Geodog

War is peace

And I'm firmly convinced,
if we have to, we will act [i.e. go to war]
in the name of peace and in the name of freedom.

press conference by George W. Bush

Love is hate
War is peace
No is yes
And we're all free

Why, by Tracy Chapman

Reading the transcript of George w. Bush's press conference tonight (I couldn't bear to watch it), Tracy Chapman's song kept running through my head. It seemed like Bush had a script of 5 points he set out to make, and he kept on making them in response to the questions, no matter how inane they sounded. It was amazing the number of logical fallacies he committed in the course of one press conference, but just as amazing is the fact that as a body politic, we don't expect our representatives to be able think and speak logically. Still, I can't resist noting a few of the more egregious offenses against logic and reality.

it's hard to say the United States is defiant about the United Nations when I was the person who took the issue to the United Nations September the 12th, 2002. We've been working with the United Nations. We've been working through the United Nations.
vs.
I'm confident the American people understand that when it comes to our security, if we need to act, we will act. And we really don't need United Nations approval to do so.

and

We will not wait to see what terrorists or terrorist states could do with weapons of mass destruction. We are determined to confront threats wherever they arise.
vs.
Q: ... are you resigned to North Korea becoming a nuclear power?
BUSH: This is a regional issue. I say regional issue because there's a lot of countries that have got a direct stake into whether or not North Korea has nuclear weapons. We've got a stake as to whether North Korea has a nuclear weapon. China clearly has a stake as to whether or not North Korea has a nuclear weapon. South Korea, of course, has a stake. Japan has got a significant stake as to whether or not North Korea has a nuclear weapon. Russia has a stake. So, therefore, I think the best way to deal with this is in multilateral fashion by convincing those nations that they must stand up to their responsibility ....

and

I swore to protect and defend the Constitution, that's what I swore to do. I put my hand on the Bible and took that oath. And that's exactly what I am going to do.
vs.
And so I — you know, obviously I've thought long and hard about the use of troops. I think about it all of the time. It is my responsibility to commit the troops.

Actually, the Article One, Section Eight, of the United States Constitution says it is Congress's responsibility.

I was also interested in what he had to say about why the United States needs to go to war. There was of course the usual stuff about what an evil tyrant Saddam Hussein is, but some of the other things he said gave me more of a sense of why he is committed to it.

Sept. 11 should say to the American people that we are now a battlefield...I think, first of all, it's hard to envision more terror on America than September the 11th, 2001. We did nothing to provoke that terrorist attack. It came upon us because there is an enemy which hates America. They hate what we stand for. We love freedom, and we're not changing.

Bush clearly has a vision of his administration as being engaged in an Manichean struggle, with good fighting vs. evil. His mention of one reason for attacking Iraq being the possibility of a weapon of mass destruction being lobbed at Israel certainly confirms reports of his seeing this fight as a literal biblical Armageddon. I suspect that some people find this kind of monochromatic black vs. white picture very appealing, and a lot less anxiety provoking than a more nuanced view that can see terrorism as being evil, but also as being in part fostered by American foreign policy choices. It is a lot easier than asking why we have troops in Saudi Arabia, or why we have consistently supported dictators and tyrants against their own people, like we supported Saddam Hussein against the Kurds when he was the United States' ally against Iran.

We used to ask more of our presidents. I guess that's why most of us voted against George W. Bush, something that frequently seems to be forgotten.

Posted by Geodog at March 6, 2003 10:35 PM | TrackBack