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First
lady Laura Bush and Adnan Pachachi
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US
President George Bush’s January 20th State of the Union
Address would have been a mockery of one’s intelligence were
it not for the presence of Iraqi Governing Council (IGC)
rotating president Adnan Al-Pachachi and so-called Iraqi
Ambassador to the US Hend Francke-Raheem sitting on either side
of Laura Bush. Their presence is revolting, indignant and a
malicious sight, too hypocritical and callous to stomach.
But
let’s stop and consider that Francke-Raheem is a US citizen,
not an Iraqi one; her loyalty is to the US Flag and her
allegiance is to the US Constitution. There is nothing Iraqi
about her. One may be dismayed that an American citizen is
representing Iraq in the American capital, Washington D.C. But
then again, in an age when media is twisted and contorted to
make an ignorant audience believe anything, are we really
surprised by these revelations?
As
for Al-Pachachi, he is a British citizen, and his claims to
being Iraqi are as legitimate as my claims to the throne of
Denmark.
What
does ill one’s intellect and morality, however, is the fact
that they are dwelling in the seat of a government that saw fit
to instigate the most vicious and comprehensive sanctions regime
in man’s history; the US-sponsored UN sanctions killed nearly
1.7 million Iraqis, including more than 500,000 children under
the age of five as of 1996, according to the UN and World Health
Organization (WHO). When called on to stand like the good lackey
he is, Al-Pachachi received a standing ovation from House
members and Senators in attendance. Meanwhile, his country has
been eternally decimated by cluster bombs (thousands still
unexploded and unaccounted for) and depleted uranium remnants.
No one is reporting on the cancerous side-effects and mutated
birth defects in Iraqi children. Or the increased infant
mortality rate. Or the 30 percent decrease in drinkable water
throughout Iraq since the removal of the Baathist regime. Or the
Iraqi civilians cut down by US troops on a daily basis. Or the
closing of newspapers and magazines critical of US policy in
Iraq. Or the fact that the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)
ordered the IGC to stop counting Iraqi war dead. How can a
government that claims to represent the people deny the dead
their dignity by refusing to toll the war dead and/or the number
of Iraqi civilians killed since April 9th? Human rights
organizations have accused both US forces and the IGC of gross
human rights violations. Is the IGC investigating? Has it even
“asked” its US financiers why no one is held accountable? Is
the IGC taking steps to prevent the imminent breakup of Iraq as
the Kurds begin to slice up a greater chunk of the north for
themselves?
Why
are you standing and smiling Mr. Al-Pachachi? The Iraqi people
demand answers to these questions.
But
hold on, there was far more room for arrogance. Bush claimed
that weapons of mass destruction-related programs were
discovered by David Kay’s team of US inspectors in Iraq and
that the war deprived Saddam of their use. Never mind that Iraq
had neither the money, the technical expertise nor the
commitment to pursue such programs. Bush spoke of Saddam’s
killing fields and the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis buried
under the sand. Perhaps, Bush forgot to mention the tens of
thousands of Iraqis who were bulldozed alive in their bunkers
under his father’s tenure. Many Iraqis know that Saddam had
thousands disappear in the wake of the 1991 failed uprisings.
But by the same account, many Iraqis know that many of the mass
graves recently unearthed contain the bodies of Iraqi soldiers
who were never given the chance to even surrender to the
merciless coalition juggernaut.
Then
Bush insults all Iraqis by saying they ran when confronted by
the might of the US army and chose instead to fight from the
shadows. Oh, and lets not forget Bush’s insult to the world
when he said the Americans are the hardest working people in the
world. Work, in his mind, must mean taking the mineral wealth of
others through belligerence and sleight of hand.
But
all is not lost. The most encouraging and heartening moment of
the day was Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy’s smirk and turning
of the head when Bush claimed that the US was better off because
of his tax cuts and prescription drugs Medicare package. Thank
God for Kennedy, seriously, because he displays the courage the
rest of his Democrats have refused or been unable to show. A
poignant reminder of how the US has become a nearly one-party
system is the number of times Democrats who take to the airwaves
to launch attack after scathing attack on Bush’s policies
managed to stand up and clap for all their lives’ worth during
Bush’s Hollywood speech. Noticeable was Senator Hillary
Clinton who criticized Bush on his post-war Iraq policy but
nevertheless stood up when Bush talked about a stable and secure
Iraq.
Iraq
is stable and secure only if you travel in an M-1 Abrams tank
and are armed with a flak jacket and the latest killing gear.
And then, that isn’t a certainty, either.
Meanwhile,
Senators John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, John Edwards and Howard Dean
are campaigning for the New Hampshire caucuses and did not make
it to the State of the Union Address. Perhaps, their absence is
a message of dissent. But that is only speculation on my part at
this point.
Firas
Al-Atraqchi is a Canadian journalist of Iraqi heritage.
Holding an MA in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has
eleven years of experience covering Middle East issues, oil and
gas markets, and the telecom industry. You can reach him at firascape@hotmail.com.
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