The "Evil" One
By Hank Roth
George Bush designated THREE rogue states in his first State of the Union speech on January 29, 2002. On that day, George Bush declared war on North Korea, Iran and Iraq. He has already taken down Iraq. North Korea and Iran are next on the list and North Korea is taking this threat very seriously.
The Pentagon's report, "Nuclear Posture Review" completed after George Bush's declaration of war agaisnt the "axis of evil" targeted Iraq, but also China and the others mentioned for a potential NUCLEAR FIRST STRIKE. North Korea believes it is NEXT after Iraq and pursuant to that report it will be the target of a nuclear first strike. AND also pursuant to George Bush's declaration and "axis of evil" speech Pyongyang pullsed out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
North Korea DEMANDS that Washington resume the _suspended_ shipments of fuel oil as a precondition to easing relations. It also wants a clear statement renouncing first strike and a declaration of non-aggression. This is NOT blackmail. The demands are reasonable given George Bush's bellicose threats against North Korea.
In George Bush's accusatory State of the Union speech, he used the term, "axis of evil" five times. Words are important. George Bush is either careless or very clear about his intent. For example to said the war on terroris would be a "Crusade" which has only one connotation in the Arab/Muslim world. And he uses the word, "evil" which also has specific meaning.
"Evil in its metaphysical, absolute sense, is a notion ocommon to the fundamentalist, reactionary religious worldview that Bush and bin Laden share...George Bush actually stands today at the head of the Protestant fundamentalist movement in the United States..." [Gilbert Achcar, "The Clash of Barbarisms, 2002 - Monthly Review Press]
>From the Washington Post: "For the first time since religious conservatives became a modern political movement, the president of the United States has become the movement's de facto leader---a status that even Ronald Reagan, though admired by religious conservatives, never earned. Christian publications, radio, and television shower Bush with praise, while preachers fromt the pulpit treat his leadership as AN ACT OF PROVIDENCE. A procession of religous leaders who have met with him testify to his faith, while websites encourage people to fast and pray for the president." [Washington Post, Dana Milband, "Religious Right Finds Its Center in Oval Office," Dec 24, 2001]
There is a great deal of similarity in the worldview of bin Laden and George Bush. Similar statements about evil have been made by Osama bin Laden and there is no doubt that George Bush feels he is on a kind of divine mission to save the world or lead it to Armageddon and ultimately the saving of Christians as part of the final judgement. The psychopathology of believing he is inspired by god - and the personal representative of an omnipotent god is in some societies considered a sickness, but when you have the power of the highest position in the world's only super-power, that belief is absolutely frightening.
"`The evil one': Mr Bush has regularly used this phrase to describe Osama bin Laden. Among evangelical Christians, it is an obvious reference to Satan, and appears throughtout the Bible. (From Matthew, in the New American Standard Bible: `When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.")" [Elisabeth Bumiller, "Recent Bushisms Call for a Primer" - New York Times, Jan 7, 2002]
"Mr Bush was raised an Episcopalian, became a Methodist after his marriage, and then in 1986 said he was recommitting his heart to Jesus Christ -- a born again experience.... evangelicals recognize the terminology of `the evil one' as their own." [Bumiller]
Hank Roth http://pnews.org/
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