{"id":798573,"date":"2022-09-14T01:52:30","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T01:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/?p=133350"},"modified":"2022-09-14T01:52:30","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T01:52:30","slug":"welcome-to-war-criminals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/09\/14\/welcome-to-war-criminals\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to War Criminals!"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was the <\/em>event of the season.\u00a0 A \u201cDistinguished Speakers Series\u201d– and what speakers!\u00a0 A former secretary of state, a world-renowned hi-tech pioneer, a movie director quite famous for her films about the exploits of our glorious armed forces\u2013and, last but not least, a former president of the United States!<\/p>\n

The Beverly Hills series, despite the high-priced tickets, was sold out way in advance.\u00a0 After all, the wealthy citizens were eager to encounter, in-person, these exceptionally wealthy and successful luminaries\u2013those who had unquestionably made it \u201cto the top.\u201d\u00a0 Maybe the ex-president wasn\u2019t quite as wealthy as some of them, but he had certainly attained the ultimate prize\u2013the pinnacle of power.<\/em>\u00a0 The hushed audience suddenly broke into enthusiastic, interminable applause as the ex-president entered the stage and situated himself behind a lectern on the dais.<\/p>\n

With a welcoming smile, a young man, exquisitely dressed in an expensive suit, rose in the front row and warmly addressed the speaker and the audience.\u00a0 \u201cWe of the Welcoming Committee\u201d– an invention of his quick-witted mind\u2013\u201dcan only express our gratitude that you kindly accepted our invitation to appear before us to share your insights on global affairs.\u201d\u00a0 The two organizers of the event, elderly women who were quite socially prominent in town, were sitting on opposite sides of the auditorium.\u00a0 But they glanced over at each other in puzzlement.\u00a0 Welcoming Committee?\u00a0 Who decided on that<\/em>?<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore you begin, the Committee has asked me to humbly request that you include a couple of\u00a0 topics in your remarks.\u201d\u00a0 The man, clearly articulate and gracious in his manner, continued to smile enthusiastically at both the speaker and audience.\u00a0 Clearly, he was as eager as everyone else to hear the esteemed speaker\u2019s thoughts.\u00a0 \u201cThese are just a few points we hope you will touch upon.\u00a0 Why\u201d — he paused for a couple of seconds\u2013\u201ddid you lie about a non-existent threat of Iraqi WMDs?\u201d He paused, just for a moment, sensing unrest in the audience, but looking up with earnest respect at the speaker. \u201cOutrageous,\u201d loudly grumbled a bejeweled dowager, but mumbling that \u201che\u00a0 certainly is a polite, well-spoken young man.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crowd, shocked but nonetheless silent; after all, it would be rude to chastise the Welcoming Committee and its spokesman.\u00a0 Speaking a bit more quickly, but in his friendly, almost nonchalant tone, the man continued: \u201cWhy did you order combat and bombing that killed about one million\u2013yes, one million<\/em>\u2013innocent Iraqi people?\u00a0 And why, do you think, have over 30,000 Iraq war veterans committed suicide?\u201d<\/p>\n

At this, the initially taken-aback ex-president recovered his balance.\u00a0 \u201cWhat kind of impertinence is this,\u201d he snarled.\u00a0 \u201cIf this is a \u2018welcome,\u2019 then I don\u2019t know\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Several now-aroused audience members also shouted: \u201cThis is offensive, disrespectful!\u201d \u201cWho do you think you are!?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThis Committee must just be a bunch of Marxists!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this is<\/em> a most sincere welcome,\u201d the polite young man calmly responded in mock-surprise.\u00a0 \u201cWe are welcoming with open arms a distinguished friend<\/em>, one who has carried out just the kind of murderous, amoral, profiteering schemes which have made us all rich\u2026very rich<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Grumbling and muttering continued to spread throughout the audience.\u00a0 The two elderly organizers, first baffled but by now shocked, hurried to the back of the hall:\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019s behind this Committee?!\u00a0 Better call Security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the insouciant young man, who blithely ignored the pawing and nasty cracks of those around him, continued quietly, in a tone of wonder: \u201cDid you know, Mr. President, that an esteemed social scientist has exhaustively documented 269 war crimes that you committed?1<\/a><\/sup> \u00a0 And, fellow attendees, do you remember the great LA prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi?\u00a0 He wrote a book-length indictment, called The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIs there not a single one of you<\/em>, citizens as you are of a free country, who will back me up on these truths<\/em>?\u00a0 You see, at this moment it is not our speaker who is on trial.\u00a0 It is you<\/em>.\u00a0 Do you honor Truth?\u00a0 Do you honor Justice?\u00a0 Do you exercise your right <\/em>as citizens to question the crimes of your elected officials?\u201d\u00a0 Profound silence, punctuated by hostile mutterings, as most looked away or at the floor.\u00a0 \u201cWhere is <\/em>Security?\u201d one of the organizer-ladies angrily whispered to her counterpart.<\/p>\n

Looking up at the ex-president, still standing behind the lectern, scowling furiously but speechless, the young man turned slowly to the audience, which collectively glared and shouted at him.\u00a0 \u201cThis,\u201d he said softly, with sadness, \u201cis your unequivocal answer.\u00a0 And it makes me more afraid, for humanity, than even the terrible crimes of this war criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The doors flung wide open, and three burly security guards, armed and rushing forward, seized the young man by the neck and dragged him quickly out of sight\u2013and out of mind.<\/p>\n

Note: This story is loosely based on Iraq veteran and antiwar activist Michael Prysner<\/a>\u2019s courageous confrontation with Bush, at just such a Beverly Hills lecture, on September 19, 2021. <\/em><\/p>\n

  1. George W. Bush, War Criminal?: The Bush Administration’s Liability for 269 War Crimes<\/em>, Michael Hass, Praeger, 2008.<\/span><\/li><\/ol>The post Welcome to War Criminals!<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.\n

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It was the event of the season.\u00a0 A \u201cDistinguished Speakers Series\u201d\u2013 and what speakers!\u00a0 A former secretary of state, a world-renowned hi-tech pioneer, a movie director quite famous for her films about the exploits of our glorious armed forces\u2013and, last but not least, a former president of the United States! The Beverly Hills series, despite [\u2026]<\/p>\n

    The post Welcome to War Criminals!<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[212,135,192,714],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798573"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798573"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":798574,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798573\/revisions\/798574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}