I've diaried occasionally about the psy ops and propaganda Bushco is levelling at the Chavez regime in Venezuela and at home in the American media. Venezuela - with the world's fifth largest oil reserves and a leader twice as popular as Bush - is a natural candidate for Bushco "regime change". The National Endowment for Democracy is spending millions to target the most popular democratically elected government in our hemisphere. See
here and
here and
here.
Today the Bushco campaign escalates to a new level as former Senate staffer, White House and Pentagon official Douglas MacKinnon asserts in the Houston Chronicle that Chavez is seeking nuclear weapons from Iran and medium-range ballistic missiles to attack the United States. He says Chavez is a madman and poses a bigger threat to the United States than Osama Bin Laden. While it isn't the first time that MacKinnon has attacked Chavez outrageously, the nuke allegations are clearly designed to press the American panic button and raise the call to action.
RepubAnon diaries on the recent failure of a Bushco gambit to rig the OAS to attack Venezuela.
A taster of MacKinnon's crapulous warmongering:
After receiving the report that Chavez might be trying to acquire nuclear technology or weapons from Iran, I met with a high-ranking U.S. official to voice my concerns and ask what he thought about such speculation. He answered me point blank: "It would not surprise me. Chavez is dangerous, underestimated and capable of almost anything. We are hearing a number of curious and disturbing reports. He is actively working to recruit terrorist nations and developing countries into his campaign of hatred against the United States."
Toward that end, Chavez recently went on al-Jazeera television to call for Arab and developing nations to unite against the United States and President Bush. Terrorists use this network as a tool against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, and Chavez told its viewers, "We have already invaded the United States, but with our oil."
Coupled with the disturbing news that Chavez might be trying to acquire nuclear weapons is the fact that Chavez, a dictator in all but formal title, just concluded a deal with the People's Republic of China to launch a telecommunications satellite for him. So great is Chavez' interest in rockets, space and missiles that the government of Venezuela has created a special commission to advise him on such issues. Chavez with a nuclear weapon is bad enough. Chavez with a medium-range ballistic missile just minutes from the southern United States is a disaster waiting to happen.
I told the senior U.S. official that I thought Chavez posed a greater threat to our national security than Osama bin Laden or any terrorist operating out of the Middle East. He looked at me and said, "You know, I agree with you 100 percent."
This is no accident, folks! Bushco has failed to position itself to exploit Iraq as it wanted. Bushco has been stymied in attacking Iran by Europe, the Russians and the Chinese. Bushco needs cheap oil to keep the SUV-loving patriots that vote GOP happy, and that leaves Venezuela.
The timing of this vitriol couldn't possibly be related to the following parallel stories, could it?
I note that the Houston Chronicle states that McKinnon's wife is Venezuelan. She wouldn't be related to the corrupt, coup-plotting kleptocrats residing in Houston and Miami, would she? He wouldn't want to be post-coup ambassador to Venezuela, replacing the career diplomat
he excoriated recently as "weak", would he?