The Bushes Are Coming, The Bushes Are Coming (for Bob Kincaid)

Here it comes National Guard troops, here it comes wives of those missing in action, and here it comes those who have just arrived home. War is here! More deaths, more displaced civilians, more schools destroyed, more refugees disappearing into the night scrounging around for food. Embedded reporters and network anchors squinting through the make-up. It’s time for the Fox network to prime the pump on their generators and send signals up to the satellites, time for Bill O’Reilly to interview Democrats and scream at them. Time for Geraldo Rivera to get shot at by friendly fire as he points out the suffering and suggest a close-up heard just off camera. It’s time for Congress to speak their hearts to an empty hall. Time for concerts, time for telethons, and time for the President to acclaim in prime time that he had no choice, to swagger and to stagger, to giggle and to laugh, time for Karl Rove to come down out of the tree house and spread the blood of the first kill on his lover’s face. It’s time for war.
The Sunday Times in the UK is reporting, “ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans for a combined air and ground attack on targets in Iran if diplomacy fails to halt the Iranian nuclear programme.
The inner cabinet of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, gave “initial authorisation” for an attack at a private meeting last month on his ranch in the Negev desert.”
Initial authority is like suggesting you can go ahead and burns down the orphanage but don’t actually let the building fall to the ground. There is no back door diplomacy this time, no hearings at the U.N. we are quite beyond that. Yes, we are beyond accountability, we are past the photographs of Abu Grahaid, we can turn back the clock at Gitmo and concentrate on the actions of Israel as we supply the bombs they will use to destroy Iran. Initially, that is.
Out in the open it will happen evidenced by this excerpt from the article, “The plans have been discussed with American officials who are said to have indicated provisionally that they would not stand in Israel’s way if all international efforts to halt Iranian nuclear projects failed.” You can almost hear the secure call, “Ariel, yea you can strike first this time. It’ll play better on CNN. Karl (Rove) tells me that the CIA has some targets in mind if you decide to hit anywhere else over there.” This excerpt is not so surprising since Condoleeza wants to get her name in print to lead up to her possible run for President, “The Israeli government responded cautiously yesterday to an announcement by Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, that America would support Britain, France and Germany in offering economic incentives for Tehran to abandon its programme.”
The story concludes with, “Dick Cheney, the American vice-president, emphasised on Friday that Iran would face “stronger action” if it failed to respond. But yesterday Iran rejected the initiative, which provides for entry to the World Trade Organisation and a supply of spare parts for airliners if it co-operates.
“No pressure, bribe or threat can make Iran give up its legitimate right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes,” said an Iranian spokesman.
US officials warned last week that a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities by Israeli or American forces had not been ruled out should the issue become deadlocked at the United Nations.” We should herald what the Iranian spokesman said. They have known that this was inevitable ever since the Bush administration started cursing them in the press and funding official threats in the world press. It is true Iran is no friend to the U.S. but that is no reason to kill them. But war is here and we don’t want it but what can we do but scream from the mountaintop and see the destruction through a viewfinder. Sit at home and watch the coverage unravel from the original script. Watch the missiles wag the dog till the dog collapses in front of the fire, where the ash settles and turns the sky the color of a pretty black rose.

- Chris Mansel