Behind the Chairman’s Door

A few weeks ago, when the South Asian Tribune ran a story that the United States was planning a coup to remove General Musharraf from power, I honestly didn’t put alot of thought into it. There is always a coup of some kind in process in Pakistan, whether it comes from the religio-fascists that don’t want development; the opposition parties that can’t get their hands in the cookie jar; or the military who is not interested in watching another round of failed democracy that leads to more debt. But, when today’s DAWN, Pakistan’s largest English newspaper, ran a story with the headline 66% want exiled leaders back, I couldn’t help but read the details.

Since most of my background is from the United States, having spent 25 years there, the name International Republican Institute rang a bell in the back of my mind, so like any normal person, I googled it. What I found was that the International Republican Institute is a backroom organization funded by the Republican Party and the US Congress to overthrow elected governments.

Well, well, well, looks like Dubya has his hand in the cookie jar again.

The International Republican Institute, founded in 1983, is “dedicated to advancing democracy, freedom, self-government, and the rule of law worldwide.” IRI states that it is an independent, nonprofit institute that is not affiliated with the Republican Party, and “is guided by the fundamental American principles of individual liberty, the rule of law, and the entrepreneurial spirit.” This project, which aimed to create a quasi-governmental instrument for U.S. political aid, came to fruition in 1982 when President Ronald Reagan proposed a new organization to promote free-market democracies around the world, the National Endowment for Democracy. In 1983 Congress approved the creation of NED, which was funded primarily through the U.S. Information Agency and secondarily through USAID.

The early focus of IRI was Central America and the Caribbean—a region that in the 1980s was the cutting edge of the Reagan administration’s revival of counterinsurgency and counter-revolutionary operations. After the Soviet bloc began to disintegrate in 1989, IRI says it “broadened its reach to support democracy around the globe.” IRI has channeled U.S. political aid to partners—which like itself are often creations of U.S. funding—in 75 countries, and it currently has operations in 50 countries.

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) in an article about the IRI stated: “The International Republican Institute, an organization that describes itself as being dedicated to “advancing democracy, freedom, self-government and the rule of law worldwide,” has in the last two decades earned the questionable distinction of being perhaps the least-known of a group of lethal Washington institutions devoted to the trade of nation-building, or more accurately termed, nation undermining. Despite its elaborate rhetoric and claims to nonpartisanship, the IRI in fact operates as the powerful and well-funded foreign policy arm of the ultra rightist wing of the U.S. Republican Party. It is far more ideological and operational than its Democratic Party counterpart, the National Democratic Institute, and is less concerned with democracy building than hunting down leftists and crushing their causes. It would not be too much to say that the IRI engages in anti-populist witch-hunts with far more enthusiasm than any of its research efforts exploring the history or politics of those countries where it wreaks its havoc.”

The IRI Board of Directors is made up a plentatude of Bush neo-con, from Senators John McCain (Chairman) & Chuck Hagel, Brent Scowcroft (National Security Advisor to Bush Sr.), Lawrence Eagleburger (Sec of State under Bush Sr.) and Jeane Kirkpatrick. The entire Board is made up of hardline Republicans that have supported George W Bush in his “War On Islam.”

They have been the topic of numerous articles by publications like Mother Jones, Source Watch, Right Web, People’s Weekly World, Counter Punch, Cooperative Research and Wikipedia. All of which provide a wealth of information about the activities and operations of this radical right wing neo-con Republican “institute.”

What scared me was the speech that Dubya gave in May of 2005 at a dinner sponsored by the IRI. Dubya said “I appreciate the work IRI is doing to advance the cause of liberty. IRI has been at the forefront of democratic change in more than a hundred countries. You’ve trained the next generation of leaders, you’ve strengthened political parties, you’ve monitored elections, and you’re helping to build civil societies. The world is safer and freer and more peaceful because of the International Republican Institute. Thank you for your good work.” When Dubya says they have been at the forefront of democratic change in more than a hundred countries, you have to be concerned about what they are actually doing.

He continued: “These are incredibly exciting times. They should be exciting times for everybody — because freedom is making unprecedented progress across the globe. In the last 18 months, we have witnessed revolutions of Rose, Orange, Purple, Tulip and Cedar — and these are just the beginnings. Across the Caucasus and Central Asia, hope is stirring at the prospect of change — and change will come. Across the broader Middle East, we are seeing the rise of a new generation whose hearts burn for freedom — and they will have it.”

If you read the entire transcript of the speech, it puts a chill down your spine that the US government will spare no excuse to destablise and cause unrest, all in the name of radical Christianity… oops… I mean “democracy.” So when the war machines can’t go in, they send in the IRI.

But Dubya has a problem in Pakistan. We hate the American governments for rigging elections to put Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in power. We hate the American government for allowing these criminals to enter, live and hold assets in the United States with the billions they have stolen from the Pakistani people, even though InterPol has issued a red warrant for Benazir’s arrest. We hate the American government for its continued support of the state terrorism of Israel in Palestine and Lebanon. It has been the American government that has continually vetoed every UN Security Council resolution against Israel, while supporting Israel’s “right to self defence.”

Most of all, we hate you George. Since you have “taken power,” we have seen US citizens lose their civil rights through wiretaps, financial monitoring, and regular character assassination of anyone who doesn’t support your neo-con view of the world. You have spared no opportunity to brand the 1.8 billion Muslims as fascists, communists, and nazis. You told the American Legion that America is fighting “the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century.” You have made 6 million Muslims in America feel under siege, distrusted and even hated. “You are either with us or against us” sounds more like Hitler and Stalin, than a US president. We remember that the American people don’t approve of you, but if they dare say anything that are branded as “supporters of terrorism.” We remember the lies that you have told about WMDs to justify America’s pursuit for more oil. We remember the comments made by your Christian advisors about Islam. We remember that you let Israel bomb Lebanon while the world cried out for a ceasefire. We remember that it is you that has supported apartheid in Palestine, while continuing to support Israel’s land grabbing and the building of a seperation wall. We remember the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis and American soldiers in the name of democracy. We remember the chemical weapons that you supplied Israel for use on the Lebanese civilians. We remember Guantanamo. We remember Abu Gharib. We remember the rape and murder of Mahmudiya and her family by US soldiers.

We hate the neo-cons for the war they have started against the Muslims, all Muslims, assuming that we are all terrorists because we follow Islam. We are not Islamists. We are not Islamofascists. We are proud Muslims that grieved with the American people on September 11th. We are proud Muslims that grieved with the British people on July 7th. We are proud Muslims that have extended our hand to fight the scourge of terrorism, only to have it slapped back as if we were trying to take a piece of American Pie. We are proud Muslims that believe in God and humanity, even when the radical elements of Islam pervert it. We are proud Muslims that understand the social, cultural and economic contribution that has been made by our people to the world’s economies.

When America doesn’t want your “democracy,” what makes you think that anyone else does?

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