The Guardian 22 March, 2006
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Charming...
The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spent three days in Australia last week. Her visit almost coincided with the anniversary of the beginning of the illegal war against Iraq. Three years on we can plainly see the results of that monstrous act and some of us are still ashamed of what had been done in our name.
Not Ms Rice, though. She has no regrets for the deed, for the dead and wounded, for the destruction and sorrow for years to come. No, she talks about "democracy" and "freedom". She is a brilliant performer, highly intelligent and is the deadliest weapon in the US administration. While Bush’s popularity is at a new low of 33 per cent, Ms Rice still enjoys hers at 52.
She is a great manipulator of the media and plays her audiences with an artistic skill. While talking to students in Sydney she had referred to her early life as a black child growing up in the racist south. It is interesting to note that it is only recently that she started to acknowledge her colour — and use it to her advantage. I remember reading an article in one of the weekend colour magazines when she was first promoted to her position.
The thing that was clear from that article was that she actually had refused to take part in student activities while she was a student — the activities that promoted black participation and racial equality, democracy and freedom.
Whatever progress was made in those times Ms Rice cannot take any credit for it and presenting herself now as a disadvantaged person reaching the top because of democratic values of American society is disingenuous.
We often hear the argument that "now in Iraq people can say what they like and that’s democracy". Big deal. They’d also like perhaps to run their own affairs and make sure that there is at least water, electricity, hospitals and jobs.
What do they get from the most democratic and freedom-loving country in the universe? You’ll never guess — jails!
The US State Department is winding down its reconstruction program in Iraq and the only new rebuilding money in its latest budget request is for prisons. The State Department’s Iraq coordinator, James Jeffrey, said he would ask Congress for US$100 million for prisons. "This is the one bit of construction we will be doing — $100 million for additional bed capacity for the Iraqi legal system". (The Age, March 2, 2006).
Somehow all these fine and sweet words of promoting "democracy and freedom" seem meaningless and empty when it comes to reality on the ground. But conned some people want to be and who better than Condi to do it.
Jan Smith
Fairfield, Victoria