Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Dole sought to pin the war party label on the Democrats by referring to "Democrat wars" in his debate with Walter Mondale.  Dole was strongly criticized for his charge.  

Some analysts, considering the closeness of the race with Governor Jimmy Carter defeating Ford for the presidency in a squeaker, saw Dole's overall performance in that debate, highlighted by the aforementioned comment, as a factor in the Republican president's defeat.

There is a tinge of irony that Dole's cheaply partisan comment painted the Democratic Party as trigger happy while his wife, 30 years later, has turned circumstances around to make her own outrageous comment.  This time the Democrats do not even appear to care what happens to America in the war on terrorism.

Another point for Dole to contemplate was the position taken by her husband in the early eighties during the Reagan Administration, when Robert Dole was representing Kansas in the U.S. Senate.  

Dole championed Reagan's sending of arms to Saddam Hussein.  In addition to the oil we received in the quid pro quo arrangement, Dole was interested in providing agricultural products of Kansas farmers to the blood thirsty dictator.

Saddam Hussein was at that point viciously unleashing genocidal bombing assaults on the Kurds in Iraq's northern provinces.  

At that point, with the Republican "moralists" enjoying the way things were proceeding economically, and mindful that the Kurds were enemies of the Wahhabi Islamic regime in oil rich Saudi Arabia, not even Ronald "stop the evil empire" Reagan raised a protest.  

If this uncomfortable historical period is mentioned today neoconservative apologists respond, "But that's different because then we had a different enemy!"

Imagine, these are the same individuals who, like Elizabeth Dole, over two decades after the fact, became so incensed about actions such as former trading partner ally Saddam Hussein bombing Kurds that they now hypocritically cite theses tragic genocide attacks as a reason for having invaded Iraq.

Yes, before that there were those weapons of mass destruction, but that cry was needed to obtain immediate action.  We could not afford to wait around for a UN inspection team to finish its work and tell us that there were no such weapons in Iraq.  It was time for action and Condoleezza Rice assured us that a "giant mushroom cloud" awaited us from Saddam Hussein.

So then Republican demagogues, who spend their time darting within mazes to make their moves appear not only logical but necessary actions for America, began to use the terrorist argument.  If Democrats spoke of leaving Iraq then, ipso facto, this meant that they were not genuinely serious about terrorism.

What the Republican propagandists do not want is for people to think on their own since otherwise they might logically conclude that there is a difference between terrorism and insurgency.  It is the latter that describes the current situation in Iraq.

It was none other than George Bush the Elder who spurned calls by many to march into Baghdad and overthrow Iraq during the Gulf War in 1991.  Listening to the advice of National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, the elder Bush recognized that any attempted occupation of Iraq would result in tumultuous chaos with no end in sight.

In addition to the factor of having large segments of the Iraqi population consisting of Sunnis and Shiites there was the additional element of Arab pride, of resisting control in any way, shape, or form by a western occupier such as the United States.

During that critical period prior to George W. Bush's "shock and awe" invasion of Iraq there was one nationally televised evening interview program where both sides of the issue could be heard.  MSNBC talk show host Phil Donahue, believing in free speech and public debate, allowed individuals well versed in Arab history to explain why an invasion of Iraq would culminate in chaotic disaster.

The result of that effort was that Donahue was fired for the stated reason that his viewing audience was too small.  

Donahue's program actually had the highest ratings of any comparable MSNBC program, surpassing Chris Matthews, whose program continues to this day.  Those in the know insisted that Donahue's airing a different Iraq view was the catalyst for his dismissal.

NBC replaced Donahue with former right wing Florida Congressman Joe Scarborough.  That gave the Cheney-Bush propagandists clear sailing during that prime evening period among talk show hosts since reliable Fox News included Cheney-Bush corporate lackeys Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity, who competed with Scarborough for the honor of loudest Iraq War cheerleader.

At this critical point it is imperative for Americans to recognize blatant flag waving demagoguery when it rears its ugly head, whether the communicator be George W. Bush, Senator Elizabeth Dole, or the Fox Republican propaganda network.  

The Iraq War is about geopolitical control of Middle East oil and the invasion was for that purpose, with former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney leading the charge and firmly installing his company in the Iraq driver's seat.

Terrorism is cynically substituted for the insurgency that actually exists in Iraq.  Republican propagandists are banking on Americans displaying gullibility and falling for the propaganda unleashed on the campaign trail and through reliable media sources.