Open Letter from Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey to President Bush

Since you so obviously have as much knowledge of history as you do of geography, allow me to elucidate: there was no military confrontation between the US armed forces and the Soviet Union. This conflict did not take place because as everyone now knows, war games showed repeatedly that the Soviet Union would have won.

As everyone now knows, the US armed forces only ever go to battle when the enemy is too weak to fight back. As everyone now knows, the US armed forces only ever attack countries which have no weapons of mass destruction which the Soviet Union had, not as many as yourselves, but enough.

I would ask you to explain exactly what you meant by "the fall of an evil empire". The Soviet Union was neither an empire nor did it fall. It transformed. It became the Russian Federation because its work was done, its goals achieved. The Soviet Union, Mr. President, transformed a backward, medieval, feudal and unjust society into one in which everyone enjoys by birthright an education and a chance to follow whatever career he or she chooses. The Soviet Union, Mr. President, was responsible for leaving each and every one of its citizens admirably prepared to compete for any job in any walk of life anywhere in the world with any other candidate.

What in your enlightened opinion is an evil empire, Mr. President? Is it one which sends aircraft flying into buildings? Yes, I am referring to September 11th, but not the one in New York. You will remember that Salvador Allende was murdered by an aircraft flying into the presidential palace in Santiago, Chile...a plot hatched by the CIA.

Is an evil empire one which targets journalists the way a US tank did in Baghdad, firing straight into the belly of a hotel? Is an evil empire one whose troops point their rifles in the faces of six-year-old boys and yell "Get ya f****** hands up, NOW!" Is an evil empire one which drops bombs on civilian housing?

Is an evil empire one which invents lies about other countries having WMD and then launches one of the most savage attacks in history, murdering thousands of innocent civilians? Is an evil empire one which uses bullying and bribery, instead of discussion and diplomacy, in the lobby of the UN Security Council?

Is an evil empire one which does not respect freedom of the press? Is an evil empire one which bombs the offices of Al Jazeera, on purpose, in Kabul and again in Baghdad, murdering a journalist?

Of course, sending people to their deaths is nothing new for you Mr. President, as the citizens of Texas will no doubt remember. However, if you would kindly refrain from taking your murderous policies abroad and watch what you say, you would find that people begin to smile at your country, instead of sneering.