“As we gather tonight, hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror,” Bush said. “It is tempting to believe the danger is behind us,” he continued, noting that it has been 28 months since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Bush called such hope “false,” stating, “We can go forward with confidence and resolve, or we can turn back to the dangerous illusion that terrorists are not plotting and outlaw regimes are no threat to us.”

Contrasting his administration’s course with that of his predecessor, William Clinton, Bush said, “After the World Trade Center was first attacked in 1993, some of the guilty were indicted and tried and convicted, and sent to prison. But the matter was not settled. The terrorists were still training and plotting in other nations, and drawing up more ambitious plans. After the chaos and carnage of September the 11th, it is not enough to serve our enemies with legal papers. The terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States, and war is what they got.”

Bush also answered liberal criticism that the Iraq war should not have been launched without the involvement of the United Nations. In the Democratic Party rebuttal that followed Bush’s speech, for example, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Bush “has pursued a go-it-alone foreign policy.”

Bush read off a list of 17 of the more than 30 governments that are part of his “coalition of the willing,” having sent troops to join the Anglo-American occupation. “From the beginning, America has sought international support,” he said. With plenty of arrogance, he added: “There is a difference, however, between leading a coalition of many nations and submitting to the objections of a few. America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country.”

Bush also received enthusiastic applause as he reviewed the Pentagon’s accomplishments in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Thousands of very skilled and determined military personnel are on the manhunt,” he said, referring to Afghanistan. “The once all-powerful ruler of Iraq was found in a hole, and now sits in a prison cell,” he said to a standing ovation, referring to Saddam Hussein.  
 
Bush holds up Libya as example
Bush pointed to the decision of the Libyan government last month to disclose and dismantle all of its chemical and nuclear weapons programs and facilities, effectively surrendering a good part of its sovereignty. Tripoli also accepted the imposition of a UN-sponsored inspections regime that will have the authority to snoop into any part of the country without prior notice.

“For diplomacy to be effective, words must be credible, and no one can now doubt the word of America,” Bush gloated.

“America is committed to keeping the world’s most dangerous weapons out of the hands of the most dangerous regimes,” Bush said. Under extreme pressure from Washington’s imperialist rivals in Berlin and Paris, primarily, and from Moscow, the Iranian government agreed to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities by the UN atomic agency without prior notification. Tehran took that step in exchange for a promise by those countries that they would oppose Washington’s effort to declare Iran in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which was one of Washington’s stated goals. Washington has sought the aid of Beijing along with Tokyo and Seoul to force north Korea to dismantle its nuclear power facilities and weapons programs.

The president invoked once again “democracy” and “freedom” to rationalize his administration’s imperial course, pointing to the new constitution in Afghanistan “guaranteeing free elections and full participation by women.”  
 
The war party across Congress
The Democratic rebuttal, following Bush’s speech, offered ample proof of the bipartisan character of the war party in the United States. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle both expressed broad agreement with the “war on terrorism” as a justification for stepped up military intervention by U.S. imperialism around the world.

“Democrats have an unwavering commitment to ensure that America’s armed forces remain the best-trained, best-led, best-equipped force for peace the world has ever known,” said Pelosi.

“Let there be no doubt—the state of our union is strong—stronger than the terrorists who seek to harm us,” added Daschle.

One of the Democrats’ main criticisms of the Bush administration was that it has neglected “homeland security,” leaving the domestic front more vulnerable to “terrorists.”

Bush called on Congress to renew the USA Patriot Act. Adopted in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, the act allows the police to sneak into someone’s apartment or office and search the premises without telling the owner—a violation of the Fourth Amendment guarantee against arbitrary search and seizure; to have expanded authority to wiretap phones, personal e-mail, and the Internet, supervised by special courts granting secret authorization; and to use “roving wiretaps” to monitor any phone used by an individual instead of requiring separate authorizations for each phone. Rules barring use of evidence obtained from illegal phone taps do not apply to wrongfully obtained e-mail “evidence.” The measure drops a prohibition on domestic CIA spying and allows prosecutions based on evidence obtained overseas by means that would be illegal under the Constitution.

Opposition to the act has deepened among working people as thousands of mostly immigrant workers from the Middle East have been arrested and held in prison for two years now, some without charges. It has been used against political activists like Farouk Abdel-Muhti and Sami al-Arian.

When Bush noted that some provisions of the act are set to expire next year many Democrats in the chamber applauded. The “key provisions” to which Bush referred are a tiny part of the 1,016 clauses of the law, mainly the section on phone tapping.

The candidates for the Democratic Party presidential nomination all stressed the state of the economy, rising unemployment, and health-care costs—issues on which they believe they can win their party nomination and the election this fall.  
 
Bipartisan assault on working people
Bush also defended his administration’s pragmatic social and economic policies at home, aimed at strengthening the ability of the employers to intensify labor production and discipline—which built on similar measures passed under Clinton. These policies include a series of tax measures that mostly benefit the wealthy. Bush called on Congress to make the tax cuts permanent.

He gave a pitch for his administration’s proposed immigration bill, which would create a category of “temporary workers” with work permits for a few years who are dependent on an employer to keep their legal status and subject to deportation once their visas expire. Above all, the measure would give federal authorities a list of immigrant workers they could keep track of, making it easier to deport them in case of an economic depression.

Bush revived features of the rulers’ attack on Social Security aimed at taking steps towards “privatizing” it, including a proposal to push workers to gamble with social security payments in the stock market. He commended both parties for passage of White House legislation to “reform” Medicare that, under the guise of providing a drug benefit payment to seniors, shifts more of the cost of medical care onto the backs of working people.

Reacting to recent court rulings striking down sodomy laws and recognizing civil marriages of gays, Bush said, “If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, then the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process” —implying he may back a constitutional amendment preventing marriage by individuals of the same sex that many conservatives and rightists are pushing for. “Congress has already taken a stance on this issue by passing the Defense of Marriage Act, signed in 1996 by President Clinton,” Bush said.

Bush also said he would revive efforts to allow religious charities and institutions to receive federal funding. He reported that his office has issued an executive order that would allow religious groups to compete for billions of dollars in grant funding.
 
 
Related articles:
Democracy and imperialism  
 
 
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