Paul Wolfowitz, in the latest Vanity Fair, basically justified using a “convenient” argument, i.e. weapons of mass destruction, to achieve the great goal: Iraqi oil. Such politically vulgar messages are not new from Wolfowitz and his neo-con gang, but they spread reasonable doubt regarding America’s “democratic” intentions for the Middle East. Now as Wolfowitz is visiting Baghdad, his face can’t conceal a sense of worry. Worry regarding the exposed lies, the increased number of killings of American military personnel, and the growing public opinion against the war. Wolfowitz is like a stray cat stuck in a corner. Stray cats when stuck in a corner usually attack.
The question that is asked frequently is: Who fed all these lies about the Iraqi weapons WMD program to the president? Most fingers point at the Pentagon’s Office of Special Plans, headed by Adam Shulsky, a hard-line neo-conservative. The Office of Special Plans was set up in the fall of 2001 as a two-man shop, but it grew into an eighteen-member nerve center of the Pentagon’s effort to create disinformation, alleging that Iraq possessed WMD and had connections with terrorist groups. Much of the garbage produced by that office found its way into speeches by Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush.
It should be noted that the office was created after Sept. 11 by two of the most fervent and determined neo-cons: Paul Wolfowitz himself, the deputy defense secretary, and Douglas Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy, to probe into Saddam’s WMD programs and his links to Al-Qaeda, because, it is alleged, they did not trust other intelligence agencies of the US government to come up with the goods.
Most prominent neo-cons are right-wing Jews, and tend to be pro-Israeli zealots who believe that American and Israeli interests are inseparable — much to the alarm of the liberal pro-peace Jews, whether in America, Europe, or Israel itself.
Friends of Ariel Sharon’s Likud party, they tend to loathe Arabs and Muslims. For them, the cause of “liberating” Iraq had little to do with the well being of Iraqis, just as the cause of “liberating” Iran and ending its nuclear program — recently advocated by Shimon Peres — has little to do with the well being of Iranians. What they seek is an improvement in Israel’s military and strategic environment.
So who will put the brakes on this madness, defend US national interests and give the administration wise counsel? Congress? It doesn’t appear that way. The issue should go back to the American people. The integrity and credibility of their values and their future economic prosperity are very much at stake here. People in the Middle East need to see the ugly words of Wolfowitz and his like muted, and they need to see objective democratic results. Only then will Wolfowitz and his gang be marginalized. At least for a while.
