The Gulf Crisis and New World Order — Page 370
Sampling of public opinion on the Gulf War The Toronto Star Sunday, August 2, 1992 ETHICS History will judge Bush guilty of monstrous crimes George Bush uttering threats of renewed bombing against Iraq (hoping to regain momentum in his bid for a second term?), is still trying to pass off Operation Desert Storm as a victory for God, freedom and all that is noble and just. You can hear it in almost every speech. This rhetoric will increase as November election draws closer. It is near blasphemous cant. Saddam Hussain may be a despicable, second-rate despot, but George Bush is no hero despite his posing. His war in the gulf was no victory for the forces of light over darkness. It was an u nnecessary unmitigated disaster. Until now, Bush and company - largely through a massive and wholly unprecedented manipulation of media coverage of the war itself - have been able to sustain the official mythology that the gulf war was a clear case of the good guys versus the bad guys. This is the familiar stance of the victors in any combat. But by now, even the most blind are beginning to see through the lies. The truth is that Bush and those closest to him in the decision to pulverize Iraq will one day be judged by history as war criminals guilty of crimes more monstrous than those of Saddam Hussein himself. Obviously this is not the accepted wisdom. But, io case anyone thinks I am alone in this view, let me tell you a story that all the major big-business media in the U. S. deliberately blanked out of coverage. It concerns the work and sessions of a 22 member War Crimes Tribunal which held public hearings in New York a few months ago. The panelists on the tribunal were distinguished citiz. ens from five continents, including two from Canada, a labor leader from Ontario and a prominent jurist from Quebec. On Feb. 29, after five hours of hearing and viewing testimony gathered by the Commission of Enquiry during the previous 12 months, the panel read out their verdict. They found George Bush and others in his administration guilty of 19 charges of war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes 370