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If
Machiavelli was to meet Pinocchio in some sort of
cosmic clash, what might the encounter produce? My
considered opinion is that the scene might look like
the three-ringed circus that performed Tuesday April
8th at Hillsborough Castle in Dublin…err, Belfast…Ireland…err,
Northern Ireland?
American President George W. Bush managed to make
his way up to Belfast (although the presidential luggage
is probably somewhere at Shannon Airport) to attend
a 'war summit' with British Prime Minister Tony Blair
at which the invasion of and subsequent war in Iraq
was the principal topic for discussion. As a token
gesture of genuine concern, Irish Taoiseach Bertie
Ahern was invited to discuss the state of the so-called
peace process and Good Friday Agreement. The ensuing
spectacle featured Bush and his pocket Brit center
stage, draped in red, white and blue (Old Glory meets
Union Jack), not an Irish tri-color to be seen, complete
with elongated noses of Disney proportion spouting
flimsy remarks about the Iraqi people being fully
capable of running their own government but the Irish
requiring the monitoring of not one, not two but three
governments!
First
and foremost, it became abundantly clear that the
breadth and depth of the Bush administration's understanding
of Irish history and political subtleties is about
as shallow as the commander-in-chief's vocabulary
when engaged in extemporaneous drivel. May it please
the right honorable court of public opinion, for example,
White House press spokesman Ari Fleischer said that
the President would be visiting Dublin but then adroitly
corrected himself with a mea culpa of "I'm
sorry, I'm sorry…I was not a geography major,"
(The Boston Globe, 04/08/03 Anne E. Kornblut).
We forgive you Ari. Furthermore, Bush's itinerary
was a true Republican crowd pleaser as it proclaimed
"the Trip of the President to Belfast, Ireland",)
(ibid.) and in one magic swoosh partition was
wiped away. I'm sure William David Trimble was not
consulted on that wording! To state it simply, consider
the words of Anne E. Kornblut in her article published
04/08/03 in The Boston Globe, "Geography
errors underscore Bush's low interest in Belfast."
Listening
to Bush opine and wax philosophic in his down home
manner, it becomes painfully clear that the President's
interest in Belfast ceases entirely when the Westminster
tour guides say it ceases. It would therefore seem
that Bush might want to register with the Justice
Department under F.A.R.A. as a foreign agent of Tony
Blair. With the devolved Northern Irish partitionist
assembly suspended for six months now, Bush and Blair
have called on all paramilitaries to end "irrevocably"
their military activities and seize a "historic
opportunity for peace." Moreover, the President
called on all parties to "take the necessary
action to complete this process…This is an historic
moment and I would ask all the communities
in Northern Ireland to seize this opportunity for
peace," [emphasis added]. Bush's phrasing
alone might indicate the need for a political prescription
medication as he is clearly misinformed. The term
'communities' tends to imply that the nature
of this conflict is communal and has no basis in a
national liberation struggle against a foreign occupation
force. If that is true, then the American revolutionary
colonials were fighting solely against their Loyalist
and Tory kin and neighbors and the South Vietnamese
Catholic 'majority' were fighting against imbedded
Communist insurgents. It is common knowledge, however,
that the American colonials were primarily waging
a war of national liberation against a foreign oppressive
regime and the albeit CIA-manipulated populace of
South Vietnam, whom were largely Communist themselves
anyway, were fighting a war of liberation for true
self-determination against the Machiavellian interests
of the United States. Presidential symptoms include
distortion of fact and misdirection. Prognoses…negative.
Taking
his cues from Blair and therefore directing his comments
to Sinn Fein and the IRA, President Bush said, "They
have signed on to a process that will yield peace.
They have agreed to put past hatreds in the past…They
have agreed to say history is just that - history,
and they look forward to a future in which young generations
of Northern Irelanders can grow up in peace."
One of my college professors used to say, "All
history is derivative," and "History is
best read forward." There is a good lesson in
those words Mr. President. The present conflict may
have a sectarian element to it but that is not the
root cause. The thorn in the body politic of the occupied
north continues to be the British occupation and presence.
Ask the people of Crossmaglen and Carrickmore how
they appreciate the spy cameras and other surveillance
equipment. Fermanagh is a county under siege Mr. President.
Yet still the music of the PR organ grinds on and
trained monkeys like Bush dance and perform for puppet
masters like Tony Blair. Spin doctor spin.
Still
exhibiting delusions of grandeur, Mr. Bush said, "In
seizing this opportunity, Northern Ireland will serve
as a model to the world for dialogue and negotiation,
demonstrating to all that what was once divided can
be drawn together in a spirit of reconciliation and
respect." Bush's phraseology alone warrant
UN bullshit monitors! Notice that "what was
once divided" has not been "reunited"
or, perhaps more appropriately, "given back,"
but rather can be "drawn together."
According to Bush-lessee, "dialogue and negotiation"
must be synonymous with "dictate and impressed
upon"; in other words, the British bureaucrat
inspired, status quo maintaining, poacher turned gamekeeper
document popularly referred to as the Good Friday
Agreement. Come on boys, we all know this is a Good-For-Nothing
Agreement. Rather than confront the fundamental cause
of the conflict in Ireland, Machiavellian masters
of the universe Bush and Blair resort to a 'blame
the victim' mentality. British moves are contingent
upon satisfactory moves by the IRA. For example, if
the IRA declare their war is over and decommission
weaponry, "in return the Government will reduce
troops from 14,000 to 5,000, remove Army watchtowers
and pave the way for devolved police and judiciary
powers," (news.telegraph.co.uk, "Bush
urges IRA to seize historic chance", 09/04/03
Thomas Harding - Ireland Correspondent). If Britain's
record of involvement in Ireland and America's record
in, for example, Vietnam are any reliable barometric
indicator then take heed people of Iraq. Remember,
in 1968 Northern Irish Catholics initially welcomed
the British soldiers, but the difference between a
liberation force and an occupation force may be a
lightly drawn line in the sand. Falls Road curfew;
need I say more?
On
the liberation/occupation force dynamic: B&B's
post-military campaign plan in Iraq calls for an Interim
Authority, described by Bush as a, "transition,
quasi-government." A "quasi-government";
would that be anything like a Stormont Assembly, Mr.
President? "The Iraqi people," Bush
said, "would decide who would be part of the
interim authority, which would govern Iraq until
the conditions are right for the people to elect
their own leadership," [emphasis added].
Who will determine when "the conditions are
right," Mr. President? According to an article
entitled "Bush, Blair cite 'vital role' for
UN in postwar Iraq," posted 04/08/03 on cnn.com,
"Bush administration officials have argued
that coalition forces are uniquely qualified to assess
the security and volatility on the ground and therefore
should continue to control the country - at least
in the short run." Will this Interim Authority
merely be a mechanism for foreign control of interests
in Iraq, Mr. President? "I hear a lot of talk
about how, you know, we're going to impose this leader
or that leader. Forget it. From Day One, we have said
the Iraqi people are capable of running their own
government. That's what we believe…And that's
precisely what's going to happen." Okay,
reference Gerry Adams and Ngo Dinh Diem. Sure, they
can run their own government, just as long as we approve,
right?
Speaking
of approval, the status quo in terms of the Northern
Irish conflict has always been to maintain British
control however direct or indirect. The status quo
in terms of American foreign policy has always been
to protect American interests by whatever means possible;
whether buttressing an undemocratic and unpopular
government or eliminating voices of dissension. Tony
Blair has no interest in working to change the status
quo. Gerry Adams is merely his Northern Irish puppet.
George W. Bush has no interest in allowing the Iraqi
people to decide their own form of government. What
would the White House do if the Iraqi populace opted
for an Islamist government? With that being the case,
the strategy has always been to divert attention and
shift blame. In Northern Ireland, that means blame
the IRA all the way. The British mouthpiece in Boston
(a.k.a. The Boston Globe) published an editorial
entitled "Peace works in Ireland."
Consider the following excerpt:
"These
are all improvements over the status quo but pale
in significance beside the most important proposal:
a call for all paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland
(read, the IRA) to renounce violence and do away
with the capability to commit violence…To revive
the peace process, the IRA has to make a significant
public act of disarmament and affirm that it has
chosen politics over terror. Once that happens,
the unionists need to accept the peace process without
reservation. Unionist support for the GFA understandably
depends on IRA renunciation of war."
Does
The Boston Globe mention Loyalist terrorism
(read Holy Cross School in Ardoyne)? Does The Boston
Globe address the history of British 'security
force' collusion with Loyalist death squads? Does
the HMEB (Her Majesty's Editorial Board) at The
Boston Globe shed light upon the fact that Northern
Irish Nationalist families continue to be targeted
for British harassment? What's that Maggie Thatcher?
No, no, no. Spin doctor spin.
To develop a clearer sense of the paradoxical policies
of Bush and Blair, reference their joint statement
on Iraq's future. "The Iraqi regime…It
has deliberately put Iraqi civilians in harm's way…It
has sent execution squads to kill Iraqis who choose
freedom over fighting for a brutal regime…We
condemn [the] Iraqi regime ['s]…mistreatment
of prisoners of war. These acts are an affront to
all standards of human decency and international law."
So, when a Northern Irish Catholic youth is injured
by a British Army land rover, does that not justify
reproach from the White House? When innocent Catholics
are murdered by Loyalist gangs who are supplied with
vital information and given shelter by the British
'security forces,' does that not upset the moral keel
of the White House? When the British Government insists
upon retaining a failed policy of forced integration
in the prison system and when Irish Republican political
prisoners are brutally attacked as a result, does
that not call for censure from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
The 'coalition of the willing' puppet show continued
with, "we will uphold our responsibility to
help the people of Iraq build a nation that is whole,
free and at peace with itself and its neighbors. We
support the aspirations of all of Iraq's people for
a united, representative government…we plan to
seek the adoption of new United Nations Security Council
resolutions that would affirm Iraq's territorial integrity."
For the curtain call Gepetto and his real live boy
uttered, "Coalition forces will remain in
Iraq as long as necessary to help the Iraqi people
build their own institutions and reconstruct their
country, but no longer." Do America and Britain
not have a "responsibility" to help
Ireland "build a nation that is whole, free"?
Why not consider a United Nations resolution affirming
Ireland's territorial integrity? One has to wonder
if Britain still has a selfish economic, military,
political or strategic interest in Ireland.
If altering the status quo would necessitate dismantling
American and British Machiavellian puppets and powerhouses
then, evidently, and to use Presidential terminology,
"Forget it."
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