OF GOD AND GAS
Malcom Lagauche
Friday-Sunday, March 14-16, 2008
Even before he was appointed president of the U.S., George Bush invoked "God" as the driving force behind his quest to destroy much of the world. Shortly before he announced his candidacy for the presidency, Bush told a Texas evangelist:
I can't explain it, but I sense my country is going to need me. Something is going to happen … I know it won’t be easy on me or my family, but God wants me to do it.
Then, on September 12, 2001, Bush told the world that the U.S. was about to embark on a "crusade" to rid the world of terrorism. We all know now that it was a reverse crusade: the U.S. abandoned all subtleties and became terrorist number one in the world.
In 2003, while Bush was still feigning fairness in the Israeli/Palestinian issue, he met with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. In the meeting, Bush told the Palestinian leader that actions must be taken quickly to implement the one-sided roadmap that the American administration had drawn up. The president told Abbas:
God told me to strike at al-Qaida and I struck them. And He instructed me to strike out at Saddam, which I did. And now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East.
Bush is at it again. Like a junkie, he can not break his addiction to his version of God. On March 11, 2008, he spoke to a group of Christian broadcasters and received standing ovations. According to the article, "Citing Faith, Bush Defends War Actions," written by Sheryl Gay Stolberg for the New York Times of March 12, 2008:
President Bush delivered a rousing defense of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on Tuesday, mixing faith and foreign policy as he told a group of Christian broadcasters that his policies in the region were predicated on the beliefs that freedom was a God-given right and "every human being bears the image of our maker."
… "The decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision early in my presidency," Mr. Bush said to a standing ovation. "It is the right decision at this point in my presidency, and it will forever be the right decision."
… Mr. Bush's faith is well-known: he credits his acceptance of Jesus with turning his life around by helping him to quit drinking at age 40. His beliefs have colored his policy decisions on matters ranging from abortion to embryonic stem-cell research to fighting malaria and AIDS in Africa.
… Mr. Bush often talks about his belief in "the universality of freedom," as he did last year to a conference of political dissidents in Prague. But rarely has the president mixed the language of faith and God so closely with talk of war and terrorism, as he did Tuesday at the Opryland Hotel.
If Bush credits his turnaround to Jesus, then we all must lambaste the savior for intervening. If he did not, Bush would have remained the drunken lout with no job that he was. At least he would not have been able to advance to the mass murderer he became.
As an atheist, I am religiously neutral. To me, the god of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, as well as the gods of Hinduism and paganism, are all equal to their believers. Some Christians say the Islam is not a religion, but a cult. There are many non-Christians who say the same about Christianity. To a neutral observer, each religion is equal to another.
Having said that, I have to question the legitimacy of George Bush's Christianity. I have Christian friends and have corresponded with many who maintain that Christianity is a religion of love and brotherhood. They believe in all sincerity that this is the message of Christianity. If that is so, George Bush does not practice Christianity. And, those Christian broadcasters who gave him a standing ovation when he mentioned the overthrow of Saddam Hussein are not Christians. They and Bush are mindless, gutless individuals who have a fetish for slaughtering non-Christian, dark-skinned people.
Now, let's take a look at a lamebrain idea put forth by the Baghdad stooges who were flown into Iraq from Iran to govern the "new" Iraq. According to Aljazeera News, in an article published on March 12, 2008, called "Iraq to Sue Halabja Weapon Supplier:"
Iraq plans to take legal action against the suppliers of chemicals used in a poison gas attack on the town of Halabja in Iraq’s Kurdish north, which killed 5,000 people in 1988.
"The cabinet decided to take legal measures to sue the companies who provided the ex-regime with the chemical weapons used in Halabja," the statement issued by the government said.
However, it did not elaborate on any specific companies that might be the subject of the legal challenge.
This is mere window-dressing for the Baghdad buffoons. In reality, if they do what they say, it would be the beginning of their demise. Notice that the quislings have yet to elaborate on any specific companies. If they did, they would have to go to the purchasing files of Iran to discover the suppliers of the gas that killed the Kurds.
One other point: the figure of 5,000 deaths seems to be implemented in the folklore of today for the number of Kurds gassed to death. In fact, about 300 bodies were found.
Now, let's look at the type of gas used. The CIA, the U.S. Army War College, and the U.S. Marine Corps Historical Publication FMFFRP3-203 go into detail about the composition of the lethal gas. They all conclude that it was cyanogen, a cyanide-based blood agent. During the Iran-Iraq War, Iran used this gas against Iraqi soldiers. Iraq did not have one gram of the gas. In addition to going into detail about the type of gas used, all the above referenced concluded, not alleged, that it was Iranian gas that killed the Kurds.
The actual activities of the gassing are in question. Some say that Iran thought Iraqi troops were in Halabja and launched the gas attack. When they arrived, the Iranians discovered that only civilians were present and they could make up any story they wanted. Another scenario consists of a battle of Iraqi and Iranian troops firing gas at each other and the townspeople were caught in the crossfire. Iraq used mustard gas, a non-lethal weapon to scatter the enemy, and Iran used cyanogen.
We will never know the makeup of battlefield on the day of the attacks, but every in-depth research into the composition of the gas used points to the Iranians as the perpetrators.
If the Iraqi government is true to its goal of suing the manufacturers of the gas used at Halabja to kill hundred of civilians, it will, in essence, be putting itself on trial. Most of the stooges were not even in Iraq in 1988. They resided in their adopted country of Iran.
If the Iraqis actually go ahead with such a lame-brained scheme, maybe they should call Saddam Hussein’s lawyer, Khalil Dulaimi to the stand. He could describe how Iranian agents offered him $20 million in Jordan not to bring up the gassing of the Kurds in the bogus trial against the Iraqi president. He refused and, a few months later, in Paris, Iranian agents increased the offer to $100 million.
Iran is the last country that would want a real investigation into the gassing of the Kurds in Halabja.