Because You Never Asked

     When residing by the Roman Sea, a good deal of my corporal presence is spent on a shaded "terraza" that has already appeared in these pages. The terraza presides over a splendid Mediterranean landscape of brown-green hills dotted with the white specks of houses falling towards the crystal clarity of the true blue waters that reach in from the open sea forming a lovely lagoon where small boats lazily lay moored amidst the lyrical language of their tinkling riggings. The terraza offers a sensorial delight that invites one to sit for awhile.

     The embryonic seeds of this essay occurred about a week ago on this terraza. Having just finished my habitual "café con leche" with bread and butter, I sat reading a wonderful novel set in the Basque country during the Spanish Inquisition. I was so engrossed in it that it took me awhile to realize that someone was calling me. "Jerry!" It was another "regular" on the terraza, a Belgian gentleman named Phillipe, whom I've known for many years. He wanted to show me something he was reading in a French newspaper.

     It seems that Paul Wolfowitz, one of the men in this Bush Administration most in the background physically but most in the forefront intellectually, was being interviewed. Wolfowitz is considered the lead architect of America's military aggression. According to Phillipe, while being cornered with regard to a lack of evidence concerning "weapons of mass destruction" and links to terrorism in Iraq, he sarcastically let slip that there is a whole lot of oil there and that this had a lot to do . etc., etc.

     This is what the French call a "faux pas".

     Phillipe is a retired businessman who spent two years in New York working for Belgian commercial interests. He has money. I've been told he usually votes on the "right". This doesn't keep him from recognizing fraudulent hucksterism. He does not sympathize with the Bush government and its way of doing things. When he was through explaining the article to me, I told him, "No, no, there must be some mistake. The invasion was for liberty, democracy and freedom." Phillipe replied, with an accent reminiscent of Jacque Cousteau, "Oh, I'm so glad to hear that. I was beginning to think it was the oil." We laughed, something for which I always feel guilty later on, because there are a whole lot of innocent people in Iraq not laughing.

     Undoubtedly, the Bush Administration would have preferred this not to have happened, but Wolfowitz is a man who works in the shadows and is not as accomplished a liar as the boys out front. (See essay "George W. Gives a Press Conference"). Even so, it shows a growing degree of arrogance (is that possible?) and over confidence that could lead to problems down the road.

     Any athlete will tell you that you have to have confidence in order to win, but it must also be balanced with a certain degree of respect for your opponent. When a professional tennis player goes out on the court and sees someone across the net he knows can't beat him, that is when he looks up at the scoreboard and finds himself down a set and a break. There is not one great player in the world that hasn't learned this the hard way.

     Since the 9/11 tragedy, the Bush gang has been riding a long winning streak, nourished by a gluttonous buffet of propaganda possibilities. Wolfowitz's sarcastic remark shows a lack of respect for their opponents. They are beginning to feel unbeatable. It's been too easy. They are losing their concentration. They are taking their eye off the ball.

     This flip remark by a key man in the American government has come at an inopportune moment. Now that the dirty deed is done an already skeptical world is still waiting to see some justification for the death and destruction heaped upon the Iraqi people. Where are the weapons of mass destruction? Where is the joy of the "liberated" Iraqi people? Where are the links to Al Qaeda? (Al Qaeda has now become the political version of El Nino. When there is no explanation, pin it on Al Qaeda.)

     The Wolfowitz blunder is not a devastating blow for this American government. A large percentage of the animals now walking upright on this planet already knew what a fraud this imperial gambit was. Only those basking most directly in the glow of the "Yanqui" propaganda machine (i.e.- the Americans) are still somewhat confused about all this. What's more, even if the whole fandango were completely discredited, the Bush Gang could care less. They have the guns. It's a simple-minded attitude, propagated by simple-minded people. But they are getting over confident .

     . and, at the very least, it has turned the heat up. They are being forced to bob and weave more than they had trained for. Wolfowitz has helped to smoke them out of the bush somewhat so we can get a better look at them. To wit:

     Those responsible for baby-sitting George W. can only look upon the press conference with the same reluctance a child might find in having to kiss and hug a fat, matronly aunt; OK, I guess we have to do it. I'll let the reader decide how much of a coincidence there is, but a few days after the Wolfowitz gaff, there was "Mini Me", the sour smell of damage control hanging in the air, giving one of his rare press conferences. When asked about America's damaged credibility, he had nothing better to say than, "I'm sure the weapons of mass destruction will eventually be found", and that, "America's credibility is based upon the fact that the world is now a safer, more peaceful place." It's better than mentioning the word "oil", but one might consider such an utterance a rather romantic evaluation of the post-Iraqi world. Simply being forced to spout such fables --- out loud! --- to any semi-intelligent life form, cannot help anyone's political cause.

     The President went on to link America's credibility to the fact that "Iraq is now free". Two questions immediately come to mind: 1) Can there be any country anywhere in the universe less free than Iraq? And,  2) Have these people no shame? 

     If I may take the liberty to broadly interpret the President's remarks, I think he meant that Iraq is free, and will continue to be free, as long as they follow orders.