[Peace-discuss] (no subject)

[C. G. Estabrook]

MECCA, March 22, 2005 -- President Osama B. Laden today called for a
"regime change" in the United States, saying the military dictatorship led
by unelected strongman George Walker Bush "is an ever-present threat to
world peace."

Speaking in Mecca at a rally marking his first year in power, the Saudi
president said that "issues of national sovereignty are beside the point
when the civilized world is faced with the possibility of untold carnage.
Bush has long been developing weapons of mass destruction. He has
announced his willingness to use them. He refuses to abide by
international treaties to curtail these tools of evil. I will not wait on
events while dangers gather. We must act."

Laden said the "last straw" was the Bush regime's refusal to allow United
Nations inspectors into the United States. Saudi Arabia and its allies
have demanded that the United States give international inspectors a free
hand throughout the country, with access to all military installations,
government offices, businesses and private homes, including the White
House.

In response, Commander Bush -- as he has been known since declaring
martial law shortly before the 2004 U.S. elections -- said he "will never
surrender the sovereignty of the great American people" and called on the
nation to "gird yourself for war."

Bush once again denounced the sanctions imposed on the United States by
the Saudi-led coalition, which cut off all oil shipments to America and
blockaded its ports to prevent other nations from trading with the Bush
regime. The resulting economic collapse has led to thousands of deaths
from disease, starvation and neglect, say some analysts. "This is
blackmail, pure and simple, and our children are dying from it," said
Bush.
 
Saudi officials dismissed the casualty claims as "rank propaganda," but
added that any such deaths are the responsibility of the Bush regime
itself. "It's up to Bush to meet our just demands, eliminate his weapons
of mass destruction, and open his country to international supervision,"
said Khalil Pow-El, the Saudi foreign minister. "It's his call."

Pow-El said Saudi Arabia will continue to enforce the sanctions with
regular bombing raids in the "no-fly zones" it has established over
Florida, New York, Texas and California. He brushed aside American claims
that hundreds of civilians have been killed in these airstrikes. "There
may have been a few inadvertent casualties," Pow-El said. "But that's
because Bush continues to put military installations near civilian
population centers. The blood's on his hands, not ours."

In his speech yesterday, President Laden called for even tougher action.
"We're moving on to the next phase in the war on terror," he told the
cheering crowds. "I do not say when we will strike. I do not say how we
will strike. But make no mistake: this evil will not stand. We will deal
with Mr. Bush."

Laden's aggressive stance has drawn some muted criticism at home. A few
dissidents say he is using the "permanent war" against "worldwide American
terrorism" to legitimize his own hold on power after taking office in a
disputed election last year.

After the royal family abdicated during the turmoil unleashed by the
Second Gulf War, Laden ran for the presidency of the newly established
Union of Saudi Arabia (U.S.A.). Although he finished second in the
national balloting, Laden was awarded the office in a controversial split
decision by the Saudi High Court. Several of the judges had political and
financial connections to Laden and his influential family.

Early in his term, Laden saw his poll ratings decline as he failed to
grapple with the country's deep-seated economic problems, focusing instead
on pushing an agenda of religious conservatism and tax breaks for his
wealthy backers in the oil industry. His presidency was transformed last
autumn, however, when an alleged CIA covert operation against oil fields
outside Riyadh resulted in more than 3,000 civilian deaths.

Laden's popularity soared as the nation rallied around the government
following the attack. In a ringing speech at the Dome of the Rock, Laden
denounced the "evildoers" who "hate our way of life" and vowed to "bring
them to justice, dead or alive." The Saudi Congress immediately passed the
U.S.A. Patriot Act, giving Laden sweeping emergency powers to launch
military action anywhere in the world and to crack down on suspected
terrorists and "terrorist sympathizers" at home.

Some Saudi allies, including New Kurdistan (formerly northern Iraq),
Greater Kuwait (which annexed southern Iraq) and the Iranian Empire (which
incorporated Baghdad and central Iraq after the Second Gulf War), urged
caution in pursing an enforced "regime change" in the United States.

"We all want to ease the danger posed by Bush's weapons of mass
destruction," said a top Iranian diplomat, who asked not be identified.
"But we are uneasy with the notion that a powerful nation can simply
attack any country it dislikes or fears or finds inconvenient and replace
its leadership. Especially in the absence of any direct threat or
aggressive action by the targeted country.

"What's more, it seems that President Laden's moral outrage is a bit
selective," the official continued. "For example, China has a vast arsenal
of weapons of mass destruction, and a very harsh, aggressive regime to
boot -- but you don't see Laden and the U.S.A. getting ready to bomb
Beijing. No, I'm afraid this 'regime change' rhetoric is just the same old
trick we've seen throughout history: Using fancy words to get ordinary
people to kill and die for the twisted ambitions of their leaders."

--By Chris Floyd, Moscow Times

  ==============================================================
  C. G. Estabrook
  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [MC-190]
  109 Observatory, 901 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana IL 61801 USA
  office: 217.244.4105 mobile: 217.369.5471 home: 217.359.9466  
  academic: <galliher at alexia.lis.uiuc.edu> 
  business: <cge at shout.net>
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