From Draft NOtices, May-June-July 2001
— Ray Wolf
Well, the reign of King George II certainly started off in an interesting fashion — the first person in over a century to take the White House without winning the popular vote. So what can we expect from him? Of course, there will be the usual stuff — you know, lies to the American people, assaults on welfare for people while quietly increasing corporate welfare, blatant disregard for international law except when it benefits the U.S. economic agenda, and, if needed, inventing an enemy and then bombing the hell out of that country’s civilians and infrastructure. That having been said, let’s take a look at how the Bush regime will affect those of us working for peace and social justice as well as the world at large. In this article, five primary areas of concern will be covered: military spending, North Korea, the Middle East, Colombia, and education reform.
Bush has consistently said that he will increase the Pentagon’s budget. In his inaugural address he said, "We will build our defenses beyond challenge, lest weakness invite challenge. We will confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new century is spared new horrors." Who exactly is going to seriously challenge the United States with anything but Saddam Hussein–style saber rattling? The U.S. military is already the most powerful and technologically advanced in the world, possesses the most nuclear weapons and probably the most biological and chemical weapons, and is arguably the most active and well trained. Nearly fifty percent of the federal discretionary budget goes to support past and present military expenses. How would building U.S. defenses "beyond challenge" prevent "new horrors" in this century? Many of the world’s horrors in the last 50 years were initiated or covertly instigated by this powerful military, so building it up should invoke only more of the same.