Babe's Eye View
By Babe Romualdez
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Babe's Eye View By Babe Romualdez |
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Collin
Powell’s presentation to the UN Security Council was so detailed he
divulged so much of US intelligence capabilities and high-tech operations
and hardware to the public. Even US ambassador Frank Ricciardone
was surprised at how much was given away. Woven into Powell’s
tapestry of evidences was an imposing array of intelligence operations,
satellite and ultra high-tech surveillance systems that seemed to jump off
from every other statement he made. He even admits it outright, “The
material I will present comes from a variety of sources… Some of the
sources are technical, such as intercepted telephone conversations and
photos taken by satellites. Other sources are people who have risked their
lives to let the world know what Saddam Hussein is really up
to.” His words were simple and clear enough for all to understand –
“These are not assertions… What we’re giving you are facts and
conclusions based on solid intelligence.” Call it a bit thick and
unbelievable, but the United States today, through advanced satellite
technology, has the power to snoop into any telephone call or even
intercept cellular phone text messages from any point of the globe. Think
about it: they can pinpoint you from anywhere in the world with almost the
same accuracy of a hunter’s rifle scope. The war machinery of the US
since the 1992 Desert Storm has improved by leaps and bounds. The
technology that moves its missile guiding systems have grown so precise
that no munitions bunker or missile silo, no matter how disguised, could
possibly escape its electronic eyes. Their “smart bombs” are now
smarter than ever and can track the enemy down with deadly precision
through the use of a sophisticated global positioning satellite system.
And it is apparent the Pentagon is just all too eager to try out these
high-tech military hardware. Their message to Saddam is clear: your
time is up. Americans will do everything – even come close to
compromising entirely their codes of secrecy – to get Saddam Hussein
out of power. It was also perfectly clear that after 9-11, Saddam
was considered a real threat to the US based on intelligence reports from
their agents all over the world, particularly in Iraq. Many
believe the real global threat, however, will not come only from Iraq’s
weapons of mass destruction, but primarily from Saddam Hussein’s
very character. In the book The
Threatening Storm by Kenneth Pollack, the author
describes in no uncertain terms the mind that moves Saddam Hussein. Pollack, an analyst for the CIA and the National Security Council,
has been hot on the heels of the Iraqi president for the past 15 years. He
was, in fact, one of only three CIA analysts who predicted the invasion of
Kuwait by Iraq. The author frames Saddam Hussein’s regime
to be the most brutal since Stalinist Russia. As
I read through the book, Saddam Hussein, whose ambition it
seems is as huge as his ego, calls himself by many different names, most
of which came from historic figures, like King Nebuchadnezzar
of Babylon who conquered Israel during biblical times, and Saladin,
the Islamic general who defeated the Crusaders and retook Jerusalem for
Islam. Saddam is a person obsessed with history and his perceived
role in it. He also likes to call himself al-ayyam
al-tawila, which means, “the leader of the days of Arab glory.”
Sounds like Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. The Iraqi president
was also said to have stated that he wants to put up an Arab Union of some
kind, led by a powerful Iraq. From these alone, one can already see what Saddam
has in mind: he wants to set himself as the leader of a new superpower.
This, I am absolutely sure, is one option not even countries like France
and Germany who are now opposed to this war with Iraq would ever consider,
much less agree with. Karen
Brooks, a White House official at the NSC, was here in Manila
recently to brief PGMA in advance on the evidences against Iraq.
She was also here to finalize PGMA’s state visit to Washington
this coming April. Karen shared with me some insights into Bush’s
personality. She said the US president is the type of person who gets
extremely emotional when it concerns the lives of people, especially,
American lives. Anyone who has worked under the wing of the US president
can attest to this, she said, all the more when the 9-11 tragedy happened.
Karen related that during the memorial service for the victims of
9-11, everyone at the White House noticed how deeply moved and troubled Bush
was just by looking at his face. He is the type, Karen explains,
that takes this kind of tragedy to heart, as well as personally, and all
the more when it concerns human life. In that memorial service, the US
president promised the families of the victims that the death of their
loved ones will not be in vain. No
one can dispute that war should be employed only as a last resort. Perhaps
recent history too has a lot to do with why America is hell bent on waging
war with Iraq. During the 40s, no American would ever believe that the US,
particularly Pearl Harbor, was a prime target for the Japanese Imperial
regime. It was a mistake that cost Washington more than 2,000 American
servicemen and millions of dollars in war machinery. The same is true
before 9-11. After their military victory during Desert Storm, after the
strong line of offensive and defensive maneuvers America conducted during
the Gulf War, after their bold participation in the Bosnian conflict, who
would even think of attacking the US right within their shores, much less
at the very heart of its business district? Neglect, if you can call it
that, which in history was so typical of the US, caused the total collapse
of one of America’s symbols of economic power, and likewise, it cost
their country 3,000 civilian lives. Today, the lives of Americans
everywhere – and all people for that matter -- is under the threat of
terror. Global peace is virtually hanging by a thread. Certainly,
Americans would not take such a threat to their peace and security sitting
down. They are convinced there is ample evidence to prove that Saddam Hussein has become a real and present danger to the world. Which
validates what Pollack said in his book that in the case of Iraq,
the US has come to the last resort. As Bush said recently, “This
dictator has been playing games with the world.” Addressing Saddam, Bush said, “The game is over.” And so, when Bush comes to shove, America will go to war. ######### Email: babeseyeview@hotmail.com |
