Thursday, December 06, 2018

Burning Bush

The family of former US President George HW Bush mourns a great loss, joined by many Americans and others around the world.

Bush's responsibilities as US president (and CIA Director, and Vice-President under Reagan) required he make tough choices. Bush surely did some wonderful things with his life. But he also caused much death & destruction - we still must deal with the ripple effects of his grave errors.

Is there an afterlife dispensing Divine Justice? Leaving aside his divisive Willie Horton strategy, and his "Read My Lips" bullshit, if there is judgement, here are two reasons Bush now burns in Hell:

1) The USA has funded & encouraged development in Central & South America by wealthy oligarchs and multinationals at the expense of local populations. Right-wing governments were assisted in repressing dissent. We supported the leaders of repressive regimes, we trained & funded paramilitary, and we were ultimately responsible for death squads and tyrannical military that killed tens of thousands across Central America during the years 1980 to 1992. Many communities lost teachers, labor organizers, religious leaders, medical staff, etc. to brutal murders we lay at the feet of Bush. The violence continues today, with refugees and asylum seekers from the region now troubling US President Trump.

2)  Iraqi forces retreating from Kuwait in late Feb / early March 1991 were massacred along major highways inside Iraq. Civilians were also killed indiscriminately on these Highways of Death. Many of the soldiers were conscripts, who'd caused no violence themselves; some were killed when surrendering. The families of these thousands of dead and wounded were thus given good reason to dislike the USA. Some turned to extreme fundamentalism, and probably rejoiced when Bush croaked. We must deal with the aftermath of Bush's foolish massacres. The Iraq errors of Bush-the-elder were compounded by the infernal mistakes of Pres. George W. Bush, his rotten son.

Satan Says:  Read My Lips