Dissident Voice

April 24, 2003

President Bush and his administration love to talk about "freedom". They trumpet the word endlessly and loudly, but the discerning ear wonders whether the note is pure in its intonation and if the volume is appropriate to the musical context of the song.

When President Bush uses the word "freedom" in the context of Iraq, he seems to refer solely to one and only one usage, while ignoring aspects of freedom that are of greater current concern to the Iraqi people themselves.

Clearly, Bush sought to provide Iraqis with freedom from the rule of a despot, Saddam Hussein. Even though Bush' motives for promoting that sort of freedom were/are suspect, the result of the invasion is that this particular sort of freedom has been imposed on the Iraqi people. And many Iraqis are happy to be free of Saddam Hussein and his brutal regime.

But does that make Iraq truly free? Obviously, many Iraqis do not feel so.

They have gained one sort of freedom, while losing another. Iraq has lost its freedom to act as a sovereign nation. The dominance of Iraq and its economy have been involuntarily transferred from one regime (Saddam Hussein) to another (George W. Bush). And many Iraqis resent this fact. Saddam Hussein dominated Iraq in order to promote his own worldview and his own financial interests. George Bush is doing exactly the same. George W. Bush has already attempted to send representatives to OPEC meetings, so that the U.S. can dominate Iraq's oil production and international dealings in the primary field of economic endeavor for Iraq. George W. Bush has already appointed a military governor of Iraq to administer Iraq's affairs in line with his own administration's world view. George W. Bush has already detained former administrators of the previous regime for his own purposes.

The great likelihood is that George W. Bush will attempt to install a puppet government in Iraq to advance U.S. interests for the foreseeable future, not the interests of the people of Iraq as interpreted by their own collective worldview.

So, in fact, Iraq has not gained its freedom. Iraq is now dominated by policy makers who live outside its own borders. Iraq now is dominated by a government whose representatives have little or no knowledge of the true will of the Iraqi people, and no desire to learn or implement the collective will of the Iraqi people. Iraq is not free, and George W. Bush does not want Iraq to be free.

When George W. Bush sings "Freedom", he misses the note, plays out of key, plays too loud, and the resultant strident cacophony distorts the real meaning of freedom.

May Iraqis soon enjoy true freedom.

Stan Moore lives in San Geronimo, CA. He can be contacted at: hawkman11@hotmail.com