If you look at the AstroCartoGraphy map for the USA (Sibley horoscope), you’ll find that the Pluto line goes straight through the Midheaven at Baghdad. In other words, the darkest projections of Americans are channeled into leadership issues in this distant country. As Pluto will often represent something that needs to be rejected, destroyed or eliminated, it is the natural fate of Saddam Hussein to be the object of the greatest fears of the USA, and to suffer accordingly. In this light it is easy to understand the Bush administration’s goal of removing him from power.
The Bleak History of Saddam Hussein
He is a wonderful candidate for this role. Having committed his first murder at the age of 15 (Note 1.) , gassed 5000 civilians in March 1988 at Halabja, and killed 180,000 Kurds in the infamous Anfal operation. Apparently he shot his minister for health at a cabinet meeting and carried on with the meeting afterwards, with the minister’s body lying next door. This is a man who really knew how to get unanimity at meetings.
Cancerian Bush and His Home
When Pluto is transiting the US Ascendant in this period, it is natural that there is a focus on terrorism on the one hand and Iraq – part of Bush’s axis of evil – on the other. The US Sibley Ascendant is semisquare Pluto, and always on the lookout for threats to its survival. When threat became living reality with the lamentable and cynical torpedoing of the World Trade Center with passenger airplanes, America found itself at war with an elusive and – there is no other word for it – evil adversary. With Bush’s Sun in exactly the same position as the US Sun at 13 Cancer, it is not difficult to imagine that Bush took this attack very personally indeed. A Cancer’s home is his castle, and here his greatest buildings were destroyed. Europeans, who did not lose 3000 citizens in the space of an hour, may forget the enormity of the trauma that was inflicted on America at this time. For Americans – at a time when US progressed Sun conjoined its Moon in Aquarius – this led to a profound identification with the soul of the nation.
The New Bush Doctrine
September 11 had a phenomenal impact on American foreign policy. The new Bush doctrine that has been formulated recently states that the US reserves the right to take whatever measures necessary – economic, diplomatic or military – to prevent any country from threatening it. US policy is to actively combat any country, which tries to compete with it militarily, whether it is Russia, China, or any other country. In other words the government of George Bush proclaims itself as the world’s only superpower, and aims to use this power to ensure it remains that way. This is the new world order. Seen in this light, the fact that Saddam Hussein is trying to develop weapons of mass destruction is quite enough to justify intervention. American’s do not want another surprise attack. Of course, this is a slippery slope. Other countries have nuclear bombs – indeed the USA is a strong ally of Pakistan, a member of the nuclear club, and a Muslim military dictatorship that could be compared to Iraq. China has nuclear weapons, and the means of delivering them intercontinentally.
The Case for War
September 11 showed that vast damage could be done without weapons of mass destruction. The idea that Iraq actually would use nuclear weapons, even if they were able to acquire them, and thus guarantee their own destruction, simply does not hold water. The argument that Iraq has ignored UN security council resolutions about weapons inspection is also rather thin. 11 years have passed since the Gulf War, and a weakened Iraq is hardly a threat to even its closest neighbors (who have all criticized US intervention), let alone America. On top of that Israel has also consistently ignored UN resolutions. Quite clearly, America is looking for an excuse for a war – so will they get it?
Bush
In an earlier article written after the Twin Towers attack, I wrote “All these indications indicate that America is at war, and will remain at war for at least a year”. The reason for this conviction was that Uranus transits the US Moon until January 2003, and that the June 2002 eclipse fell at 20 Gemini on the US Mars – together with Saturn. With the rapid and comparatively successful execution of the war in Afghanistan, it seemed that I was wrong. But perhaps this just whetted the appetites of the hawks in the US administration like Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld is something of a dictator himself – with his Sun in Cancer conjoining Pluto and squaring Uranus, he is an unpleasant man to cross swords with, and implacable with regard to revenge, as the German Prime Minister can confirm. (Rumsfeld has frozen out Schroeder since his party reefused to support the US in its war aims.) Afghanistan disproved skeptics and showed the effectiveness of US military might. This may lead to the view that Iraq will collapse in a similar manner. So the question is: will US attack Iraq, and will they succeed in removing Saddam Hussein?
The Kingdom of Iraq
See chart for the kingdom of Iraq
I think the answer to both questions is yes. There are several important charts for Iraq, and one of the earliest is for the kingdom of Iraq, which was artificially created when Britain handed the territory over in 1921. In March 2005 there will have been a complete Uranus cycle since the birth of the state. This seems to indicate that a revolutionary change will have taken place by this time. More to the point this horoscope shows an exact Sun/Mercury conjunction at 29 Leo, which symbolizes Iraq’s leader and his cabinet. Uranus opposes this degree in March, September and December 2003, and this seems to be a strong indication of bombings. The Jupiter/Neptune opposition falls on Iraq’s Mars in this period, which could make Saddam Hussein sufficiently over-confident to provoke the USA. Indeed this represents an exact Jupiter cycle since the 1991 Gulf War. It seems like he will be undermined from within (Mars is in the 12th house), so perhaps the Republican Guard will betray him.
Timing for Attack
See chart for February full Moon
Mars, which went retrograde and crossed the Kingdom of Iraq’s MC three times leading up to the Gulf war, will go retrograde in 2003 crossing Iraq’s Descendant thrice. Where attack came from above in 1991, it will come over land in 2003. With an eclipse on USA’s Uranus at the end of May 2003, a ground attack could take place in mid-June as Mars crosses this chart’s Descendant for the first time. Initial attacks however may take place when Saturn goes direct around February 22nd at 22 Gemini within ½ degree of the US Mars. The Saturn station shows a time when logistics will be complete, and just two days earlier Mars in Sagittarius opposes Saturn, triggering the US Mars/Neptune square. Pluto, now at 19 Sagittarius exactly opposes the June 2002 eclipse. A look at the full moon of February 2003, which activates Uranus and thereby opposes Iraq’s Sun/Mercury, shows the seriousness of the situation. The Mars/Pluto conjunction opposes Saturn exactly on the Descendant in Baghdad.
The Republic of Iraq
See chart for the republic of Iraq
The current Republic of Iraq was created via a military coup in 1958. This chart has 14 degrees Leo on the Ascendant activated by the Jupiter/Neptune opposition in 2003. More ominously there is a Moon/Venus conjunction at 19 – 20 Gemini in this chart (opposing Saturn at 20 Sagittarius), so that the Mars/Pluto falls directly on it in February 2003. This suggests that the long-suffering Iraqi population will undergo a hammering throughout the year, but it also suggests that the yoke of oppression will be removed, especially for women and children. This chart is quite a warlike chart, with Mars in Aries on the South Node, opposing Jupiter and the North Node, and squaring the Sun. The progressed MC for this chart is now exactly on the Venus/Saturn opposition, which indicates the enormous pressure Iraq is experiencing.
Bush Trends
Saturn moves retrograde in October this year to come stationary on the US Mars next February. Whilst on the one hand this can be interpreted as a period of restraint, it is also a time of military build-up. The US cannot afford to be ill-prepared if Iraq flaunts the UN, so they will be ready to move in. What happens at this point depends very much on the decisions George Bush makes. Looking at his horoscope for the New York terror attack, it can be seen that his progressed Ascendant squared his natal Uranus at this time, indicating rather strongly that his birth time is accurate. In a few months his progressed MC – trining Jupiter right now and giving unprecedented popularity – conjoins Uranus. Thus, with the backing of the international community, he will set off to complete what his father left incomplete. Bombs will fall.
Outcome
It seems victory is assured, because Bush’s chart is made for victory, with Venus in the first house sextiling Uranus/North Node on the one hand and Moon/Jupiter on the other. Who will regret the removal of Iraq’s brutal dictator? Putin can happily pursue Russia’s agenda of growth, extracting heavy concessions from Bush for not putting obstacles in the way of the US military adventure. You won’t hear much news about Chechnya in the coming period either. Dick Cheney will be over the moon, with attention apparently deflected from financial scandal. Bush will still be riding a wave of popularity. Where things will go wrong – if this war scenario does develop – is with the UN (which will be seen to be a tool of the Pax Americana ), the US economy, and in the undermining of Tony Blair in the United Kingdom.
Consequences for the UN, Blair and US economy
The UN has a Moon at 22.37 Gemini in conjunction with Uranus at 17.02 Gemini, indicating the hotchpotch of national identities and peoples that comprise its members. As transiting Saturn conjoins this point – which is of course the same point as the USA’s Mars, which explains Bush’s current bullying tactics – the whole organization is put under pressure. When Pluto opposes the Moon later, then there is danger of disintegration. Pax Americana is bad for the UN. Blair has Sun at 15 Taurus square Moon at 11 Aquarius, so transiting Neptune will undermine his authority, his popularity and the economy. It is an unexpected chance for the Conservatives to challenge his previously impregnable position. Finally oil prices, already high, will likely increase with war in the Middle East, affecting both the world and the American economy. So, although if there is a war, Bush will emerge a victor, and Saddam Hussein will be removed, then it is likely that economic factors will be instrumental in undermining the popularity of Bush after hostilities have ceased.
The coming conjunction of Saturn to Bush’s and the US suns in 2004 indicates a low point for the country, just as it was a low point under the previous Saturn conjunction after the Vietnam debacle and impeachment of Nixon. The US will be faced with the responsibility of administrating a disintegrated Iraq, and the costs of maintaining a military presence. As Pluto moves to oppose the US Mars in 2004/2005, the US military will be placed under intolerable strain, which a new president will solve by making large-scale cuts, particularly in US naval power. Needless to say, this is unlikely to be under a Republican president.
Adrian Ross Duncan September 30, 2002
Note 1. Quote from Hamid Ali Alkifaey from The Independent 19.09.2002
Note 2. All country data from Book of World horoscopes by Nick Campion.