As the world waits anxiously to find out
whether Saddam Hussein survived a bombing attack, several scenarios are
possible: Hussein survived the attack, the attack killed him, or that he was
not present when the bomb struck. While we consider these possibilities,
we should consider that the Bush Administration may secretly be trying to make
us forget something else.
After all, not long ago, the United States pounded Afghanistan with bombs.
President Bush exclaimed that he wanted Osama bin Laden "dead or
alive." In the chase for bin Laden, the public forgot that no
reliable evidence connected him to the attacks of September 11.
Somehow, the Bush strategy changed. For whatever reason, the
Administration decided that apprehending bin Laden was not that
important. Given that bin Laden has only appeared by tape, one might
reasonably wonder if he really is dead and that references to him only serve to
distract us.
And distracted we are. Has anyone noticed that the United States still
has a strong military presence there? Just a few days ago, our forces
killed several reported Taliban members and took others into custody. How
long will we continue to fight the war over there?
Back to the war against Iraq, the Administration has changed its goals.
After declaring Hussein to be a terrorist, the Bush Administration has
shied away from saying that killing or capturing Hussein is a goal.
In fact, Ari Fleischer said "it really doesn't matter" if Hussein is
alive or dead. Not missing a beat, the Administration started saying that it
wants to prosecute Hussein and others for war crimes. Through the media,
it has presented videotape of supposed Hussein torture chambers and has shown
footage of his alleged victims.
These images and words serve to distract the public from the fact that the
United States illegally invaded Iraq. International law forbids
unprovoked attacks upon a sovereign nation, but few in the Administration or
the media care to point this fact out.
And then there is the matter of the "regime change" in Iraq.
The Bush Administration says that it wants democracy in Iraq but wants to
choose its "interim" leaders. Even if we allow the people of
Iraq to choose their permanent leaders, we still haven't bothered to ask the
people of Iraq if they want democracy. It seems our leaders have gotten
distracted from the principle of freedom of choice.
We become distracted when we ask the wrong questions. Instead of asking
whether Hussein is dead or alive, we should ask what this Administration has
withheld from us. Only then will we get the real story about Iraq and
other current events.