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THE U. S. MARCH TO EMPIRE

By Zip Dobyns

In November 2002 I wrote an article speculating about if and when the US might invade Iraq. So far in January-February 2003, we remain on schedule. The Libra 2002 cardinal ingress showed the UN inspectors returning to Iraq. I thought that the war was possible in February 2003, though the winter of 2003-4 looked even more violent in some ways, especially the eclipse on November 23, 2003 when calculated for Washington D.C. As this is written in January-February 2003, and in light of the current troop and equipment build-up, a possible date for the invasion could be March 2003. France, Germany, Russia, and China are still urging that the UN inspectors be given more time. Even Tony Blair, the strongest ally of Bush, is suggesting a delay to the fall of 2003. His British citizens are not happy with the idea of their soldiers being sent into war under US generals without the support of the UN. Peace marches are increasing in several countries, especially the US. But it costs, in both money and in morale, to keep thousands of troops in the countries around Iraq, waiting for the decision from King George who daily announces that he is getting impatient and that time is running out.

I have written more than once about the horoscope of George W Bush, but there is always more to be said. As mentioned in the past, Dubya’s P Sun will reach his N Mars and also be trioctile his N MC in Aries from March-April 2003 to 2005. Since his N Hooveria, named for our depression president Herbert Hoover, is closely conjunct his N Mars, Dubya’s P Sun shows the potential for both war and depression during this period. Herba, named for the god of poverty and misery, is another asteroid related to economic challenges. Dubya has N Herba in 16 Virgo 36 where it is squared by his P lunar nodes for many years. The lunar nodes are like two more Moons in astrology, connected to home and public and the need for emotional security. Dubya is acutely aware that the state of the US economy helped to deny his father a second term in 1992, and this node-Herba aspect just reinforces the message. The theme is repeated by Dubya’s P angles crossing Herba off and on from 1988 when his father was elected president until well into the current decade. I use the East Point and the Antivertex as auxiliary Ascendants, including both birthplace and local residence, so P angles can keep repeating the same message intermittently for years. The pattern keeps asking “have you got it yet?”

In November ’04, Dubya’s P angles will range from his P Ascendant in 21 Virgo to his P local Antivertex in 5 Leo, but all except the last are in Virgo, from 7 degrees to 21. At the ’04 election, his P local Ascendant will be in 17 Virgo 31, just a month short of ending a two-year conjunction to Herba.

Despite the major challenges that are suggested during these years, the election in November 2004 still looks like a BIG win for Bush. In fact, I recently found that there is an asteroid for Dubya’s middle name, Walker, which makes the picture even stronger! He has N Walker in 3 Aries, closely conjunct N Vesta. P Walker for the ’04 election will have retrograded to 0 Aries. So Dubya’s P Moon at the election will have a grand trine from 0 Sagittarius to P Walker and N George and N Georgia in 0 Leo. At the inauguration on January 20, 2005, P Moon will be in a grand trine from 3 Sagittarius to N Walker and N Vesta in Aries, and N Karma, N local Ascendant, and P Saturn in Leo. Traditionally, the Moon signifies the homeland and the public. To repeat the theme in spades, the asteroid Busch works for Dubya, carrying the sound of his name despite the slight variation in spelling. By the ’04 election, P Busch in 29 Scorpio will join his grand trine that includes N George, N Georgia, and N Hazard in 0 Leo. The conjunction of his personal name asteroids with Hazard could imply that he is dealing with the issue of hazardous materials as in bio and chemical weapons of mass destruction, but also that he is personally a hazard in the world.

The fire element in astrology symbolizes our feelings that we have the right and the power to get what we want. Especially with trines, it can manifest as arrogance and overconfidence and major success though it can also lead to overreach and end in a later fall.

I remain puzzled by how we can have the major turbulence suggested by all of my mundane charts during these two years, 2003-4, and yet have a big win by Bush in November ’04. The most obvious possibility is that the hawks are right – that we can have a short successful war with few US casualties. The US is basically a belligerent country with a façade of democracy and tolerance. We elect successful generals as presidents and control the world for the benefit of our big businesses. The current administration has accelerated our march to build an empire, replacing the British Empire and the previous Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch empires. But a short, successful war in the spring of 2003 seems too early to carry over to the fall of ’04, so another possibility, in addition to the war, might be the prevention of terrorist attacks for which Dubya could take credit. The November ’03 eclipse discussed in a previous article would fit that scenario, especially if it was a terrorist attack that threatened our national capital. However, that eclipse that looks so deadly could point to the death produced in other countries by orders given in our capital. Astrology shows issues and timing, but many details are always possible. Even with astrology, in the end we have to wait and see what happens.

The winter of 2004-5 looks like a high point for Dubya’s triumph, with the consequences of his fire overreach to follow. Even if the war is successful, many US citizens will be disturbed by the destruction and, as continues to be the case following our initially successful war in Afghanistan, there will be continued turbulence in Iraq. Some past wars have boosted the economy, but the current policies of favoring the rich and spending most of our resources on “defense” will increase the misery of “ordinary” citizens. We will have more homeless, hungry, jobless, and ill people. The current civil unrest being expressed in peace marches is likely to increase, possibly to the level seen in the latter Viet Nam period and perhaps to the edge of civil war. Another asteroid becoming more prominent in Dubya’s chart is the one named for our president who presided over our Civil War in the 1860s – Lincoln. P Lincoln is retrograding and will reach Dubya’s Descendant in the summer of 2005, remaining within orb for several years. The Descendant can be manifested in compromises and teamwork, or in competition and war with open enemies.

Arabic Parts are a tool of astrology produced by adding the positions of two factors and subtracting a third factor. The Part of Death is produced by adding the Ascendant to the 8th house cusp and subtracting the Moon. Dubya has his local (Washington DC) Part of Death in 9 Sagittarius and his birthplace one in 18 Sagittarius. We will be watching for possible events when his P Moon crosses those degrees in the summer of 2005 and the spring of 2006. The summer of 2005 coincides with P Lincoln reaching Dubya’s Descendant, so it could mark an escalation of the civil unrest.

A previous article may have mentioned that Don Rumsfeld, our Defense Minister and a leading hawk pushing for war, has his P Sun coming to his N MC during the last two years of Dubya’s potential second term, from the fall of 2006 to 2008. Putting the Sun, the “king,” on the MC, which is like Saturn, the executive who enforces the “law,” suggests a position of prominence and power. An additional aspect that repeats the same message is Rumsfeld’s P MC crossing his natal Ascendant for approximately the same two years. As with a Mars-Saturn conjunction, this combines personal will and power with the power to enforce the “law.” As always in astrology, the details can vary, depending on the individual. The two extremes may range from his making his personal will into the law to giving up and retreating, feeling that the “law” is all-powerful and he is powerless. In Rumsfeld’s case, we can assume that trying to rule the world is more likely. Might he be involved in keeping a lid on the civil disturbances in the US? Current news suggests that a US general will be put in control in Iraq if we do take over the country.

As our readers probably know, there are many groups vying for power in Iraq. Two groups of Kurds in the north say they will share the power, but each really wants an independent homeland that would include a large number of Kurds in Turkey. Needless to say, Turkey will reject this and may instead try to annex the Kurdish population of northern Iraq. The US has promised billions of dollars to Turkey if they will let our soldiers and air force attack Iraq from its territory. The people of Turkey oppose the war, but its leaders may be in process of being “bought.”

A sizable population of Shi‘ite Moslems in the southeast have been armed and trained by Iran, and their leaders are operating from Iran, which would be willing to annex a chunk of Iraq mostly occupied by fellow-Shi‘ites. Saudi Arabians are Sunni Moslems, like Saddam’s Baath party that has ruled the country for years though they are a minority of the population. There are also about 150 so-called “clans” in Iraq, each armed and determined to maintain power over their own territory. Saddam has allowed them limited local power, but if he is overthrown, all bets are off. We have the potential of another Afghanistan with its warlords. The Bush announced choice to handle this chaos is military rule by a US general who will be considered an enemy by everyone.

An article in the San Diego Union-Tribune on February 25, 2003 by Georgie Anne Geyer describes the power of family ties in the recent experience of Kuwait. The royal family in Kuwait provided citizenship to some 100,000 Bedouins in the country – wandering family groups. Citizenship included a job, housing, and education paid for by the state, in hopes that the Bedouins would accept modern, western ideas. The results were dismaying. The Bedouins clung to their tribal, family loyalties, and became more radical Islamists, more anti-west and theoretically vulnerable to the appeal of Moslem extremists. The hope expressed by Bush hawks, the belief that dumping Saddam will lead to quick and easy conversion of Iraqis to western ideas and democracy, looks like a fantasy.

With hundreds of potentially relevant asteroids, we have still hardly begun to deal with the complexity of Dubya’s chart. The potential for war and aggression is a repeated theme. The asteroid Attila was named for the leader of the Huns, an aggressive nomadic tribe that ravaged the Roman Empire in the 5th century but was halted before they could take Constantinople by plague in their own ranks. Dubya has his P Attila retrograding over his N Descendant through his potential two terms as president. Also on that important angle that can choose war or compromise, he has P Justitia (human justice) and P Fanatica (extremism). Repeating the importance of the period from the fall of 2006 on, Dubya’s P Mars will catch up to his P Tyr, the Norse name for Mars, and they will move together for about 8 years. It is hard to imagine Dubya being even more eager than he is now to make war on the world, so this “double Mars” could signify the “blowback” consequences of the US empire-building. Our troops are currently scattered in literally dozens of countries around the world, and US police and fire departments and medical facilities are worried by the loss of their members as reservists are called into military service. Do we increase our security when we have too few firefighters, police, and medical experts to meet the needs of our homeland?

As I keep writing, astrology shows the psychological drives of life, but many details are always possible. I am unable to guess what will happen between January-February 2003 and the fall of 2004 that would explain a Bush win in November. A variety of mundane charts from June 2003 into 2004 show the potential for continued violence. A longer war is possible, or terrorist acts against the US, and/or continued loss of our civil liberties and civil unrest. But the so-far successful appeals to fear and patriotism seem inadequate to justify a Bush win. Dick Cheney’s chart points to a critical time for him in the summer of 2004. He might have another health crisis and decide not to run for Vice President in 2004. Bush might pick a very popular person to replace him, to help account for his win. The only one who comes to mind is Colin Powell, and unfortunately we do not have a birth time for him. So, as usual, we will keep on doing more charts and more asteroids, and in the end, we will wait and see.

Zip Dobyns

Copyright © 2003 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

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