DEVIL'S ADVOCATE: Peace with Iran

"We can’t think of a president who has gone to the American people more often than George W. Bush has to ask them to forget about things like democracy, judicial process and the balance of powers – and just trust him. We also can’t think of a president who has deserved less trust."

n New York Times Editorial, February 12, 2006.

When the New York Times’ White House assessment is nearly as brutal as those of Monbiot and Zinn, it is increasingly difficult to stake out a position on the left.

After all, with Judy Miller at the forefront, the Times was the leading agent of government propaganda in the build up to the war in Iraq. The Times is the paper of record that withheld a story (the NSA spying scandal) that could have swung the 2004 election in favor of a spineless Democrat.

One thing most Americans can now agree on is that even a spineless Democrat would be infinitely better than a second coming of George W. Bush – a faltering, desperate presidency chomping at the bit for another war, a new era of nuclear inferno, an eternal battle of civilizations, a final throw of the dice that will either cast him as the evil emperor or the hammer of god.

George W. Bush has never been so dangerous.

All the big-brain neocons (Wolfowitz, Perle, Feith et al) have abandoned a sinking ship, leaving the president alone with Laura, Condoleezza, Rove, Rumsfeld, Cheney and the little brains of Texas. Who would ever have imagined that John Ashcroft was a moderating influence in this circle of fools?

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has assured the president that he has all the powers of a reigning monarch and our luminous congress has chosen a path of accommodation. The Supreme Court is all but stacked in his favor, leaving only the midterm elections between the little man with an inferiority complex the size of Texas and a full-scale, global enactment of his horrific childhood fantasy.

Anyone who has explored the Bush family history even a little has come to understand that there are deeply rooted issues of parental abandonment. When the president bombed, invaded and occupied Afghanistan (instead of targeting Al Qaeda and those who knocked down the twin towers), little George was striking out at an iron-fisted mother, Barbara "Let them eat cake" Bush. When he went on to occupy Iraq in an action completely irrelevant to the "war on terrorism," he was striking out at an absent father, whose accomplishments only served to further alienate and belittle little George.

The key to understanding George W. Bush is to see him as he really is: A frightened, desperate and angry little boy who could never measure up. If not for the power that he wields as the leader of the world’s most powerful nation at a critical crossroad in history, he would be a tragic character deserving of our sympathy.

Unfortunately, this president has already abused his power to wreak havoc on the world, leaving a path of destruction that will not be forgiven for centuries.

If we give this man another two years of unlimited power beyond the midterm elections, few can even imagine the magnitude of horrors yet to come.

In respect for the solemnity of the times – times when the war on terrorism has been rechristened the long war in preparation for the endless war – it is time to redraw the lines of justifiable war in a manner that will block this president’s predetermined path of global destruction.

On the matter of North Korea, it is time to recognize that we are not in the line of fire. If China, our new partner in the global "free trade" economy is not concerned, then we should not be concerned. If South Korea is more threatened by our posturing than by the realities to the north, then we should cease our posturing. If Japan does not raise the alarum, then the alarum should not be raised.

On the matter of Syria, the proper course of action is the International Criminal Court. Our path, if we seek peace and justice rather than power and control, is to recognize that legal body and give it our full support.

On the matter of Iran, we must recognize that the only danger they pose to us, as the occupiers of Iraq, is contingent on the threat of an imminent American or Israeli attack. The only reason Iran has to develop nuclear weapons is to deter such an attack by nuclear antagonists.

No reasoned member of civil society can support the form of government that Iran now possesses and we should oppose it by all peaceful means, yet we must also recognize that every nation has a right to defend itself against foreign invasion. If Israel possesses the right to an unlimited nuclear arsenal, then Iran must be accorded the same right.

We have based much of our war posturing against Iran on the words of a president who has no power or authority beyond the pulpit. Ignore him and judge Iran by its actions.

If ever a nation had reason to feel threatened, it is Iran. They have shown astonishing patience and restraint while their neighbor was occupied by a world power, whose leader anointed them a charter member of the "axis of evil." If they were inclined to attack us without direct provocation, it is highly probable they would already have done so.

In short, we are not entitled to remake the world in our own image and, even if we were, George W. Bush is not the man for the job. Under his reign, we have done more to antagonize and provoke conflict that any nation since the Soviet Union, Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany, yet we have no takers.

The world cries out for peace.

Let us oblige them.

Jazz.

JACK RANDOM IS THE AUTHOR OF THE JAZZMAN CHRONICLES (CROW DOG PRESS) AND GHOST DANCE INSURRECTION (DRY BONES PRESS). THE CHRONICLES HAVE APPEARED ON DISSIDENT VOICE, THE ALBION MONITOR, BUZZLE, COUNTERPUNCH AND PEACE-EARTH-JUSTICE.