the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Dec 10, 2018
For days on end, the bosses’ media and politicians from both parties waxed poetic about former President George H. W. Bush. He was eulogized as a symbol of a “bygone-era” of civility in politics, memorialized for his call for a “kinder, gentler” nation.
In reality, he was hardly a “kinder, gentler” politician. As director of the CIA, Bush propped up the murderous regime of Augusto Pinochet, a regime that jailed, tortured and killed thousands of Chileans.
This is the same Bush who served as Vice President when the Reagan administration was carrying out the Iran-Contra Affair. This was a secret plot in which the U.S. sold arms to Iran, then supposedly an enemy of the U.S. Profits from the arms sales were in part used to fund U.S.-backed Contra rebels attempting to overthrow the leftist Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.
For seven years, Bush refused to cooperate with investigators about the Iran contra affair, by turning over his diaries. Sound familiar?
Shortly after taking office as President, Bush proceeded to pardon six top Reagan officials implicated in Iran-Contra.
During his election campaign for President, Bush ran an infamous campaign ad linking the release from prison of Willie Horton, a convicted rapist, to his opponent, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. For many years, it was considered the most racist campaign ad ever run.
As President, Bush directed the U.S. invasion of Panama. An estimated 3,000 Panamanians died in the attack. And for what?
The U.S. also carried out its first war against Iraq under Bush. The U.S. went to war supposedly in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait under Saddam Hussein, previously a U.S. ally.
Part of the justification for this Iraq war was the claim that Iraqi soldiers were pulling babies from incubators in Kuwaiti hospitals. A 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl testified before Congress she had witnessed these crimes. She was actually living in Washington, D.C. at the time and was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador!
The first Iraq war set the stage for the second one, with all its terrible costs.
A “kinder, gentler” president? What a crock!