The New Bush: Diplomacy and Death Squads

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The New Bush: Diplomacy and Death Squads

The mass media in the US and Europe has given prominence to the “new style” foreign policy approach of the Bush Administration: Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice visits European capitals and meets with European leaders, declaring that a new era of co-operation is at hand. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld highlights the need for greater transatlantic defense cooperation in a meeting with European Defense Ministers. President Bush on his trip to Europe declares the US-European Alliance is indivisible, the divisions a “thing of the past”, and a new era of joint security activity as essential. The language and tone of the Bush Administration has certainly changed: There is no longer gratuitous insults about “Old Europe”, there are no longer public threats and declarations of unilateral military action. Only the Zionist neo-conservatives, like Kagan, Kristol and Frum, outside the government, continue to rage against the European negotiations with Iran and declare the “end of the Trans-Atlantic affair” (Financial Times - Jan. 31, 2005). The New York Times and the major columnists and television news commentators speak of a “new turn” toward diplomacy and a politics of reconciliation, of the re-emergence of diplomacy instead of militarism, of multilateralism instead of unilateralism.

While it is true that the tone has changed, the substance, the militarist-war policies, of the Bush Administration has remained the same or even hardened.

This is evident first and foremost in the new appointments to key positions in the Administration as well as the top officials retained in office. Condeleeza Rice, a strong advocate of Middle East warfare and Special Forces operations was promoted to Secretary of State, in charge of US foreign policy and titular head of the State Department. Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Feith remain number one, two and three in the Pentagon. They are the architects of the Afghan and Iraq War and strong advocates and planners of new wars against Iran and Syria. Moreover according to US journalist, Seymour Hersh, with extensive ties among top officials in Washington, “Defense Department civilians under the leadership of Douglas Feith, have been working with Israeli planners and consultants to develop and refine potential (sic) nuclear, chemical weapons and missile targets inside Iran” (New Yorker, January 24-31, 2005). Elliot Abrams, like Feith and Wolfowitz unconditional and unquestioning supporters of Israel, has been promoted to Deputy of National Security adviser and continues as senior adviser for the Middle East. The new appointees to the top power positions in the expanding and far-reaching intelligence apparatus include John Negroponte, to head the National Intelligence Agency. Negroponte was the organizer of the death squads in Honduras and the mercenary terror armies, “the Contras” in Nicaragua. He largely oversaw the slaughter of thousands of Iraqis in Fallujah and the running of the torture and assassination chambers, during his term as Ambassador of Occupied Iraq. He has close ties with Abrams from the 1980’s when the latter was defending the massacres of hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans under Rios Mont and over 70,000 Salvadorans under the psychopathic Roberto D’Aubuisson. The new head of the CIA, Porter Goss made his reputation in Miami as field officer of the CIA, supporting and promoting clandestine terror operations by Cuban exiles against revolutionary Cuba. The new head of Homeland Security is Michael Chertoff, rabid Zionist (no less so than Abrams or Feith) who was responsible for the arbitrary arrests of hundreds if not thousands of innocent Arab and South Asian Muslim immigrants – simply because of their country of origin or religion. They were held as “terrorism suspects” for months; habeas corpus laws and all constitutional rights were denied. Chertoff is the author of the infamous Patriot Act, which “legalizes” the totalitarian practices which Chertoff applied to the immigrants and can now extend against all Americans. Marc Grossman retains his senior position as Undersecretary of State for Latin American Affairs. He was and is today in the forefront of US violent opposition to President Chavez in Venezuela. Alberto Gonzales, who scorned international law, approved terrorism and torture of Iraqi prisoners, who denies the validity and relevance of the Geneva Accords has been promoted to Attorney General, giving him power to arbitrarily arrest and prosecute whoever he deems a ‘threat’ to ‘national security’.

http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=11956