The Hypocrisy In Bush's Address

President Bush delivered his State of the Union address with a call to rally his people to war against Iraq.

In a speech full of patriotic rhetoric, he kept to his established tradition of presenting no justifiable evidence of why he intends to lead an onslaught against a country ravaged by a decade of sanctions and intrusive inspections.

Many points that Bush made during the speech were blatantly inaccurate, contradictory and hypocritical and were intended to focus his people's attention away from the decaying domestic situation, as well as to conceal his real motives abroad.

In one part of the speech Bush said that Saddam was showing "utter contempt for the UN and the opinion of the world". Yet these are the very things that have characterised American foreign policy.

From the Kyoto protocol and the International Court of Justice, to bedrock arms treaties such as the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, the US administration has shown nothing but contempt for the world community in favour of pursuing US interests.

Even in the current Iraq crisis, Bush has effectively held a gun to the UN's head by suggesting that he will act alone if the UN does not support him. Bush mentioned this in the very same speech, by promising that American course of action "does not depend on the decisions of others".

He argued that the US intervention around the world, did not represent a new form of imperialism, by stating "America is a strong nation, and honourable in the use of our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and sacrifice for the liberty of strangers."

Yet the oil cartel of advisors he has in his administration is already drawing up plans for how they will exploit the oil resources in Iraq. It was mentioned last week that US Special Forces will aim to secure the Iraqi oil fields first and foremost in any conflict.

Similar to what occurred in Afghanistan where the US removed a regime and replaced it with a loyal servant.

No doubt this will greatly help America exploit the oil reserves of the Caspian Sea. Clearly there is no honour in America's intentions and actions, and certainly Muslims blood is being spilt, to help American multinationals exploit the resources of the Muslim world.

His contradictions continued when he claimed that Iraq sought to "dominate, intimidate or attack" with weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and that it could share them with terrorist allies.

Only last year Bush announced a new "doctrine of pre-emption". With this doctrine the US would seek to take out, by conventional or nuclear weapons, anyone they considered a threat to US interests around the world.

Already the US has "dominated, intimidated or attacked" a number of countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen, Iran and Iraq. It seems to be clear that this is a right reserved for the US, and it will be free to exercise this right as it sees fit.

As for sharing weapons with terrorist allies, the history of US support for Israel, both economically and militarily, needs no elaboration. On a daily basis Israel unleashes missiles, rockets and shells from fighter planes, helicopters and tanks supplied by the US, onto a defenceless and imprisoned population.

With regards to using WMD, did it not occur to Bush that it was America which dropped nuclear bombs on Japan, used depleted uranium in Iraq and peppered Vietnam with the infamous Agent Orange?

Bush also had the audacity to praise the Muslims of Iraq. He said, "Tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: your enemy is ruling your country. And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your liberation". The Muslims of Iraq are indeed brave, but they cannot be in any doubt that it was the US, not Saddam, who forced merciless sanctions on them.

The sanctions did not hurt Saddam or his family, but they killed millions of Iraqis, who continue to die from a lack of basic medicine, poor sanitation, a shortage of clean food and water and not withstanding the regular US and British bombings to facilities located in urban areas.

The Muslims of Iraq, and indeed the whole Ummah clearly understand who their real enemy is.