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(Part Two)
Tuesday March 18th marked the
fifth anniversary of the arrests of more than 70
quislings, the ringleaders of imperialism's
fifth column in Cuba who, paid by the U.S.
government, violate the laws of the land and
share the opinion that this dark corner of the
world should be swept off the map. On this
date, a Department of State spokesperson
described the event as the “Black Spring”, a
term having racist overtones. We could call it
“White Spring”. Darkness does not exist in
space, only in the mind. What a huge difference
between the methods used by the government of
the United States and those used by Cuba! Not
one of the mercenaries was tortured or deprived
of lawyer or trial, even if it was of a summary
nature, provided by the law in the case of
danger of aggression; they have the right to
receive visits, access to family facilities as
well as the other legal prerogatives of all
prisoners; and if at any time their health
seriously requires it, they are released without
the demands of imperialism and its allies having
absolutely anything to do with it. We urge the
United States to do with its prison population
as we have done here in Cuba. The Revolution
demands respect for sovereignty, not pardon.
On Wednesday March 19th, as we
commemorate five years of the stupid war
unleashed in Iraq, Bush grabs hold of any Bin
Laden declaration, either fictitious or real,
even though in the case of the latter no date is
supplied as to when it was made, nor are they
able to assure us that it was his voice. They
shall investigate it, so they promise. Nobody
ever took so much advantage of such materials to
shape the opinions of the citizens of the United
States and of many other countries in the world
that have similar cultures and beliefs, in order
to justify the brutal and genocidal wars that
are so needed by imperialism. He keeps on
uttering and repeating, time after time, certain
selected words and phrases. The people and
institutions referred to, without exception,
find themselves obliged to respond, whether the
declarations are true or not. Just observe how,
year after year, from day one, Bush keeps on
milking the events of September 11th.
From the Bucharest conference, Bush will
move on to that of NATO, and from there he will
pole vault over to Croatia, which had disputes
with Serbia, and whose President was tried and
convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Kosovo affair. Did he really die a
natural death in prison? What kind of peace
will be attained from such odd twists and turns?
Hans Blix from Sweden, who headed the UN
team of inspectors, who diligently searched for
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and who
shares many of the ideas and lies of the
empire's sinister philosophy, wrote the
following on the occasion of the fifth
anniversary: “The
invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a tragedy - for
Iraq, for the US, for the UN, for truth and
human dignity. They could not succeed in
eliminating WMDs because they did not exist. Nor
could they succeed in the declared aim to
eliminate al-Qaida operators, because they were
not in Iraq. They came later, attracted by the
occupants.”
The Association of Muslim Ulemas, the
supreme religious Sunnite authority in Iraq,
made the following statement on the occasion of
the fifth anniversary: “The occupier has
entered our lands by force and he is not going
to leave unless we use force. Any call made by
politicians who acquiesce to working under the
umbrella of occupation ought to be considered an
invitation to surrender and capitulation. The
occupation forces have turned Iraq into the
world’s most dangerous zone. The era of
occupation will soon end.”
United States Vice-President Dick Cheney,
without recovering from his exhausting meeting
in Afghanistan with Karzai, had conversations
yesterday, on Friday, and today, on Saturday,
with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in order to
get his cooperation and that of OPEP for oil
supplies and pay with devaluated dollars. In
truth, there can be no war without oil, or oil
without war.
On the Latin American scene, the Ecuadorian
high command declared that the bombs used in the
attack on Raúl Reyes’ camp were GBU-2/B Paveways,
weighing more than 500 pounds, and with exact
targeting precision thanks to advanced
technology. There were 10 such bombs and they
left craters 2.80 metres in diameter and 1.80
metres deep.
In Western Europe, Sarkozy, whose honeymoon
with the French electorate finished a few days
ago, was impatiently awaiting McCain and his
entourage of pro-Israeli Republican senators.
McCain urged him to join the NATO mechanisms,
defended the Iraq War and forcefully lambasted
China. Meanwhile, Hillary and Obama are
bleeding from attacks by the right, the left and
the centre. This is the perfect insane asylum.
The candidates for the presidency of the United
States are discussing sure war vs. probable war.
Today, on Easter, we also get Bush’s radio
broadcast. What is he thinking? A message
which, brief as it is, only needs a few
paragraphs or phrases to be quoted in order to
catch its drift:
“This is the most important holiday in the
Christian faith. And during this special and
holy time each year, millions of Americans pause
to remember a sacrifice that transcended the
grave and redeemed the world.
“Easter beckons us homeward. This [...] is
an occasion to reflect on the things that matter
most in life: the love of family, the laughter
of friends, and the peace that comes from being
in the place you call home..."
“America is blessed with the world’s
greatest military, made up of men and women who
fulfil their responsibilities…”
“On Easter, we remember especially those
who have given their lives for the cause of
freedom. These […] have lived out the words of
the Gospel: ‘Greater love has no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends’…”
“Each year, millions of Americans take time
to feed the hungry and clothe the needy and care
for the widow and the orphan…millions across the
world remember the gift that took away death’s
sting and opened the door to eternal life…”
“Thank you for listening.”
Bush might think that God will give him a
prize for speeding along the day of the
Apocalypse and the Last Judgement, after which
he will seat him at His right, in the place of
honour. Then perhaps he will abandon the odious
gestures that accompany his speeches, so that he
can dwell under the same roof as those souls of
the human beings he exterminated with his war
against terrorism, the great majority of them
being small children, teenagers and young
people, women and the elderly, all those who
should never be held to blame.
The Old Testament speaks of archangels who
were transformed into the enemies of God by
their ambition and who were sent to Hell. It is
difficult to lose the idea that in Bush’s head,
there lurk the genes of some of those
archangels.
Today is Saturday. It is a slow day for
political news. Reporters are resting.
Fidel Castro Ruz
March 22, 2008
5:19 p.m. |
