Most invading aggressors throughout history have sought out those among their conquered victims who will act as surrogates or allies in subjugating their own people. Germany's Nazis, for example, had French helpers in France and Ukrainian accomplices in the Soviet Union following their invasions of those countries. Russia controlled Eastern Europe and non-Russian Soviet republics through indigenous fellow communists. Europeans who invaded the Americas during the 1500s through the 1800s relied upon "friendly" Indians to help them control the "hostiles." European powers ruled their colonies from the Americas to Africa to Asia for hundreds of years through the help of locals who worked with and for them. You get the idea.

Now, usually these home grown co-conspirators were recruited or surfaced from among groups that were being dominated by whatever power structure controlled their world prior to the aggressor's invasion. Of course, to those who resisted being invaded and conquered, plotters who assisted an occupation were viewed as traitors who deserved to be killed.

So it is in America's Iraq today. The Bush administration is trying to impose a government there and put puppet leaders in place who will do its bidding. We came face-to-face in Salt Lake City, Utah through local media (for an example see: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1,1249,600151056,00.html) with such Iraqis this past July 25th. A handful of politicians from Babil Province came to thank Americans for the invasion and for bringing them democracy. Setting aside the possibility that their visit was totally orchestrated by the Bush administration through some "private sector contractors," the question is why in the world would any Iraqis give "heartfelt thanks" to Bush for the horrors he's heaped upon them and their countrymen?

It's no mystery why Bush wanted them to come here. His war against Iraq, complete with an illegal invasion and occupation, is still in search of a justification, and the visitors provided a new one. They came to tell us how much they like the forcible installation of a new government in their country, which they now run at the local and provincial level, and to thank the U.S. military for liberating them from Saddam, with the little matter of untold suffering and death heaped upon innocent Iraqi civilians in the process long forgiven and forgotten.

It's clear also why many members of America's elite, including politicians at all levels of government, corporate hot shots, military bigwigs, media newsmakers (don't believe the conservative whining about "liberal media"-our national corporate media CEOs and publishers are all conservatives) and "missionizing" Christian honchos fawned all over these Iraqi guys. Most of them plan to have a profitable future in Iraq through business deals, military/government contracts, trade arrangements and Christian converts. The fact that our Babil Iraqis were unveiled to the press on Sunday, June 24th at a conference center theater belonging to the Mormon Church speaks volumes.

It matters not to American elites that they'll be getting what they want in Iraq through an illegal war carried out by a U.S. presidential administration that violated portions of eight international agreements, charters and treaties, two U.S. acts and Articles II and VI of the U.S. Constitution by aggressively invading and occupying another nation. In fact, they have conspired together in suppressing information and "noise" that could lead to punishment of the Bush government's top officials, including the president himself.

Rule of law means little to those who get their way via the exercise of military power, so breaking domestic and international law isn't a problem for them. As far as I can tell, no one in the Republican Party's leadership structure, the Bush administration, the corporate media or the U.S. elite establishment in general takes the rule of law seriously. From the top down, they talk about how important it is, but strictly following the rule of law is really intended for everyone else, not for them. No, for America's elite players, rule of law is a game that enables them to get what they want while exercising power and controlling this country.

As for these Iraqis, though, the question remains, why are they kissing Bush's ring? Perhaps it's because under Saddam's regime they learned to adapt to anything in order to survive. The Bush administration calls this new Iraqi government a democracy, but I'm sure any form of imposed government would do for our visitors. Before Bush's invasion, they were probably toiling in obscurity, and now they're on top of their world. (So what's not to like about this democracy stuff, especially when it comes with so many perks, including free foreign travel?) They'd probably even convert to Christianity if the price was right and/or it was a requirement for holding political power in the "new Iraq." In other words, they'd do anything for the sake of maintaining political control.

Sadly, our visiting Iraqi politicians will probably learn more bad than good habits from their American mentors. It's unlikely they'll come to understand or respect rule of law any better than Bush administration officials mentioned in Salt Lake City media coverage of this event do, meaning the Americans who purport to be teaching them all about it.

Maybe it's time to ponder some related questions here. For example, if the U.S. was invaded and occupied by a military aggressor the way Iraq was by the U.S., wouldn't many of us be trying to neutralize any Americans who cooperate with the invaders? In the same vein, if we were Iraqis, wouldn't we be trying to neutralize these guys who were wined and dined in Utah and who expressed their gratitude for the illegal invasion of their country and murder of thousands of innocent civilians among their countrymen? And shouldn't all moral and law- abiding Americans be working to neutralize the Bush administration and hold it accountable for its crimes?

You might be asking, "Have the 'Bushites' committed crimes in Iraq?" You bet they have. For an analysis of some Bush administration breaches of the 1945 Nuremberg Charter, the 1945 U.N. Charter and the 1787 U.S. Constitution, please see: http://www.gput.org/proxywarcrimes.shtml. For information about citizen's tribunals held around the world that have already (as of mid-August, 2005) found U.S. President Bush guilty of war crimes, see: http://www.gput.org/tribunals.shtml. Too, in future, the following website will be offering links to more information about additional international and domestic agreements, treaties, charters and laws the Bush administration has shredded: http://www.gput.org/warcrimes.shtml.

The record speaks for itself. Protection of the rule of law in the U.S.A. requires that we identify appropriate means of bringing charges against those members of Bush's government who've committed crimes. We can all be glad Saddam Hussein is gone without endorsing anything Bush has done in Iraq. Finally, if history teaches us anything, it is that, in the long-term, Bush's operation on Iraq won't prevent the political malady he and his cohorts fear most; loss of U.S. world hegemony.