The President`s inaugural address: Hollow words and tired slogans
Rauf Naqishbendi
July 28, 2007
Friday, January 28, 2005
KurdishMedia.com - By Rauf Naqishbendi
President George W. Bush’s inaugural address to the American people was remarkably well delivered. The speech was drafted almost twenty times, and in all fairness, was framed as a piece of literary brilliance that will go down as one of the greatest speeches ever given regarding human dignity and global freedom. That being said, what was missing was the heartfelt sincerity of the speaker, to the point of angering many of his listeners who felt that the words didn’t line up with the man’s true intentions, that his eloquence didn’t match his actions.
Listening to President Bush’s inaugural address, one had to wonder if he was describing America’s new approach toward global freedom or if he was merely repeating age-old slogans with modern-day words. Mr. Bush sounded like he wanted to reform the world through these new ideals about liberty and human dignity. Now there is nothing wrong with being an idealist, but ideals can rarely be substituted for reality, and it’s easier to make a promise than to keep it. Human history is replete with tales of tyrants, destructions and wars among nations, and no one has been able to put a just end to human abuses and sufferings. It would be unfair to say that the world has never been immune to changes, and that as a world superpower, the US should be able to make a difference. But to reform the entire world is an utterly impossible task for any individual or nation.
"We encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people." That’s a beautiful sentence on a surface. But what is really meant by the word "encourage"? Does that mean that tyrants have never been told to be decent? Or that thugs have never been encouraged to do right? The word "encourage" is hollow. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to use stronger language to combat human rights abuse.
"Across the generations, we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be slave." Let us examine Mr. Bush’s proclamation of the importance of self-governing and his sentiments about the master-slave relationship in the light of situations in Turkey, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. In Turkey, the Kurds make up one-third of the population, and the Turks have been committing genocide against this Kurdish minority for decades. All these years, the Kurds have been crying out about their suffering in order to express the excruciating pain of being so brutally repressed by the Turks. Yet the United States has ignored their plight and dismissed their dream for the freedom to govern themselves. To worsen matters, the US has been extending political, trade, monetary, and military aid to the government of Turkey, thus ensuring the status quo of that country. It is well known that Turkey is a welfare state that has been living on US aid for as long as the US has reined as an undisputed superpower. Turkey has received more than half a trillion US dollars since 1980 in the form of guaranteed loans, which means it’s guaranteed that the lender wouldn’t be repaid. Without this generous and unconditional aid from the US, the Turks would be unable to breed such a vicious system of people and government. That is what the US has done to prevent the Kurds from realizing their national right of statehood, and this undoubtedly contradicts Mr. Bush’s claim of America’s justice abroad and his claim for global freedom.
In Iraq, the US was well aware of Saddam’s atrocities, yet they provided Saddam with the building blocks for his weapons of mass destruction, including nerve agents, both chemical and biological. With the US’s endorsement, Saddam used every weapon of mass destruction against innocent and defenseless Kurdish civilians in Iraq, leaving them with calamities to be endured beyond the suffering generation.
This contradicts everything President Bush has proclaimed about America’s stance for freedom in the world. He further stated, "America’s influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America’s influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom’s cause." This is another rhetoric of empty words bereft of genuine action and heartfelt conviction. Last year, the Kurds in Iraq held a referendum on their independence. More than a million and a half eligible voters cast their vote in favor of an independent Kurdish state. That was a democratic process in which the people’s voice and will should have been respected. Instead, the Bush administration ignored the right of the Kurds to pursue independence in order to please the Turkish and Saudi tyrants opposing that independence.
"In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty." Again Mr. Bush had made a mockery of liberty. Consider how the US gives undivided attention and support to the Saudi royal family. This is the same family that has deprived their people of every liberty known to mankind and has made every effort to thwart the spread of liberty in the Middle East.
Mr. Bush spoke eloquently of liberty and global freedom. It is only through freedom that human dignity can survive, it is only through liberty that cultures can prosper and flourish, and it is only through justice that peace and tranquility can be enjoyed. To bring about more positive changes to humanity, human rights need to be unconditional and applicable to every race on earth. If human rights continue to be selectively applied, then humanity will remain as divided as it has been for ages, and horrible abuses against humanity will continue to thrive.
KurdishMedia.com - By Rauf Naqishbendi
President George W. Bush’s inaugural address to the American people was remarkably well delivered. The speech was drafted almost twenty times, and in all fairness, was framed as a piece of literary brilliance that will go down as one of the greatest speeches ever given regarding human dignity and global freedom. That being said, what was missing was the heartfelt sincerity of the speaker, to the point of angering many of his listeners who felt that the words didn’t line up with the man’s true intentions, that his eloquence didn’t match his actions.
Listening to President Bush’s inaugural address, one had to wonder if he was describing America’s new approach toward global freedom or if he was merely repeating age-old slogans with modern-day words. Mr. Bush sounded like he wanted to reform the world through these new ideals about liberty and human dignity. Now there is nothing wrong with being an idealist, but ideals can rarely be substituted for reality, and it’s easier to make a promise than to keep it. Human history is replete with tales of tyrants, destructions and wars among nations, and no one has been able to put a just end to human abuses and sufferings. It would be unfair to say that the world has never been immune to changes, and that as a world superpower, the US should be able to make a difference. But to reform the entire world is an utterly impossible task for any individual or nation.
"We encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people." That’s a beautiful sentence on a surface. But what is really meant by the word "encourage"? Does that mean that tyrants have never been told to be decent? Or that thugs have never been encouraged to do right? The word "encourage" is hollow. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to use stronger language to combat human rights abuse.
"Across the generations, we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be slave." Let us examine Mr. Bush’s proclamation of the importance of self-governing and his sentiments about the master-slave relationship in the light of situations in Turkey, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. In Turkey, the Kurds make up one-third of the population, and the Turks have been committing genocide against this Kurdish minority for decades. All these years, the Kurds have been crying out about their suffering in order to express the excruciating pain of being so brutally repressed by the Turks. Yet the United States has ignored their plight and dismissed their dream for the freedom to govern themselves. To worsen matters, the US has been extending political, trade, monetary, and military aid to the government of Turkey, thus ensuring the status quo of that country. It is well known that Turkey is a welfare state that has been living on US aid for as long as the US has reined as an undisputed superpower. Turkey has received more than half a trillion US dollars since 1980 in the form of guaranteed loans, which means it’s guaranteed that the lender wouldn’t be repaid. Without this generous and unconditional aid from the US, the Turks would be unable to breed such a vicious system of people and government. That is what the US has done to prevent the Kurds from realizing their national right of statehood, and this undoubtedly contradicts Mr. Bush’s claim of America’s justice abroad and his claim for global freedom.
In Iraq, the US was well aware of Saddam’s atrocities, yet they provided Saddam with the building blocks for his weapons of mass destruction, including nerve agents, both chemical and biological. With the US’s endorsement, Saddam used every weapon of mass destruction against innocent and defenseless Kurdish civilians in Iraq, leaving them with calamities to be endured beyond the suffering generation.
This contradicts everything President Bush has proclaimed about America’s stance for freedom in the world. He further stated, "America’s influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America’s influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom’s cause." This is another rhetoric of empty words bereft of genuine action and heartfelt conviction. Last year, the Kurds in Iraq held a referendum on their independence. More than a million and a half eligible voters cast their vote in favor of an independent Kurdish state. That was a democratic process in which the people’s voice and will should have been respected. Instead, the Bush administration ignored the right of the Kurds to pursue independence in order to please the Turkish and Saudi tyrants opposing that independence.
"In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty." Again Mr. Bush had made a mockery of liberty. Consider how the US gives undivided attention and support to the Saudi royal family. This is the same family that has deprived their people of every liberty known to mankind and has made every effort to thwart the spread of liberty in the Middle East.
Mr. Bush spoke eloquently of liberty and global freedom. It is only through freedom that human dignity can survive, it is only through liberty that cultures can prosper and flourish, and it is only through justice that peace and tranquility can be enjoyed. To bring about more positive changes to humanity, human rights need to be unconditional and applicable to every race on earth. If human rights continue to be selectively applied, then humanity will remain as divided as it has been for ages, and horrible abuses against humanity will continue to thrive.