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Take ResponsibilityWhen David Kay told the New York Times the story of his Iraq experience, he gave astrologers and anyone open to the astrological perspective yet another clue as to how the Saturn conjunction on the United States Sun is impacting Bush Administration's policy towards Iraq. As David Risen wrote in the January 26, 2004 edition of the Times,“Dr. Kay, a former United Nations inspector who was brought in last summer to run the Iraq Survey Group by George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, said he resigned his post largely because he disagreed with the decision in November by the administration and the Pentagon to shift intelligence resources from the hunt for banned weapons to counterinsurgency efforts inside Iraq.” The key piece of information in this passage is that the Bush Administration itself admitted in November of 2003, with Saturn hovering within minutes of the United States' natal Sun, and the President's natal Sun, that there were likely no WMDs to be found in Iraq. In “It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn”, I wrote: “Saturn is a planet that astrologers associate with the need to accommodate the demands of physical reality, and with testing the theoretical and material foundations of all human activity.” We now know that the stated core theoretical premise behind the Bush Administration's policy towards Iraq was spectacularly unsound. By their actions in shifting resources away from the Iraq Survey Group, even the Bush Administration was acknowledging the error of their ways. Administration defenders now argue that removing Hussein for any reason was a beneficial undertaking in itself, and that the Iraqi people are better because of it. This strikes the reasonable observer as an attempt to employ an “ends justifies the means” rationale in order to evade taking responsibility for a now spectacularly discredited assertion. The cosmic principle that Saturn represents demands that individuals or Administrations ultimately take responsibility for their actions. Moreover, while removing a butcher like Hussein can bring great benefit to the human community, I believe that there are significant United States and international concerns that were imperiled in achieving this benefit. For instance, expressed in purely utilitarian terms, was removing Hussein worth the fiscal and human cost to the United States – especially in comparison to the much lesser cost that would have been incurred if a true multi-lateral humanitarian approach had been pursued? As of February 2004, over 500 American soldiers have died, and over 10,000 others have been medically evacuated from Iraq. The war itself has drained United States coffers of over $150 billion dollars. In comparison, in 1991 the United States incurred only a small percentage of the cost for removing Hussein from Kuwait. The cost to the United States' prestige, and the credibility of our intelligence services, is clearly off the scale – as is the cost to our efforts at bringing the “War on Terror” to a successful conclusion. In “Saturn and the Rush to War” I wrote: “Moreover, had the Bush Administration instead chosen to emphasize Hussein's obvious record of "crimes against humanity" – and even brought an actual indictment against the Hussein regime in the Hague (an approach originally advocated by Tom Andrews, of Win Without War) – rather than base its case on questionable intelligence and dubious claims of national interest, it might have retained the intellectual high-ground within the Muslim world. Clearly, an invasion in which America and its allies were truly seen as liberators would have dramatically suppressed any potential for al Queda recruitment in its aftermath.” It is obvious that Bush Administration policy has only enhanced terrorist recruitment efforts, and hence made the world that much more dangerous – especially in comparison to what might have been had Bush taken Massachusetts Senator John Kerry's admonition to heart, and taken the time, and done what was necessary, to build a truly multi-lateral international coalition to hold Hussein accountable. After 9/11, and with the Congressional authorization in hand, Bush had the leverage with the United Nations to make the case that Hussein's crimes against his own people, including his ongoing diversion of precious economic resources from the UN administered “oil for food” program, warranted an indictment of his Regime at the Hague. Bush could have chosen to establish a noble and life-affirming international precedent – and sent a message to dictators and despots everywhere that the international community was no longer willing to sit idly by while innocents perished. He could have used the leverage given to him by Congress to elevate the entire debate, and establish a new line in the sand with regard to human rights around the world. He instead chose to manipulate American public opinion into believing that Hussein was somehow actively involved in 9/11. He further chose to exploit inconclusive American and British intelligence, and use it as a weapon to bully and coerce both domestic opponents, and the international community, into supporting a premature, ideologically-inspired military campaign. The Bush Administration must take full responsibility for leading the nation and the world down an uncertain, and unnecessarily dangerous, path. Furthermore, it must also take full responsibility for deliberately misleading the American people into believing that Hussein was somehow actively involved in the attack on 9/11 – in the process, fundamentally undermining one of the core principles of a healthy democracy. If a people cannot trust their government to accurately represent the facts on why their sons and daughters must go to war, then suspicion and conspiracy will inevitably supplant confidence, duty, and love of country in their hearts. Matthew Carnicelli © 2004. All rights reserved. Originally published February 8, 2004. For more on Saturn's conjunction of the United States Sun see: Darkness Ascending Documenting the Impact of Cosmic Gravity, Part II Getting to Know You Documenting the Impact of Cosmic Gravity, Part I The Reagan Legacy Laying Naked Neo-Conservative Incompetence Why John Kerry Matters The Turning Point Saturn and the Rush to War Mission Accomplished? Rumsfeld Awakens from the Dream A Viewer's Guide to a Gathering Storm It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn |