A.N.S.W.E.R.'S RESPONSE TO BUSH'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

A.N.S.W.E.R.'S RESPONSE TO
BUSH'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

For immediate release: February 2, 2005
Press contact: 202-544-3389

Empire - the true aim of the U.S. government - is barely concealed
under the lofty rhetoric of Bush's State of the Union address. In its
pursuit, the U.S. government is committed to the destruction of every
government and people that stands in its way, in the Middle East and
throughout the world.

"Freedom and democracy" for Iraq and "liberty" around the world are
new code words for a very particular global strategy. According to
this strategy, the Pentagon's military pre-eminence will be used to
invade, bomb, subvert and threaten any and all countries in the
formerly colonized and semi-colonized world that seek to maintain
control over their own resources and retain even nominal independence
and sovereignty. Bush and the neo-conservatives are the political
spokespersons for this strategy. Congress and the courts fade into an
ornamental status as Pentagon-enforced capitalism asserts itself as
the real power in contemporary U.S. politics.

BUSH AND THE IRAQ "ELECTIONS"

The Bush State of the Union Address comes days after the "elections"
in Iraq. The timing of the two events was carefully scripted by the
White House. Both were organized in Washington D.C. After killing more
than 100,000 Iraqis and destroying the Iraqi social and political
structure (not to mention the previous Iraqi state apparatus), the
Bush administration tonight demagogically postures as the great
liberator. This is the pose assumed by all aggressors in modern
history on the "home front."

The Iraq elections were manipulated by foreign occupation. Political
parties outlawed by the occupiers could not participate. Foreign
troops held the country in lock-down. Large areas of Iraq never
participated. But even for those who did vote, participation was not a
signal of support for the occupation of their country or an expression
of love for Bush. The great majority of people in Iraq, who have
suffered greatly, want to re-gain control over their country.

The anti-war and progressive movement must look reality in the face as
it prepares for the coming struggle.

THE REAL OBJECTIVES OF THE U.S. WAR IN IRAQ

The Bush administration hoped to quickly invade Iraq and set up a
puppet regime. The goal was to destroy the previous government,
further secure its geo-strategic interests in the region, and weaken
Iraq to a point that any new government would be on its knees before
Wall Street and the IMF. This was the overarching goal of thirteen
years of economic sanctions from 1990-2003.

This was also the Clinton administration's objective when it forced
the removal of the UN weapons inspectors in 1998 and began the daily
bombing of Iraq that continued right up to the full-scale "shock and
awe" invasion.

Also of primary interest to the U.S. is the economic re-colonization
of Iraq. The U.S. government hopes to turn the situation back to the
one that existed decades before the 1972 nationalization of Iraq's
vast oil resources.

On top of this, the Bush administration added additional goals to the
pre-existing imperialist agenda. The most important of the new goals
was the creation of 14 large permanent Pentagon bases in Iraq that
could be used as a forward staging ground for new aggressions against
nations of this oil-rich region.

The goal of the Bush administration was not to occupy Iraq with
hundreds of thousands of troops forever. But the vast armed resistance
in Iraq has made the withdrawal of the occupation forces impossible.
The resistance, as a widespread urban guerrilla force, can only exist
with widespread popular support. It has tied up and prevented the
Pentagon juggernaut from moving on in full force against Iran, Syria,
Lebanon, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela and elsewhere, but it is clear
from tonight's speech that Syria, Iran and others are Bush's
next targets.

The Bush administration hopes that the January 30 "election" can
confer semi-legitimacy to a new puppet Iraqi government. But the
staged "election" will not mean a new dawn for peace - on the
contrary. The U.S. government is threatening that if they can
stabilize a puppet regime in Iraq, it will open new wars of aggression
in an attempt to secure U.S. imperialist global geo-strategic
interests.

THE U.S. PLAN FOR PALESTINE

Palestine and the Palestinian leadership and people were not
officially included with Iraq, Iran and North Korea in Bush's "axis of
evil" list during the State of the Union Address three years ago. But
the full-scale assault against the Palestinian people has proceeded
relentlessly.

Israel's murderous terror campaign against the Palestinian people and
their political and grassroots leadership is an organic extension of
the war waged against the Arab and Middle Eastern peoples by the U.S.
empire. Years of exile, assassinations, colonization, mass
imprisonment, the construction of the hideous Apartheid Wall, the
forced imposition of mass unemployment and malnutrition are now
followed by Bush celebrating the election of new "leaders." Such is
the embrace of "democracy and freedom!"

Washington is attempting once again to undermine, divide and destroy
the Palestinian national movement. Bush and his advisors are trying to
get the Palestinian National Authority to accept a Bantustan-style
quasi-mini-state - broken up pieces of non-sovereign territory under
the direct control of the Israeli army. They want the Palestinian
leadership to sign away the inalienable right of return of the
Palestinian people who were driven from their homeland, despite the
fact that this right is fundamental under international law. The Bush
team is seeking the confinement of the Palestinian people in a
Bantustan entirely dependent on the United States.

EMPIRE AND "DEMOCRACY

Bush claims that the U.S. is not seeking to form an empire.
Rather, he claims, "it is the policy of the United States to seek and
support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every
nation and culture." A look at Haiti exposes this sham propaganda. In
twenty-six days the people of Haiti will angrily commemorate the first
anniversary of the Bush/Pentagon coup and kidnapping of the
democratically elected President of that country. Jean-Bertrand
Aristide was the first democratically elected president of Haiti. The
Bush administration smashed that government and installed a U.S.
puppet regime.

The Bush administration's support for the failed coup and later recall
election against the democratically elected government of Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez, along with the ongoing U.S. campaign to
overthrow the Cuban government, further expose Bush's lies about
"freedom and democracy."

In the name of making the world safe for the spread of democracy, Bush
has invaded and set up puppet governments in Afghanistan, Iraq and
Haiti. He is attempting to deal a dangerous blow to the legitimate
national aspirations of the people of Palestine. The U.S. intends to
use all available tools to overthrow the government of Syria and
reincorporate Lebanon into the U.S. economic sphere of influence. The
U.S. is working to draw Libya, with or without the current government,
into the its sphere of influence. It is attempting to re-draw the
economic and social map of the Middle East, Central Asia and North
Africa.

WAR AND DIPLOMACY

War, whether overt as in Iraq now or covert as in Iran, should not be
considered as separate from diplomacy. Those who plead that the
Bush administration should pursue a diplomatic approach, as opposed to
naked military aggression, are making a phony distinction. War,
threats of war, economic sanctions and diplomacy are merely tactics
and methods, means in pursuit of certain ends. For the Bush
administration, the end is creating a far-flung U.S. empire. All the
U.S. corporations, the banks and both political parties have 100
percent agreement about the desire of attaining this goal. Whatever
differences over tactics, policy and timing they might have are
secondary. This is what accounts for the widespread acquiescence among
the Democratic "opposition" to even the most adventuristic tactics on
the part of Bush, Cheney and their neo-conservative crew.

DEFEND SOCIAL SECURITY AND SOCIAL PROGRAMS

The people of the United States must stand against the
empire. Defying empire is not only an act of solidarity with those
around the world who are demanding the right to determine their own
destiny free from U.S. domination. Working people across the United
States are also the victims of the empire. Our sons and daughters are
sent to kill and be killed. Billions of dollars are being transferred
from education, health care, housing and job training in order to
finance one imperialist war after another.

Bush announced tonight that there will be a freeze or near freeze for
all spending with the exception of military programs. This will mean
an additional severe cut in programs that working and poor people
depend upon. But he has proposed $80 billion in new money to fund the
war on Iraq. This is on top of the $150 billion already spent on the
Iraq war (nearly $270 million each day), and over and above last
year's $420 billion Pentagon budget.

Every new region of the country that is "globalized" into the U.S.
economic sphere of influence becomes a new playground for U.S.
corporations in endless pursuit of creating new areas for
starvation-wage jobs. Whole industries, not just jobs, are being
outsourced. It is clear from tonight's speech that Bush and Wall
Street want to privatize Social Security as a devious scheme to steal
the deferred wages of more than 100 million workers. The empire
benefits the banks and corporations, not the people.

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition calls on everyone to intensify the
organizing that we have all been doing together in the last few years.
Millions have demonstrated together, coordinating with people in
countries all over the world. This is an epic battle between the
people on one side and the plutocrats who own and run the country on
the other. Politicians have proved to be incapable of stopping war and
empire.

The hope lies with the people. Every step forward in the 1930s or the
1960s and 1970s came from the creation of a mass peoples' movement.

MARCH 19 GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition has been working for months to build and
support local actions in cities around the country. In every country,
people will be in the streets on March 19 to mark the second
anniversary of the invasion of Iraq with protest.

Below is a partial listing of the cities where demonstrations are
happening on March 19:

Akron, OH
Albuquerque, NM
Ann Arbor, MI
Atlanta, GA
Austin, TX
Baltimore, MD
Boston, MA
Charlotte, NC
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Damariscotta, ME
Denver, CO
Flagstaff, AZ
Fort Bragg-Fayetteville, NC
Fort Smith, NH
Los Angeles, CA
Miami, FL
Minneapolis, MN
New Brunswick, NJ (Rutgers Univ.)
New Paltz, NY
New York, NY
Oswego, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Portland, ME
Providence, RI
Sacramento, CA
Sal Lake City, UT
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
Saratoga Springs, NY
Seoul, South Korea
St. Paul, MN
Tucson, AZ
Victoria British Colombia, Canada
Washington, DC
Whittier, CA

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A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
http://www.ANSWERcoalition.org
info [at] internationalanswer.org
For media inquiries, call 202-544-3389.