Editorial

The New Face of Hitlerite Nazism

On January 28 the world witnessed a scene reminiscent of Berlin in 1939 - an arrogant tyrant declaring his right to commit acts of aggression and homicide in the name of defence of his nation's interests. And just like Hitler, every bombastic threat, every blatant lie uttered by George W. Bush in his State of the Union address, was greeted with a standing ovation by the assembled political and military sycophants. If there was any difference it was that this modern tyrant was far more sophisticated and devious, wrapping his murderous intent not only in the American flag, but in the banners of democracy, freedom, human rights and even God.

While Bush was invoking the support of God to assist him in "liberating" the people of Iraq, a Pentagon official was telling reporters that the U.S. intends to turn Baghdad into a Hiroshima-like inferno to crush any spirit of resistance amongst those same Iraqi people. The U.S. military plans to launch 800 cruise missile against Baghdad in the first two days of war, twice the number of missiles launched against all of Iraq during the 40 days of the first Gulf War in 1991. If the Americans actually implement such an assault, it will rank right up there with Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the atrocities of the Third Reich as one of the greatest crimes against humanity ever committed.

The Bush administration and the Pentagon are also openly discussing the possibility of using nuclear weapons against various targets in Iraq, especially if U.S. forces run into stiff resistance. They have also promised to use every weapon at their disposal, which includes the world's largest arsenals of chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction. It is chilling to think that there are people who not only applaud such threats, but consider it their sovereign right to commit genocide in the name of national interests. To paraphrase Bush, if this doesn't represent evil, then the word has no meaning.

No American politician or general could be foolish enough to believe Bush when he claims that Iraq constitutes an imminent threat to the people of the United States. Their own Central Intelligence Agency has stated that Iraq has neither the intention nor ability to launch an attack against the U.S. The CIA has also stated categorically that there is no connection between Iraq and Al-Qaida, another claim made by Bush during his address. Furthermore, most of the crimes of the Iraqi regime listed by Bush in his speech were committed during the late 1980s with the full knowledge and support of the administration of George Bush Sr. and with weapons and chemicals supplied to Saddam Hussein by the Americans. These facts have even been admitted in the American mass media, so there is no possibility that anyone in any position of authority in the United States is unaware of the fact that Bush was lying to the American people and to the entire world.

However, just as in 1939 when most Western governments ignored the warnings about the dangers posed by the Hitlerite Nazis and advocated a policy of appeasement, so too today a policy of collaboration and appeasement is being followed towards that state which poses the greatest threat to the peace and security of the entire world - the United States of America. No country dares challenge the Americans when they run roughshod over the United Nations, when they openly defy international law and all standards of civilized behaviour, when they declare to the world that they are the sole empire and will destroy anyone who dares to oppose them. In other words, the lessons of the Second World War have been forgotten and the new Hitlerites are being embraced as the saviours of humankind.

On a positive note, there is a growing movement against war and against the new American Empire. This movement already numbers in the millions and will no doubt swell to tens of millions in the wake of a barbaric U.S. assault on Iraq. Unfortunately, those who can blithely discuss the obliteration of one of the world's most ancient cities and the mass slaughter of half a million Iraqis in the first two days of "war" will not be dissuaded by a few million demonstrators, peaceful or otherwise. For the American imperialists, just as for the Nazis, no number of human lives is too great a price to pay when the goal is world empire.