Bush League

Last Thursday, March 16, three important stories came over the wire regarding the United States. The first story was about preemptive military strikes, the second was about a new human rights council and the third about money.

The first item was the release of George Bush’s National Security Strategy offering the world his first strike policy. Said Bush, “under long-standing principles of self-defense, we do not rule out the use of force before attacks occur even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack.” This notion was offered, again, regarding Iran, a new target for the Pentagon, and a dangerous one. Bush’s security strategy is neither strategic or secure. If the United States invades Iran, it will start World War III.

The second story, released the same day, was about the United Nations vote to establish a Human Rights Council to replace the Human Rights Commission. In a vote of 170 to 4, it was approved. Guess who voted against it? The United States! [the other three were Israel, Marshall Islands and Palau.] This new council is to be elected by members of the UN and therefore be more representative of the General Assembly. It has term limits of 3 years per member [47] and improved regional representation. “The seats would be distributed among regional groups: 13 for Africa, 13 for Asia, six for Eastern Europe, eight for Latin America and the Caribbean and seven for a block of mainly Western countries, including the United States and Canada.“ (Reuters). The first duty of the new commission is a review of the human rights records of the new council. By voting against the Council, the United States voted against such scrutiny.

The third story has to do with money. Congress approved a bill to borrow more money for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to a total of 67.6 billion dollars. This will add to the debt of the United States, now just short of 9 trillion dollars.

Said Bush upon the release of his strategy report, “...history has shown that only when we do our part will others do theirs. America must continue to lead."

You call this leadership?

That’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.