When Bush comes to shove

Colin Powell’s presentation to the UN Security Council was so detailed he divulged so much of US intelligence capabilities and high-tech operations and hardware to the public. Even US Ambassador Frank Ricciardone was surprised at how much was given away. Woven into Powell’s tapestry of evidences was an imposing array of intelligence operations, satellite and ultra high-tech surveillance systems that seemed to jump off from every other statement he made. He even admits it outright, "The material I will present comes from a variety of sources… Some of the sources are technical, such as intercepted te-lephone conversations and photos taken by satellites. Other sources are people who have risked their lives to let the world know what Saddam Hussein is really up to." His words were simple and clear enough for all to understand – "These are not assertions… What we’re giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence."

Call it a bit thick and unbelievable, but the United States today, through advanced satellite technology, has the power to snoop into any telephone call or even intercept cellular phone text messages from any point of the globe. Think about it: they can pinpoint you from anywhere in the world with almost the same accuracy of a hunter’s rifle scope.

The war machinery of the US since the 1992 Desert Storm has improved by leaps and bounds. The technology that moves its missile guiding systems has grown so precise that no munitions bunker or missile silo, no matter how disguised, could possibly escape its electronic eyes. Their "smart bombs" are now smarter than ever and can track the enemy down with deadly precision through the use of a sophisticated global positioning satellite system.

And it is apparent the Pentagon is just all too eager to try out these high-tech military hardware. Their message to Saddam is clear: your time is up. Americans will do everything – even come close to compromising entirely their codes of secrecy – to get Saddam Hussein out of power. It was also perfectly clear that after 9/11, Saddam was considered a real threat to the US based on intelligence reports from their agents all over the world, particularly in Iraq.

Many believe the real global threat, however, will not come only from Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, but primarily from Saddam Hussein’s very character. In the book The Threatening Storm by Kenneth Pollack, the author describes in no uncertain terms the mind that moves Saddam Hussein. Pollack, an analyst for the CIA and the National Security Council, has been hot on the heels of the Iraqi president for the past 15 years. He was, in fact, one of only three CIA analysts who predicted the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. The author frames Saddam Hussein’s regime to be the most brutal since Stalinist Russia.

As I read through the book, Saddam Hussein, whose ambition it seems is as huge as his ego, calls himself by many different names, most of which came from historic figures, like King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon who conquered Israel during biblical times, and Saladin, the Islamic general who defeated the Crusaders and retook Jerusalem for Islam. Saddam is a person obsessed with history and his perceived role in it. He also likes to call himself al-ayyam al-tawila, which means, "the leader of the days of Arab glory". Sounds like Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. The Iraqi president was also said to have stated that he wants to put up an Arab Union of some kind, led by a powerful Iraq. From these alone, one can already see what Saddam has in mind: He wants to set himself as the leader of a new superpower. This, I am absolutely sure, is one option not even countries like France and Germany who are now opposed to this war with Iraq would ever consider, much less agree with.

Karen Brooks, a White House official at the NSC, was here in Manila recently to brief PGMA in advance on the evidences against Iraq. She was also here to finalize PGMA’s state visit to Washington this coming April. Karen shared with me some insights into Bush’s personality. She said the US president is the type of person who gets extremely emotional when it concerns the lives of people, especially American lives. Anyone who has worked under the wing of the US president can attest to this, she said, all the more when the 9/11 tragedy happened. Karen related that during the memorial service for the victims of 9/11, everyone at the White House noticed how deeply moved and troubled Bush was, just by looking at his face. He is the type, Karen explains, that takes this kind of tragedy to heart, as well as personally, and all the more when it concerns human life. In that memorial service, the US president promised the families of the victims that the death of their loved ones will not be in vain.

No one can dispute that war should be employed only as a last resort. Perhaps recent history too has a lot to do with why America is hell bent on waging war with Iraq. During the 40s, no American would ever believe that the US, particularly Pearl Harbor, was a prime target for the Japanese Imperial regime. It was a mistake that cost Washington more than 2,000 American servicemen and millions of dollars in war machinery.

The same is true before 9/11. After their military victory during Desert Storm, after the strong line of offensive and defensive maneuvers America conducted during the Gulf War, after their bold participation in the Bosnian conflict, who would even think of attacking the US right within their shores, much less at the very heart of its business district?

Neglect, if you can call it that, which in history was so typical of the US, caused the total collapse of one of America’s symbols of economic power, and likewise, it cost their country 3,000 civilian lives. Today, the lives of Americans everywhere – and all people for that matter – is under the threat of terror. Global peace is virtually hanging by a thread. Certainly, Americans would not take such a threat to their peace and security sitting down. They are convinced there is ample evidence to prove that Saddam Hussein has become a real and present danger to the world. Which validates what Pollack said in his book that in the case of Iraq, the US has come to the last resort. As Bush said recently, "This dictator has been playing games with the world." Addressing Saddam, Bush said, "The game is over."

And so, when Bush comes to shove, America will go to war.

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