The Big City

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Iraq faces descent into chaos, says CIA chief: “In a speech to US marines in Camp Pendleton, California he [Mr Bush] described the war in Iraq as part of the global struggle against terrorism and warned: ‘As election day approaches, we can expect further violence from the terrorists.

‘You see, the terrorists understand what is at stake. They know they have no future in a free Iraq, because free people will never choose their own enslavement. They know democracy will give Iraqis a stake in the future of their country.’

Throughout the speech, Mr Bush referred to the insurgents, who are largely Iraqis opposed to the US occupation, as terrorists.”

I’d love to ask Mr.Bush whether he would consider anyone who opposes the US militarily to be a terrorist. I think he would. He has this frightening world view which says that anything he does is legitimate because he was ‘democratically’ elected and so anyone who opposes him is de facto undemocratic. Thus anyone who fights the US politically is a subversive and anyone who fights with guns, even if they only target soldiers, is a terrorist.