Cuba TV Analyzes Bush Fundamentalism

The threats and failures of President
Bush’s warmongering fundamentalism was the main topic on
Thursday’s edition of the Cuban prime time TV and radio
show “The Round Table”

The panelists highlighted that US popular support for the war on
Iraq is dropping fast and that the peace movement is gaining
momentum at the cost of the president’s approval rating.

The Iraqi resistance actions continue targeting US troops and
the death toll has now reached 1,870. At the same time, over
14,000 American soldiers have been wounded since the beginning
of the war and the number of those that later died or are
permanently disabled has not been disclosed.

The noise being raised by anti-war activists has been so loud
that the President saw himself forced to interrupt his 5-week
vacation and tour several states trumpeting the need to stay in
Iraq, this time invoking the names of the fallen.

In three recent public appearances in Utah, Idaho and Iowa to
defend his policy Bush stated, “an immediate withdrawal of US
troops from Iraq and the broader Middle East would only embolden
terrorists and make the United States and its allies more
vulnerable to attack.” He also announced that 1,500 more fresh
troops will soon be deployed in the Arab nation.

Meanwhile, Bush’s approval rating has reached a record low since
2001, between 36 and 40 percent, on such subjects as the war,
the economy, social security system, and other domestic issues.

Special attention was given on the Round Table to the
demonstration being staged in Crawford Texas by Cindy Sheehan,
the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq. Her effort has mobilized
thousands of people nationwide to demand the immediate
withdrawal of US troops from the war torn country.

Interviewed by phone on the Round Table, former US Attorney
General Ramsey Clark stated that the anti-war movement is
growing in the United States and a big march is slated to take
place next September 24 in Washington DC. “It is expected to be
the largest mobilization we have had since March of 2003 when
the war was launched on Iraq.” He added, “constitutional
procedures to impeach President Bush are also being studied.”

The voices of discord are also coming from Congress where
representatives are rehashing the false pretenses that led to
the war in the first place. It has also been brought out that
some 6,000 people have deserted from the armed forces since the
war began.

The analysts on the Havana TV studio recalled that numerous
politicians are already posturing for the November 2006 mid-term
elections and are beginning to feel concerned with the prospects
that associating themselves with the administration’s war
policies may be a detriment to their campaigns.

Switching to the current situation in Iraq, panelists said that
the failure by the US backed regime to agree on a new
constitution is a demonstration of the internal divisions among
the different factions. The stated goal is to create three
federal states, one each belonging to the Kurds, Shiites and
Sunnis. According to analysts, this division could lead to civil
wars.

Turning to Afghanistan, the Cuban panelists noted that this year
has been the most lethal for American troops with 74 of its
soldiers killed, and that violence appears to be on the rise.

On the electoral front, there are some 8,500 candidates for the
Afghan National Assembly, and many of them are considered to be
related to the so-called “warlords.” The elections are expected
to take place with no guarantees of legitimacy whatsoever and a
price tag superior 159 million dollars, not including spending
on security.

The panelists also commented on the global wave of rejection
sparked by the recent statements made by TV evangelist Pat
Robertson calling for the assassination of the popular
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, the United Nations and most of
the US media condemned the rightwing politician’s statements,
noting that Robertson’s program is broadcast in 200 countries in
70 languages.

Although belated, the Bush administration tried to distance
itself from the preacher’s statements, while Robertson tried to
throw water on the fire by saying that his words had
been “misconstrued.” Havana, August 26 (AIN)