http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1030-24.htm

Bush Win Would Mean Dark Times

World Would Perceive Support For Preemptive War

October 30
by Helen Thomas

The presidential election on Tuesday is one of the most crucial in
American history.

There are many reasons -- in foreign policy and on the domestic front --
why President George W. Bush should not be reelected.

Among them is the dominance of the radical right in his advisory
councils, who are taking the United States down the wrong road at the
start of the 21st century.

The road could lead to more mindless wars abroad and a widening gap
between the rich and the poor in this country.

There will be only one way to read the election results if Bush wins: The
world will see his victory as an affirmation by the American people of
his disastrous preemptive war policy, which led the United States to
invade Iraq without provocation.

The U.S. attack on Iraq is a clear violation of international law and has
made us helpless to condemn others for similar acts.

If he wins reelection, Bush may see his victory as a signal to follow the
neo-conservative dream of a political transformation of the Middle East
through military force.

The president also would likely continue his new-style isolationism by
giving short shrift to post-World War II treaties, such as those banning
biological and chemical weapons. There is nothing to indicate Bush is
willing to stop the gross violations of the Geneva Conventions on the
humane treatment of prisoners of war.

Dark reports of the shameful treatment and secret transfers of detainees
still emanate from Iraq and the U.S. brig at the Guantanamo Bay base in
Cuba.

Despite his vehement denials, Bush may be compelled to call for another
military draft if he persists in making war.

He is scraping by now with his all-volunteer military, along with
reservists and National Guard members, keeping them on duty longer than
planned with a so-called a back-door draft. If he wins a second term, he
wouldn't have to worry about running again and would have a free hand to
undo his read-my-lips campaign promises.

On the homefront, the rich will be sitting pretty again with big tax cuts
while the budget deficit and national debt zoom sky high.

Bush donors from the military-industrial complex are being well rewarded,
especially Halliburton, formerly headed by Vice President ***** Cheney,
which already has reaped no-bid contracts to the tune of billions of
dollars.

Organized labor will still be behind the eight ball under a new Bush
administration. Workers will be pressured to accept "comp time" in place
of overtime pay, and the lowered safety standards imposed by Bush's Labor
Department will lead to more industrial accidents.

Don't expect Bush to lift a finger to stem the tide of outsourcing of the
nation's biggest companies to China, India and other points East, where
they can find cheaper labor.

The president is certain to follow through on his pet project to
privatize part of the Social Security system with voluntary private
investment accounts, driving a big hole in the program's trust fund. We
should all hope that Congress won't go along with such a dangerous idea.

Social Security was the 1936 Depression-era program to support the
elderly, the disabled and deprived dependent children.

Senior citizens, meantime, are staying away in droves from Bush's highly
touted prescription drug program, which the administration publicly
underpriced by $1 billion. Furthermore, the resident's compassionate
conservative legislation banned importation of cheaper drugs from Canada.
That is not expected to change in a new Bush term.

Bush also wants to cater to corporate interests by capping damages in
medical malpractice suits at $250,000.

If reelected, Bush -- who has injected religion into public affairs more
than any president has in modern times -- is expected to continue his
messianic mission in the White House. He will blur even more the
separation of church and state.

Bush undoubtedly will see his reelection as a mandate to push the country
further to the right. And if he elected, he will be answerable to no one.