I watched the RTL4 and NOS news this morning (for those not familiar with these channels: they are Dutch TV-channels) to get a glimpse of the State of The Union, as presented by Pres. Bush last night.
Well, what can I say, it couldn’t be more clear: the US is gonna attack Iraq no matter what. They don’t need proof or a smoking gun either:
“Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent,” Bush said. “Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike?”
What this means (in my humble opinion) is, that if you just label a country as a terrorist state, you can just do whatever you like.
I just think Bush wants a war to distract the US citizens from all the internal (economic) problems…
Another interesting titbit is of course the the formation of a “Terrorist Threat Integration Center” to collect and analyze foreign and domestic intelligence information. The FBI and CIA were widely criticized for not cooperating and communicating before the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The office supposedly will be based at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, with CIA Director George Tenet in charge, administration officials said.
Again, to me this clearly points to the start of a government within a government. The kind of shady powerful organizations you usually see in movies like Enemy of the State (1998) or Conspiracy Theory.
Now, I am not a US citizen but I do feel connected with the US, not in the last place because I have some family there and a close girlfriend.
All in all I do worry a lot about the results and repercussions that will follow the start of the war.
“It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong” –Voltaire (1694-1778)