Lies, lies, lies

Bush's speech to his peasantry, the first since he landed on that aircraft carrier flight deck, was predictably loaded with old lies and nothing new of substance.

He repeated his assertion that Saddam "possessed and used weapons of mass destruction."

He did not say when. The only WMDs that Saddam is known to have used, and proven to have used, are those supplied to him in the 1980s, by Western governments including the former Reagan administration.

"Terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength. They are invited by the perception of weakness."

Nobody would call Israel a "weak" country, yet they suffer more terrorist attacks than any other country. Would America even be a target if they had not sponsored Israeli aggression for the past 50 years?

Bush even had the gall to blame Iraqis for the disaster their country is becoming, telling them that "now they must rise to the responsibilities of a free people."

The Iraqis are not free. They cannot go out into the street without being stopped at roadblocks. Even their houses are routinely searched without warning.

Bush said that other countries suddenly have a "responsibility" to send troops and money to Iraq, and to support a new UN resolution that will legitimise the US invasion. These are the same countries that were ridiculed for opposing the war, whose companies were frozen out of post-war contract bids.

But the biggest lie is the one nobody questions any more, the one that has been repeated blindly on all side. It is contained in three words:

"War On Terrorism"

The phrase itself is and always has been ridiculous. You cannot wage a war on terrorism. No amount of money, no quantity of weapons, no Star Wars defence systems, no columns of tanks, nothing can stop a man with a briefcase, a woman with a bag on a bus. Especially if there are thousands willing to follow in their footsteps.

It's time for the US to suck in its chest and admit that terrorism does not spring from some unholy well-spring of pure evil. It is the last resort of people who feel they have been wronged and believe they have no other forum for protest. Nelson Mandela's ANC were terrorists. The IRA, whose members and affiliates now share power in the Irish Government, were terrorists. What about US citizens who rose up against English rule in the Civil War? Terrorists?

To quote retired US Air Force Lt Col. Dr. Robert M. Bowman, a former director of "Star Wars" programs and veteran of 101 combat missions over Vietnam:

"In country after country, our government has thwarted democracy, stifled freedom, and trampled human rights. That's why we are hated around the world. And that's why we are the target of terrorists... We are not hated because we practice democracy, freedom, and human rights. We are hated because our government denies these things to people in third world countries whose resources are coveted by our multinational corporations. And that hatred we have sown has come back to haunt us in the form of terrorism - and in the future, nuclear terrorism."

But perhaps the USA is no longer capable of helping itself. Perhaps it is already a nation in irreversible decline. A poll last month showed that 7 in 10 Americans still believe that Saddam was connected with September 11th. Money spent on the war is being taken from US schools, who are being forced to cut teachers and classes. The presidency itself is now being bought for cash* and still nobody seems to care.

It is well and truly time for the world to make a stand against US aggression. If the US will not sign up to Kyoto and the International Criminal Court, if they will not respect the Geneva Convention, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty and the even United Nations itself, the rest of the world should act without them and even impose sanctions on the USA. Perhaps that would be enough to shock the people of the USA into taking a good, long look at what their nation has become.

* "Soft" money political donations have risen from $19 million in 1980 to $496 million in 2002.