‘My Fellow Americans…

April 2003

April 1, 2003; Washington, DC–These perilous times have led record numbers of you to speak out. You have taken to the streets, to the Internet, and to countless town meetings and civic gatherings to articulate your opposition to unnecessary war. I assure you that I, George Walker Bush, your President, elected by almost as many votes as the front-runner, have heard you.

“Thoughtful, sober deliberation leads me to conclude that the times demand a change in direction. Foolish pride will not keep us on a collision course with disaster. It is never too late to draw back from the abyss of war. Thus, I announce the following changes in American policy.

“First, I have accepted the resignations of John Ashcroft, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice, and Paul Wolfowitz.

“Second, there will be a cessation of armed hostilities with Iraq. War, with its inevitable atrocities, can only be justified if the alternatives are demonstrably worse. Any nefarious actions Iraq may contemplate are being ably contained by ongoing inspections. There is no need to kill hundreds of thousands of people to prevent actions already being controlled.

“Third, we will no longer attempt to forge ‘alliances’ with poorer countries through offers of weaponry. As a student of history, I recognize that it was such bribery during the Iran/Iraq conflict that landed us in this mess to begin with. As the world’s largest weapons manufacturer and dealer, the responsibility for non-proliferation lies squarely with the US.

“Fourth, as the globe’s most powerful nation, the US inevitably exercises enormous influence in the affairs of smaller countries. Fairness demands that we remain diligent that our power not be exploited to dictate from afar the practices and policies of peoples without a voice in how that power is used. I have heard, and respect, the global outcry against militaristic unilateralism.

“Fifth, war will create hardships that are themselves the breeding grounds for resentments that grow into terrorism. Forward-looking, enlightened self-interest demands we find peaceful ways to resolve our disputes.

“Sixth, I recognize that war wastes more than lives. It squanders resources on destruction, resources that could be used instead to create roads, build schools, and fund health care. War must never be manufactured to enrich a few oil tycoons and industrialists at the expense of poor and working Americans.

“And seventh, history teaches us that war-fears can be exploited by unscrupulous politicians for partisan interests ultimately destructive to our nation’s well-being. The Palmer raids following World War I, the concentration camps used to intern thousands of US citizens of Japanese descent during World War II, the Cold War’s horrid McCarthyism, and the abuses of civil rights under the Vietnam war as prosecuted by Nixon and Kissinger all serve as examples of how war endangers the very freedoms that we are supposedly fighting for.

“Ultimately, our strength flows from the Bill of Rights. Any attempt, however seductive in the short-run, to abridge those rights inevitably weakens us. To be ‘the land of the free and the brave’ requires dedication to upholding civil liberties, especially in difficult times. Thus, I am withholding funding for implementation of the ‘Patriot Act.’ I have also instructed government agencies to cease ethnic profiling and rededicate themselves to the American proposition that all of us are to be judged as individuals, not as members of politically vulnerable groups.

“I am confident that these seven steps will lead to a stronger America and a more just and peaceful world.

“With humility in my heart, I close this April 1st message– God bless the entire world.”

Pasted from <http://guidemag.com/magcontent/invokemagcontent.cfm?ID=59B62395-FAF1-47AD-B35ABA1241483EB8>