The Delusion And The Beast

" A cloud was on the mind of men, and wailing went the weather,
yea, a sick cloud on the soul when we were boys together." –G. K. Chesterton

There is indeed a cloud on the mind of men, and it is getting darker as I write. There appears to be no clearing in the forecast; no fair weather any time soon.

How do we reconcile this statement made by Massachusett's senior senator, Edward Kennedy, with the current climate in Washington? Kennedy said on September 27, 2002 (please note the date):

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."

What does "known for many years" mean? What does "known" mean? How many is "many"? For sorrow, I cannot ascertain what Mr. Kennedy means. But I would guess that he means that the United States and all reasonable people, with Mr. Kennedy counted among them, KNEW that Saddam Hussein was "seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." And I would think that Mr. Kennedy believes that "many years" means that this knowledge preceded President Bush's arrival in office, since Mr. Kennedy articulated his convictions only a year-and-a-half into Bush's nascent presidency.

Now, compare the above quote with Kennedy's newest convictions (from Saturday, November 11, with CNN's Wolf Blitzer):

"The fact is, we have known that Saddam Hussein was a -- a tyrant. We know he was a threat. The real issue, was he an imminent threat to the United States? The president never could have carried the vote in the United States Senate unless he represented that there was an imminent threat to the United States, because Saddam Hussein had nuclear weapons or he was right in the proximity of developing it, and, secondly, that he had close associations with al Qaeda. The 9/11 Commission has dismissed the al Qaeda connection. And the various weapons inspectors have dismissed the -- the other claim. But Americans believed the president, because, I think, the great confidence that they had in his word after the -- 9/11."

Before I begin a brief response to this Kennedy puzzler, let me make one revelation: Everyone who reads Contratimes is smarter than Mr. Kennedy.

In reply to Mr. Kennedy, let us first point out that President Bush never described Saddam Hussein as an "imminent threat." In fact, the only person on record to have said such a thing with alarm and passion was Democrat Senator Jay Rockefeller, who is now a critic of the war's genesis. I implore you to read this speech by Mr. Rockefeller from 2002 (wherein he also connects 9/11 and the assault on Hussein). President Bush's position was that the United States needed to deal with Hussein before he became an imminent threat.

Second, once again we return to the mundane truth. Actually, we've returned to this truth so often that there are signs this webpage is eroding. The 9/11 Commission DID NOT "dismiss" the idea that there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11, only that there was no collaborative connection. That's pretty simple. And we are smart enough, unlike Mr. Kennedy (I have to tease his IQ; otherwise I would have to call him a liar), to know the difference.

There is a cloud on the mind of men.

Third, I refer readers to this post I wrote a few weeks ago. Therein I prove, again, that the centrality of Iraq to the war on terror was made such, not by neoconservative fascists, but by Osama bin Laden himself. Really, it is amazing how few people realize this. Even today, I listened to Bill O'Reilly struggle through his labyrinthian explanation connecting Iraq, Al Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden. But the reason Iraq is central is not obscure. In fact, it is one of the clearest facts about the war.

BILL CLINTON FOR WORLD PRESIDENT, AND THE BEAST

Contratimes readers might like to know that Esquire magazine declared Bill Clinton the most influential man on the planet (to hit newsstands in its December issue). In fact, one Esquire editor suggested that Clinton could easily be the world's president. But that title might not come easy. U2's Bono declared that Nelson Mandela was the "world's president" during a concert in South Africa last year. So perhaps we might see an apocalyptic battle for top dog in the no-too-distant future between the two men. But I give the upper hand to Mandela. Why? Well, let me put it this way: I find it just a wee bit unnerving that the ostensibly Christian Bono would so highly praise Mandela, considering that Mandela's prison identification number was 46664. Even if Mandela is NOT the beast of the Apocalypse, one would think a Christian like Bono would be more circumspect of a man whose very foundation is called "46664." Seriously, it's even a bit scary linking to that site for some folks, I imagine.

Anyhow, perhaps Clinton and Mandela are the False Prophet and The Beast; perhaps not. Nevertheless, there is a cloud on the mind of men, and wailing went the weather.

Contratimes