Bushco's jibes against Iran and Venezuela are just jingoistic jealousy

[bigtree]

"Liberty is the future of every nation in the Middle East, because liberty is the right and hope of all humanity. The same is true of Iran, a nation now held hostage by a small clerical elite that is isolating and repressing its people. The regime in that country sponsors terrorists in the Palestinian territories and in Lebanon -- and that must come to an end. The Iranian government is defying the world with its nuclear ambitions, and the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons. America will continue to rally the world to confront these threats.

. . . let me speak directly to the citizens of Iran: America respects you, and we respect your country. We respect your right to choose your own future and win your own freedom. And our nation hopes one day to be the closest of friends with a free and democratic Iran.


That was Bush in the SOTU, ragging on Iran, stirring up the pot, stoking fear, angling for a fight. Thing is though, as angry and anti-American as Iran's new leader appears, the only threat that our government can acknowledge him making against the U.S. is to defend Iran's borders from foreign invasion.

Here's a headline about an appearance by National Intelligence Director John Negroponte before the Senate Intelligence committee Feb.2 that disappeared from the article it was linked to:

"National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress on Thursday that Iran probably does not yet have nuclear weapons, nor has it obtained the material central to producing them. Still, Negroponte called Iran's program a matter of "highest concern."

What Negroponte also said in the hearing was that Iran has a stockpile of ballistic missiles, to, as he admitted, repel foreign assaults on their country. A further 'threat' from Iran that he expressed was the government's hostility to the United States and its interests.

So, what the Bush administration has so far presented to the nation as justification for their proposed subversion of the elected government in Iran, and the raising of the possibility of retaliatory action against what they assert is Iran's 'ambition' to develop nuclear weapons, is a weak, imperialistic argument based on Bush's imagined right to dictate our agenda to countries in that region at the point of our nation's military force.

The most revealing argument that the Bush administration has made against Iran is their reference to Iran's oil and the influence Iran gains by trading with regional actors like Russia and Pakistan. Negroponte said in the Feb.2 hearing that a combination of rising demand for energy and instability in oil-producing regions “is increasing the geopolitical leverage of key producing states”.

"Record oil revenues and diversification of its trading partners are further strengthening the Tehran government." Negroponte warned the senate committee.

Oil was also on Negroponte's mind as he blasted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for his increasing relationship with Iran. Chavez ``is seeking closer economic, military and diplomatic ties with Iran and North Korea,'' he said. Negroponte worried aloud in his statement that Chavez is looking to dump the U.S. as an oil trading partner in favor of customers like Russia and China. Although the U.S. presently gets about 60% of Venezuela's oil exports, Venezuela reportedly plans to double their exports to China by the end of the year.

Am I the only one who thinks it's out of line for the Director of National Intelligence to be musing about oil exports and alternative fuels? Not so unusual if you already consider that all of the Bush's military adventures into the Middle East are driven by their obsession for oil as well as for power.

So we shouldn't be surprised that today, our Secretary of torture, Don Rumsfeld, likened Hugo Chavez to Hitler. "I mean, we've got Chavez in Venezuela with a lot of oil money," Rumsfeld told the National Press Club. "He's a person who was elected legally _ just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally _ and then consolidated power and now . . .

Now . . . the Bush cabal's characterizations of Chavez and of Iran's government* sound more like our own country's regime which has dubiously ascended into office, and which rules with a corrupt wing of cohorts in the legislature. The world let the Bush regime get away with their junta in Iraq, and now, as our 'coalition of the willing' slinks silently away from their side and retreat home, it shouldn't be surprising to see them standing beside those who would openly oppose Bush's manufactured mandate to conquer. Especially when that opposition happens to come with a share of oil.



*edit

[wtmusic]

1. Ha...GWB was elected legally, too

The US is reaping what we have sown.

[bigtree]

2. while the Bush cabal reaps the profits

[bigtree]

3. Increasing US Hostillity Toward Venezuela

Rumsfeld and Negroponte Amp Up Attacks on Chavez

By EVA GOLINGER

{snip}

Concurrently, in testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. Congress, John Negroponte, Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the 15 intelligence bodies of the U.S. Government, claimed, "In Venezuela, President Chavez, if he wins reelection later this year, appears ready to use his control of the legislature and other institutions to continue to stifle the opposition, reduce press freedom, and entrench himself through measures that are technically legal, but which nonetheless constrict democracy. We expect Chavez to deepen his relationship with Castro (Venezuela provides roughly two-thirds of that island's oil needs on preferential credit terms). He also is seeking closer economic, military, and diplomatic ties with Iran and North Korea. Chavez has scaled back counter-narcotics cooperation with the US. Increased oil revenues have allowed Chavez to embark on an activist foreign policy in Latin America that includes providing oil at favorable repayment rates to gain allies, using newly created media outlets to generate support for his Bolivarian goals, and meddling in the internal affairs of his neighbors by backing particular candidates for elective office.""

full article: http://www.counterpunch.org/golinger02032006.html

[SpiralHawk]

4. Jealous Jingoistic Jibes !

Love it. bigtree you should get a job on the copy desk of a saucy tabloid !

Thanks for posting.

[bigtree]

5. just jiving

:P