BS: True Enough to Be Scary

Subject: BS: True Enough to Be Scary
From: mack/misophist
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 01:52 AM

My sister-in-Law sent this aroung. As I said, true enough to be scary.


The Case for Regime Change

NEW YORK - Making the case for United Nations intervention against
the United

States, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told the organization
yesterday
that military action will be "unavoidable" unless the U.S. agrees to
destroy
its weapons of mass destruction.

In a much-anticipated speech to a special session of the U.N. General
Assembly held in Brussels, Khatami launched a blistering attack
against
American leader George W. Bush, accusing him of defying U.N.
resolutions
and using his country's wealth to line the pockets of wealthy cronies at
a
time when the people of his country make do without such basic social
programs as national health insurance.

"Nearly two years ago, the civilized world watched as this evil and
corrupt
dictator subverted the world's oldest representative democracy in an
illegal coup d'Thetatat," said Khatami. "Since then the Bush regime
has
continued America's systematic repression of ethnic and religious
minorities and threatened international peace and security throughout
the
world. Thousands of political opponents and ordinary citizens have
been
subjected to arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. Basic civil rights have
been violated. This rogue state has flouted the international community
on
legal, economic and environmental issues. It has even ignored the
Geneva
Conventions on the
treatment of prisoners of war by denying that its illegal invasion of
Afghanistan--which has had a destabilizing influence throughout
Central
Asia--was a war at all."

Khatami said the U.S. possesses the world's largest arsenal of
nuclear
weapons, weapons "that, when first developed, were used
immediately to kill
half a million innocent civilians just months after acquiring them. No
nation that has committed nuclear genocide can be entrusted with
weapons of
mass destruction."

"Bush has invaded Afghanistan and is now threatening Iraq. We cannot
stand
by and do nothing while danger gathers. We can't allow for this tyrant to
strike first. We have an obligation to act pre-emptively to protect the
world from this evildoer," Khatami said.

As delegates punctuated his words with bursts of applause, Khatami
noted
that U.S. intelligence agencies had helped establish and fund the
world's
most virulent terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda, and the
Taliban
regime that harbored them. "The U.S. created the Islamist extremists
who
attacked its people on September 11, 2001," he stated, "and Bush's
illegitimate junta cynically exploited those attacks to repress political
dissidents, make sweetheart deals with politically connected
corporations
and revive 19th century-style colonial imperialism."

Khatami asked the U.N. to set a deadline for Bush to step down in
favor of
president-in-exile Al Gore, the legitimate winner of the 2000 election,
the
results of which were subverted through widespread voting
irregularities
and intimidation. "We favor not regime change, but rather restoration
and
liberation," he said. In addition, Khatami said, the U.S. must dismantle
its weapons of mass destruction, guarantee basic human rights to all
citizens and agree to abide by international law or "face the
consequences." Most observers agree that those "consequences"
would likely
include a prolonged bombing campaign targeting major U.S. cities and
military installations, followed by a ground invasion led by European
forces. "Civilian casualties would likely be substantial," said a French
military analyst. "But the American people must be liberated from
tyranny."

Khatami's charges, which were detailed in a dossier prepared by
French
President Jacques Chirac, were dismissed by a representative of the
American strongman as "lies, half-truths and misguided beliefs,
motivated
by the desire to control a country with oil, natural gas and other
natural
resources." National Security Minister Condoleezza Rice denied that
the
U.S. maintains weapons of mass destruction and invited U.N.
inspectors to
visit Washington to "see for themselves that our weapons are
designed only
to keep the peace, subject of course to full respect for American
sovereignty."

The U.N. is expected to reject any conditions for or restrictions on arms
inspections. Experts believe that the liberation of the United States
will
require a large ground force of European and other international
troops,
followed by a massive rebuilding program costing billions of euros.
"Even
before Bush, the American political system was a shambles," said
Prof.
Salvatore Deluna of the University of Madrid. "Their single-party
plutocracy
will have to be reshaped into true parliamentary-style democracy.
Moreover,
the economy will have to be retooled from its current military
dictatorship
model--in which a third of the federal budget goes to arms, and taxes
are
paid almost exclusively by the working class--to one in which basic
human
needs such as education and poverty are addressed. Their
infrastructure is a
mess; they don't even have a national passenger train system. Fixing a
failed

state of this size will require many years."

Subject: RE: BS: True Enough to Be Scary
From: Thomas the Rhymer
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 02:24 AM

Turn the tables round and round
And thoughtful feet may touch the ground
Projections are the blaming bound
Have multitudes lost logic found?

The cases made for ousting leaders
Once turned around, enlightens readers
But hoax or not, the superseeders
Swim with sharks and bottom feeders

Hear the record speak in tounges
As politicians steal the young's
And making cases, climb the rungs
To alter wealth not here amoungs'
ttr

Subject: RE: BS: True Enough to Be Scary
From: Troll
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 03:15 AM

It's all in the eye of the beholder, isn't it. It's the same technique used by those historical revisionists who claim that the Holocaust was a Zionist fiction.
Those who want to believe,do.
Still, an interesting bit of journalistic hyperbole.

troll

Subject: RE: BS: True Enough to Be Scary
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 02:27 PM

Okay, where's it from? Thought it might be The Onion, but it's not there.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: True Enough to Be Scary
From: Kim C
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 04:07 PM

Who was it said, he who would have peace must be prepared for war?

Subject: RE: BS: True Enough to Be Scary
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 04:19 PM

Eisenhower said, "We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it."

Subject: RE: BS: True Enough to Be Scary
From: Genie
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 04:20 PM

Yes, it IS hyperbole. But it's true that many of the arguments I heard made in the Congressional debates this last week, and many that I hear made on talk radio as rationale for a pre-emptive strike on Iraq could reasonably be made against the US. (E.g., why would a country want to have nuclear weapons if they don't intend to use them? We are the only country that ever has done.)

More importantly, I can see how people in some other countries could believe the viewpoint and arguments outlined above. That may be more important than whether it's technically "fair."

Genie

Subject: RE: BS: True Enough to Be Scary
From: Amos
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 04:56 PM

..but not true enough to be true.


A

Subject: RE: BS: True Enough to Be Scary
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 05:24 PM

While I agree with many of the points which this article makes, let us not forget that in many countries, including the real Mr. Khatami's homeland, publication of a satire of this type would be grounds for imprisonment. Personally, I think George W. Bush is an idiot, and I am saddened by what the U.S. has come to represent to some of our fellow Earthlings. But, I am grateful that I can say that I think Dubya is a moron in a public forum without having to worry about going to jail. Well... not yet, at least.

Subject: RE: BS: True Enough to Be Scary
From: JudeL
Date: 12 Oct 02 - 09:53 AM

A similar sentiment to, "I disagree with every word you say, but I will defend your right to say it".... Having the freedom to say that you disagree with those who hold the power in a country is far more precious than many who enjoy that freedom realise. Civil liberties tend taken for granted, until the particular part of it that is under attack directly affects an individual, until then for many it's seen as "somebody else's problem". This to me is also a very scary idea