Iraq War

Hot on the heels of new evidence backing up the oft-reported fact (confirmed by President Bush himself) that the war on Iraq has been planned since the first week of Bush's first term, a new BBC documentary reports that UK's Tony Blair was in on the fix:

The head of Britain's foreign intelligence agency told the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, that the case for war in Iraq was being "fixed" by Washington to suit United States policy, according to a new BBC documentary.

Nine months before hostilities began in March 2003, Richard Dearlove, head of MI6, briefed Mr Blair and a group of ministers on the US's determination to begin the invasion, says the program, which was due to be aired last night.

After attending a briefing in Washington, Mr Dearlove told the meeting that "the facts and intelligence" were being "fixed round the policy" by the Bush Administration.

The allegations against Mr Blair just weeks before an expected general election are likely to reopen a feud between the Government and the BBC. The two fell out last year over allegations by a BBC reporter that Britain "sexed up" the case for war.

The documentary argues that Mr Blair had signed up to follow President George Bush's plans for "regime change" in Iraq as early as April 2002.

Ah, but I see the spittle flying: "But freedom is on the march! What are you, against freedom?!" cry the conservatives supporting an American role as international bully.

I ask, What about our freedom? What about our democracy? What about our security?

While we're sending our bravest off to fight and die in a country that was virtually no threat to us, we are unable to face with military means or with a strong economy the much more real and tangible threats from al-Qaeda -- remember those guys? The ones who blew up the World Trade Center?

Apparently the security of the United States had to be tabled for a few years while Bush went on his Great Iraq Adventure. Why? For oil? To punish Saddam for "thumbing his nose at us"? As payback for his daddy?

Whatever the answer might be, we'll never be told the truth, not when the "fix" is in and the press avoids telling the truth.

Besides, now that we've declared "might makes right" as our official foreign policy, who cares?

In some cases, respected global organizations seem to be viewed with suspicion. In describing the vulnerabilities of the United States, the document uses strong language to list international bodies - such as the International Court of Justice, created under a treaty that the United States has declined to sign - alongside terrorists.

"Our strength as a nation-state will continue to be challenged by those who employ a strategy of the weak using international [forums], judicial processes and terrorism," the document states.

Yes, alliances are now "weak." Justice is now "weak." Forget friends, forget law and order. They're all just the same as "terrorism," according to our current government.

Are these the things conservatives mean when they try to talk about "moral values"?

As we head into a second helping of Bush's vision of America, it might be helpful to look back at the numbers, and see what they tell us. Numeralist has some raw figures:

By the Numbers: The U.S. After 4 Years of Bush

Poverty Rate
2000: 11.3% or 31.6 million Americans
2003: 12.5% or 35.9 million Americans

Stock market
Dow Jones Industrial Average
1/19/01: 10,587.59
1/19/05: 10,539.97

NASDAQ
1/19/01: 2,770.38
1/19/05: 2,073.59

S&P 500
1/19/01: 1,342.54
1/19/05: 1,184.63

Value of the Dollar
1/19/01: 1 Dollar = 1.06 Euros
1/19/05: 1 Dollar = 0.77 Euros

Budget
2000 budget surplus $236.4 billion
2004 budget deficit $412.6 billion
That's a shift of $649 billion and doesn't include the cost of the Iraq war.

Cost of the war in Iraq
$150.8 billion

American Casualties in Iraq
Deaths: 1,369
Wounded: 10,252

The Debt
End of 2000: $5.7 trillion
Today: $7.6 trillion
That's a 4 year increase of 33%.

No comment necessary, I believe.