after speaker condemned the American action in Iraq, till a most
unexpected event occurred. A spokesman of the British High Commission
arrived and wanted to address the protestors. The organizers graciously
extended permission to him to do so.
The protestors, however, were very angry at this and determined not to let
the man have his say. Chaos reigned for several minutes as the protestors
shouted the man down. For a while it even seemed that the whole thing would
turn ugly and violent. Wiser counsels prevailed, however, and the man was
allowed to speak. I report below, verbatim, his statement: "Ladies and
gentlemen, the American embassy is very concerned about your protest
gathering. President George W. Bush himself has been following these
protest gatherings across the world. We are all very concerned. I am a
spokesman of the British High Commission. I have been sent here in order to
explain the American position to you.
"Actually, Mr Blair wanted to come here himself. But there are too many
protests across the whole world, and there is no way that he can be present
at every one of them to explain Mr Bush's stand. So he sent me instead. You
see, Mr Blair is very loyal. More loyal than the king. He has even proposed
to amend our national anthem to 'God Save the King'.
"We are very concerned. We are concerned that you are denying America's
democratic rights. The real test of any democracy is the rights accorded to
minorities. President Bush is always very concerned about the rights of
minorities. He is therefore delighted that even though Mr Blair has won the
vote in the House of Commons, he is clearly in the minority in the Labour
Party as well as in Britain at large.
"Indeed, President Bush himself is also very much in the minority. Because
while the anti-war protestors across the globe number millions, he numbers
only one. Some claim that if judged by intellectual ability, he numbers
zero. But this is a disputed claim, and we have no intention of sending UN
inspectors to find the truth, since you will appreciate that it is highly
embarrassing to discover an empty warhead right inside the White House.
"As I was saying, President Bush is very much in the minority - in the
world, in the Security Council, and indeed in America itself. In fact, he
even won his election by minority. As the head - empty or otherwise - of
the tiniest minority in the whole world, you will appreciate that it is
President Bush's democratic right to bomb Iraq. I am sure I don't have to
tell you the reason - you can read between the pipelines.
"President Bush is very concerned about this protest. Indeed, it is my
great privilege to inform you that he has decided to come all the way to
India to explain his stand to you. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome
President George W. Bush."
The large crowd of protestors was shocked and awed. A hush descended on the
scene. Someone started singing a song to welcome the great man.
George Bush, We Salute You!
Welcome President, we salute you
We salute Your Excellency
Your essential decency
Your inadvertent coherency
Oh living necromancy
We salute you!
We salute your democratic vision
Your total hate of reason
Your vivid confusion
Oh logical delusion
We salute you!
We salute your actions inept
Your capacity for imagining fact
Your illogical concept
Oh weapon of mass decept
We salute you!
We salute your daddy's commandment
A dutiful son in government
Iraq's democratic bombardment
Your alibi of disarmament
We salute you!
We salute you without comment
Oh empty head intelligent
We salute you without hesitant
God save our great President
We salute you!
As the song ended, President Bush took the microphone. He had a gun in his
hand. Reproduced below is his speech, word for word.
"Hi. I don't have a written speech. I asked my Vice President to write one
for me. He refused. He's a real dick. He said, 'Mr President, you don't
need words. So long as you have a gun.'
"Now, you may wonder why I have come here with a gun. You see, before
coming here, I phoned my daddy. I said to my daddy: 'Daddy, I am going to
India.' My daddy said to me: 'Be careful son. You are from the wild west.
Beware of the injuns.' I said to my daddy: 'Don't worry daddy. I never
misunderestimate my adversity.'
"Sorry. I got that wrong. I mean I never misunderestimate my adversary. . .
Sorry. I mean I always misunderstand my diversity. . . Sorry. I mean I
never misstate my synchronicity. . . Sorry. I mean I never underestimate
my idioticity. . . Sorry. I mean . . . you know what I mean.
"But don't be scared of this gun. It is not a weapon of mass destruction.
Those are for Saddam. I bring here only weapons of mass deception.
"I am very concerned about your protest. You believe that Iraq has no
weapons of mass destruction because those inspectors could not find any.
They are stupid. They are blind. They kept looking in factories and
military establishments, when the weapon of mass destruction was right
there, all along, in front of them. Saddam.
"I know that world opinion is against this war. So I called my advisors and
I said to them: 'The rest of the world thinks we are wrong.' Dick didn't
know what 'think' is. Colin didn't know what 'wrong' is. And Donald didn't
know what 'rest of the world' is.
"This war is not against a country. This war is not against a religion.
This war is to destroy weapons of mass destruction. This war did not start
with Iraq. And it will not end with Iraq. We are committed to fight this
war across all continents, in each and every country on this planet.
Because, you see, there are weapons of mass destruction in all countries of
the world.
"Now you may wonder at that. But let me tell you, we have deep and broad
evidence. The CIA has compiled a big fat dossier on a new weapon of mass
destruction that is being assembled in a million different locations across
the globe. Just this morning I was talking to Tony, and he told me how this
weapon has terrorized his party. He says some terrorized ministers have
resigned from his cabinet. Apparently even his best cook has resigned.
"Now, that got me thinking. I said, what's cooking? And as I sat there
thinking - it hurts, I admit, but I do it every once in a while - that
Spanish fella called me. What's his name - Aznaro, I think. Or is it
Pizzaro? I know it's not Picasso. That's the singer. Anyway, he said many
members of his parliament have been terrorized by this weapon. Then that
Danish chap - forget his name - called to say that his face was reddened in
a terrorist attack. And that Aussie - you know who I mean - called to say
he can't use his front door any more for he fears a terrorist attack using
this weapon of mass destruction.
"And even back home in the US of A, I find this weapon of mass destruction
rearing its ugly head in more than two hundred cities across the country.
"A weapon of greater power cannot be imagined. It is a weapon that has
shaken empires, ground them to dust. Come to think of it, as I look at you,
I find that weapon right here. And I am determined to crush it. Come what
may. From Bom-bay to the USA."
And, to underline his resolve, President Bush broke into rap.
Georgie rap
The fact is with subliminal tactics
We establish hegemony across the atlas
Blow those who oppose us to dust and ashes
Oil - big business and cash is what the clash is
I follow my science and diabolical thesis
Blow you up and leave you with the pieces
I talk about freedom and good and evil in my speeches
The make believe increases
On a daily basis
My white TV faces
Disgrace the coloured races
And erases the traces
Like hushed up rape cases
I never knew shame
I'm way ahead in the game
The money and the fame
I can make you feel pain
Worse than a million migraine
I sold my soul
Now I reign supreme
Your worst nightmare is my American dream
I make the world burn like gasoline
It used to be
God save the queen
But now it is
God save America
From the KKK to the USA
God save America
From the CIA to the USA
God save America
From Baghdad to Bombay
God save America.
Sudhanva Deshpande is a playwright, actor and director with the New Delhi
based street theatre group, Jana Natya Manch. He wishes to state that the
above is an eyewitness account, as objective as it is verifiable. He can be
reached at [email protected]
By Eduardo Galeano
Just think. In the middle of last year, when this war was still only
gestating, George W. Bush stated that 'we have to be ready to attack in any
obscure corner of the world'; ergo, Iraq is an obscure corner of the world.
Does Bush believe that civilization began in Texas and his fellow Texans
invented writing? Has he really never heard of the library of Niniveh, the
tower of Babel or the hanging gardens of Babylon? Has he really never heard
even one of the tales in the thousand and one nights of Baghdad?
* * *
Who elected him president of this planet anyway? I was never asked to vote
in any such elections. Were you?
Would we elect a president who was deaf to the population? Would we elect a
man incapable of hearing any but the echoes of his own voice? A man deaf to
the ceaseless thunder of millions of voices in the streets declaring peace
on war?
He has not even heeded a word of friendly advice from the German writer
Günter Grass. Realising that Bush felt driven to demonstrate something very
important to his daddy, Grass suggested that he see a psychoanalyst rather
than bombing Iraq.
* * *
In 1898, president William McKinley declared that God had commanded him to
seize the Philippines in order to civilize and christianize their
inhabitants. McKinley said that he had spoken with God at midnight as he
roamed the corridors of the White House. Over a century later, president
Bush assures us that God is on his side in the conquest of Iraq. What time
was it and where was he, we wonder, when he got the divine message? We
might also ask why the messages to Bush and to the Pope at Rome were so
contradictory.
* * *
War has been declared in the name of the international community, which is
sick of wars. And as per usual, war has been declared in the name of peace.
It's not about oil, they say. And yet, if Iraq produced radishes rather
than oil, would anyone seriously suggest invading?
Have Bush, Dick Cheney and sweet Condoleeza Rice really all given up their
top jobs in the oil industry? Why is Tony Blair so obsessed with the Iraqi
dictator? Could it be because 30 years ago Saddam Hussein nationalized the
British Iraq Petroleum Company? And how many oil wells is José María Aznar
expecting to get when the spoils are divvied up?
The oil-drunk consumer society is deathly afraid of withdrawal symptoms.
And Iraq is where the black elixir is cheapest, and possibly most plentiful.
In a peace demonstration in New York, one placard read: "Why is our oil
beneath their sands?".
* * *
The United States says it expects a lengthy military occupation following
its victory. US generals will be in charge of setting up democracy in Iraq.
Will this be a democracy like in Haiti, the Dominican Republic or
Nicaragua? They occupied Haiti for 19 years and set up a military power
base that eventually became the dictatorship of Francois Duvalier. They
occupied the Dominican Republic for nine years and laid the foundations for
the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. They occupied Nicaragua for
21 years and founded the dictatorship of the Somoza family.
* * *
The Somoza dynasty, set on the throne by the Marines, lasted half a century
before being swept away by popular fury in 1979. Then, president Ronald
Reagan got on his horse and set out to rescue the country from the threat
of the Sandinista revolution. Among the poorest of the poor, Nicaragua was
a country with all of five elevators, and one escalator that didn't work.
Nevertheless, Reagan proclaimed that Nicaragua was a menace; and as he
spoke, TV screens showed a map of the United States with a red stain
spreading from the south to illustrate the course of the imminent invasion.
Can president Bush be copying the panic-rousing speeches of his
predecessor? Can Bush be saying Iraq where Reagan said Nicaragua?
* * *
Newspaper headlines in the run-up to war: "The United States is prepared to
resist attack".
Record sales of insulating tape, gas masks, radiation pills ... Why is the
executioner more afraid than the victim? Is it only this climate of
collective hysteria? Or does it tremble at the foreseeable consequences of
its actions? And what if Iraqi oil sets fire to the world? Will this war
not be just the vitamin shot that international terrorism was looking for?
* * *
We are told that Saddam Hussein succours the fanatics of Al Qaeda. What is
this - his very own viper's nest? Islamic fundamentalists loathe him. Can
we say that a country is satanic where people watch Hollywood movies, many
schools teach English, the Muslim majority do nothing to prevent Christians
walking about sporting crucifixes and it is not uncommon to see women
wearing trousers and daring blouses?
There were no Iraqis among the terrorists who demolished the twin towers of
New York. Almost all of them were from Saudi Arabia, the US's number one
client in the world. Another Saudi is Bin Laden, the villain that the
satellites track as he flees on horseback across the desert and the first
to step forward whenever Bush requires his services as professional ogre.
* * *
Did you know that in 1953 president Dwight D. Eisenhower said that
"preventive war" was invented by Adolf Hitler? He said: "...frankly, I
wouldn't even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such
a thing".
* * *
The United States makes and sells more arms than any other country in the
world. It is also the only nation to have dropped atomic bombs on civilian
populations. And traditionally it has always been at war with somebody. Who
is it that threatens world peace? Iraq?
* * *
So Iraq does not heed United Nations (UN) resolutions? And what about Bush,
who has just dealt the most resounding blow ever to international legality?
And what about Israel, the leading specialist in ignoring UN resolutions?
Iraq has ignored 17 UN resolutions, Israel 64. Will Bush bomb his most
loyal ally?
* * *
Iraq was devastated by the war waged by Bush senior in 1991and has been
starved by the blockade following it. What weapons of mass destruction can
so thoroughly ruined a country possess?
Israel, which has been usurping Palestinian land since 1967, has an arsenal
of nuclear weapons that guarantees its impunity. And then Pakistan, another
faithful ally and furthermore a notorious hotbed of terrorists, flaunts its
own nuclear warheads. But the enemy is Iraq, because Iraq "could possess"
such weapons. If it did indeed possess them, as North Korea claims to do,
would they be so keen to attack? And what about chemical and biological
weapons?
Who sold Saddam Hussein the chemicals he needed to make the poison gases
that asphyxiated Kurds, and the helicopters they were launched from? Why
won't Bush let us see the receipts?
In those years of war against Iran and war against the Kurds, was Saddam
any less of a dictator than he is now? Donald Rumsfeld himself visited him
on a mission of friendship. Why are we so concerned about the Kurds of Iraq
and not about the much greater number of Kurds murdered in Turkey?
* * *
Defence Secretary Rumsfeld has announced that his country will use
"non-lethal gases" against Iraq. Will these be the kind of non-lethal gases
that Vladimir Putin used last year in a Moscow theatre, killing over a
hundred hostages?
* * *
There were a few days there when the United Nations covered up Picasso's
Guernica with a curtain so that Colin Powell would not be put off his bugle
calls by such nasty scenes.
What size of curtain will they use to cover up the butchery in Iraq, in the
form of blanket censorship imposed on war correspondents by the Pentagon?
* * *
Where will the souls of the Iraqi victims go? According to reverend Billy
Graham, president Bush's spiritual adviser and celestial surveyor, paradise
is none too roomy - no more than fifteen hundred square miles. The chosen
will be few. Now guess which country has bought up all the entrance tickets?
* * *
And one last question, borrowed from John Le Carré:
- Will they kill many people, daddy?
- No-one you know, dear. Just foreigners.
[translated by Alistair Ross]
---
George Bush in New Delhi
Sudhanva Deshpande
A large demonstration was held today, on 22 March 2003, at the American
Embassy in New Delhi. The demonstration was going on expected lines as
speaker after speaker condemned the American action in Iraq, till a most
unexpected event occurred. A spokesman of the British High Commission
arrived and wanted to address the protestors. The organizers graciously
extended permission to him to do so.
The protestors, however, were very angry at this and determined not to let
the man have his say. Chaos reigned for several minutes as the protestors
shouted the man down. For a while it even seemed that the whole thing would
turn ugly and violent. Wiser counsels prevailed, however, and the man was
allowed to speak. I report below, verbatim, his statement: "Ladies and
gentlemen, the American embassy is very concerned about your protest
gathering. President George W. Bush himself has been following these
protest gatherings across the world. We are all very concerned. I am a
spokesman of the British High Commission. I have been sent here in order to
explain the American position to you.
"Actually, Mr Blair wanted to come here himself. But there are too many
protests across the whole world, and there is no way that he can be present
at every one of them to explain Mr Bush's stand. So he sent me instead. You
see, Mr Blair is very loyal. More loyal than the king. He has even proposed
to amend our national anthem to 'God Save the King'.
"We are very concerned. We are concerned that you are denying America's
democratic rights. The real test of any democracy is the rights accorded to
minorities. President Bush is always very concerned about the rights of
minorities. He is therefore delighted that even though Mr Blair has won the
vote in the House of Commons, he is clearly in the minority in the Labour
Party as well as in Britain at large.
"Indeed, President Bush himself is also very much in the minority. Because
while the anti-war protestors across the globe number millions, he numbers
only one. Some claim that if judged by intellectual ability, he numbers
zero. But this is a disputed claim, and we have no intention of sending UN
inspectors to find the truth, since you will appreciate that it is highly
embarrassing to discover an empty warhead right inside the White House.
"As I was saying, President Bush is very much in the minority - in the
world, in the Security Council, and indeed in America itself. In fact, he
even won his election by minority. As the head - empty or otherwise - of
the tiniest minority in the whole world, you will appreciate that it is
President Bush's democratic right to bomb Iraq. I am sure I don't have to
tell you the reason - you can read between the pipelines.
"President Bush is very concerned about this protest. Indeed, it is my
great privilege to inform you that he has decided to come all the way to
India to explain his stand to you. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome
President George W. Bush."
The large crowd of protestors was shocked and awed. A hush descended on the
scene. Someone started singing a song to welcome the great man.
George Bush, We Salute You!
Welcome President, we salute you
We salute Your Excellency
Your essential decency
Your inadvertent coherency
Oh living necromancy
We salute you!
We salute your democratic vision
Your total hate of reason
Your vivid confusion
Oh logical delusion
We salute you!
We salute your actions inept
Your capacity for imagining fact
Your illogical concept
Oh weapon of mass decept
We salute you!
We salute your daddy's commandment
A dutiful son in government
Iraq's democratic bombardment
Your alibi of disarmament
We salute you!
We salute you without comment
Oh empty head intelligent
We salute you without hesitant
God save our great President
We salute you!
As the song ended, President Bush took the microphone. He had a gun in his
hand. Reproduced below is his speech, word for word.
"Hi. I don't have a written speech. I asked my Vice President to write one
for me. He refused. He's a real dick. He said, 'Mr President, you don't
need words. So long as you have a gun.'
"Now, you may wonder why I have come here with a gun. You see, before
coming here, I phoned my daddy. I said to my daddy: 'Daddy, I am going to
India.' My daddy said to me: 'Be careful son. You are from the wild west.
Beware of the injuns.' I said to my daddy: 'Don't worry daddy. I never
misunderestimate my adversity.'
"Sorry. I got that wrong. I mean I never misunderestimate my adversary. . .
Sorry. I mean I always misunderstand my diversity. . . Sorry. I mean I
never misstate my synchronicity. . . Sorry. I mean I never underestimate
my idioticity. . . Sorry. I mean . . . you know what I mean.
"But don't be scared of this gun. It is not a weapon of mass destruction.
Those are for Saddam. I bring here only weapons of mass deception.
"I am very concerned about your protest. You believe that Iraq has no
weapons of mass destruction because those inspectors could not find any.
They are stupid. They are blind. They kept looking in factories and
military establishments, when the weapon of mass destruction was right
there, all along, in front of them. Saddam.
"I know that world opinion is against this war. So I called my advisors and
I said to them: 'The rest of the world thinks we are wrong.' Dick didn't
know what 'think' is. Colin didn't know what 'wrong' is. And Donald didn't
know what 'rest of the world' is.
"This war is not against a country. This war is not against a religion.
This war is to destroy weapons of mass destruction. This war did not start
with Iraq. And it will not end with Iraq. We are committed to fight this
war across all continents, in each and every country on this planet.
Because, you see, there are weapons of mass destruction in all countries of
the world.
"Now you may wonder at that. But let me tell you, we have deep and broad
evidence. The CIA has compiled a big fat dossier on a new weapon of mass
destruction that is being assembled in a million different locations across
the globe. Just this morning I was talking to Tony, and he told me how this
weapon has terrorized his party. He says some terrorized ministers have
resigned from his cabinet. Apparently even his best cook has resigned.
"Now, that got me thinking. I said, what's cooking? And as I sat there
thinking - it hurts, I admit, but I do it every once in a while - that
Spanish fella called me. What's his name - Aznaro, I think. Or is it
Pizzaro? I know it's not Picasso. That's the singer. Anyway, he said many
members of his parliament have been terrorized by this weapon. Then that
Danish chap - forget his name - called to say that his face was reddened in
a terrorist attack. And that Aussie - you know who I mean - called to say
he can't use his front door any more for he fears a terrorist attack using
this weapon of mass destruction.
"And even back home in the US of A, I find this weapon of mass destruction
rearing its ugly head in more than two hundred cities across the country.
"A weapon of greater power cannot be imagined. It is a weapon that has
shaken empires, ground them to dust. Come to think of it, as I look at you,
I find that weapon right here. And I am determined to crush it. Come what
may. From Bom-bay to the USA."
And, to underline his resolve, President Bush broke into rap.
Georgie rap
The fact is with subliminal tactics
We establish hegemony across the atlas
Blow those who oppose us to dust and ashes
Oil - big business and cash is what the clash is
I follow my science and diabolical thesis
Blow you up and leave you with the pieces
I talk about freedom and good and evil in my speeches
The make believe increases
On a daily basis
My white TV faces
Disgrace the coloured races
And erases the traces
Like hushed up rape cases
I never knew shame
I'm way ahead in the game
The money and the fame
I can make you feel pain
Worse than a million migraine
I sold my soul
Now I reign supreme
Your worst nightmare is my American dream
I make the world burn like gasoline
It used to be
God save the queen
But now it is
God save America
From the KKK to the USA
God save America
From the CIA to the USA
God save America
From Baghdad to Bombay
God save America.
Sudhanva Deshpande is a playwright, actor and director with the New Delhi
based street theatre group, Jana Natya Manch. He wishes to state that the
above is an eyewitness account, as objective as it is verifiable. He can be
reached at [email protected]