2nd anniversary of disastrous war

Bush still peddling clever lies about weapons of mass destruction


100 people gathered in Bangor, Maine today to say we are sick of the lies and the killing and that it is time for our troops to come home

Two rallies in the Bangor-Orono area on Friday and Saturday show that the peace movement is deeply concerned about the continuing disaster US occupation is causing in Iraq. I have posted a photo page for the two rallies.

Meanwhile, President Bush returns today in his radio address to the old lies about how he had to ``disarm a brutal regime'' of non-existent weapons of mass destruction in order to ``defend the world from a grave danger.''

The hypocrisy is stunning, given the brutality and war crimes the US occupation has brought -- the flattening of at least one major city and the atrocities against prisoners being only the most glaring examples of the American style of freedom for the Iraqi people.

Note that while Bush says Iraq was ruled by a dictatorship that ``murdered its own citizens,'' mainstream media reports out this week say, ``More Than 100 Die in U.S. Custody in Iraq.''

Saddam's regime may have ``threatened its neighbors,'' but what is Bush's regime doing to Iran and Syria from its base in Iraq?

The rest of the world has no trouble seeing the irony of Bush stating that Saddam ``defied the world.''

Even on its own merits, the diversion of Bush's Terror War into Iraq is a disaster, compounding in countless ways the deep-seated anger America faces throughout the world. Bush said,

We knew of his long history of pursuing, even using, weapons of mass destruction, and we know that September the 11th requires our country to think differently. We must, and we will, confront threats to America before they fully materialize.

Linking the Iraq project to protection of America from 9/11-type attacks is absurd and dangerous. It's a gift to Osama bin Laden. None other than CIA Director Porter Goss says that ``The Iraq conflict, while not a cause of extremism, has become a cause for extremists.''

In other words, Iraq is now the central rallying cry for the enemies of America. With every prisoner atrocity, every home American soldiers destroy, and every hypocrisy Bush utters, the situation just gets worse and worse. Time to wake up America, and put a stop to this.