A Melt-Down Is Happening

01/17/2006

Paul Munnis

The Bush Administration seems to have gone crazy. Just three recent events make it pretty clear. The violation of the territorial rights of Pakistan constitutes an act of aggression against a sovereign nation. Sending bomb laden drones into Pakistan to bomb people is not legal under international law. If it happened to us we’d go beserk. Such events can and do lead to war. At the very least we have lost a valuable partner in the mid-east. Was it worth it over a missed target of dubious value to the outcome of al Qaeda and its future? Killed leaders have a wicked habit of being replaced. There seems to be a profound lack of judgment being shown in the White House.

Sanctions against Iran that the U.S. is pressing for in the UN could bring Iran into the Iraqi War with thousands of troops pouring across the Iran border into Iraq pinning down U.S. troops and creating another crisis for the U.S. in Iraq. A new leader in Kuwait could ask the U.S. to leave there. Such events can lead to a wider war. Both Russia and China are militarily allied with Iran on top of it all. Also, Iran is not a push-over, they really do have biological weapons and the delivery systems to deploy them. So why are we going there? As one strategist put it, “An atomic arms race in the mid-east was inevitable once the U.S. allowed Israel to have nuclear warheads.”

Then there is the North Korea wild card over nuclear arms which also can lead to a world war. North Korea wants to make and sell them to obtain foreign currency.

So somebody needs to ask. “Is Bush trying to spark World War III as a way to keep his seat and retain his power?” We all know that nationalists flock to support a wartime president. We have witnessed it now for four years.

The evidence is growing that he is trying to do it again.

As Democrats call for a Special Counsel to investigate the Bush illegal spying on Americans it’s getting mighty hot in the White House these days. Al Gore is breathing down their necks with a scathing speech that he delivered yesterday concerning their abuses of Executive Power.

Oil today rose to $65 per barrel, threatening to collapse the Bush economy and drive us into another deep recession. The GOP controlled House is in chaos as waves of scandal cut across the seats of GOP power preventing Congress from being able to find a new leader. The SEC is investigation Bill Frist, the Senate leader, for insider trading violations. Things are not going well for Tom DeLay either. His Washington days seem numbered.

In Iraq, forming a government after the elections is becoming increasingly problematic and the judge trying Saddam Hussein is resigning. Civil War is neigh. The Army can’t fill its manning table and the “coalition,” is pulling out their troops who must be replaced to just maintain the current status. Plus, we have to train the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi police.

In the U.S. Senate, the House Judiciary Committee is trying to get Alito approved and is bogged down with his nomination thus preventing the Judicial Committee from launching the hearing that could stave off a call for the Special Investigator over domestic spy charges against Mr. Bush.

Congressional people are home from the holidays and they are getting an earful from their constituents who are totally dissatisfied with the performance of Congress. 

A new poll that was released today says that the majority of American want Mr. Bush impeached.

No wonder that the White House wants to change the subject.

If Mr. Bush is impeached and is forced to resign then he can be arrested and tried and there a number of people who want to try him over human rights violations stemming from over 100 deaths caused by torture and abuse in Iraq alone. He can also be tried on spying on American citizens on criminal charges. There are more personal charges that people want to bring against him including wrongful death charges. To make it worse, many of these carry huge costs to defend or pay for if he looses and he has removed the personal bankruptcy laws thus assuring that he will personally become impoverished if this happens.

Is Mr. Bush reaching a point where he will be forced to resign in return for a guarantee of immunity from prosecution just as President Richard Nixon did? By Easter we could see major changes in Washington.