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2003-03-21 00:26:28 ET Something of interest from the PIGList: Long rant follows, so settle in if you feel up to it: There is obviously no idealistic reason for this war. (One could make this statement about all wars, of course, but let's not open that particularly broad and endless subject right now...and no, I'm not a starry-eyed-and-rainbow-cheeked peacenik.) To promote the current military action as based upon such vague, flexible, metaphorical notions as "freedom" and "evil" is simply ridiculous and, frankly, naive. I see the war as a continuation of the USA's Primary Policy -- both foreign and domestic -- since Reagan first took office: Fear. Fear may be THE most flexible notion a country can use to manipulate public opinion. Although I hesitate to make off-the-cuff Hitler comparisons, the Nazis were well aware of this. America learned much from them -- Operation Paperclip wasn't the only intelligence the US stole from the Nazis. Here's how the American use of Fear has played out over the years: By promoting often baseless fear among the nation's (and world's) populace, the US government has rationalized (a) its huge military-industrial buildup following WWII; (b) its implementation of increasingly oppressive national laws regarding free speech, right to a fair trial, personal privacy, etc.; (c) its widening of police and military presence in all parts of the globe; (d) its nullifying of previously implemented national laws, up to and including the Constitution of the US; (e) its flouting (not flaunting!) of International laws governing the use of pre-meditated (ALLEGEDLY pre-emptive) force against sovereign nations; (f) its entry into armed conflicts without UN approval or Congressional declarations of war; and so on. The events of 9/11 were astonishing and reprehensible. But the "shock & awe" Americans experienced that day have provided a sickeningly convenient excuse -- a bloody trump card, if you will -- for the US government to implement whatever mechanisms of control they wished. The USA Patriot Act guts many of the "freedoms" you cherish and may wish to install in other countries, including the Bill of Rights upon which this country was founded. People in the US have accepted this reprehensible new development because they have been instilled with two (and one could easily say five or more) decades of paranoia -- about Communism, about rampant violent crime (even though it has actually decreased), about drugs, about terrorism, about Saddam Hussein (or whoever the Evil Dictator of the Week is...heard much about Quaddafi lately?), and on and on. The general policy: find something you want eliminated, demonize it, then destroy it once you have a trembling public's approval. In 1938 it was the Jews for Hitler. In the early '90s it was Manuel Noriega. Today it's Saddam Hussein. Tomorrow it could be Kurds or queers or cougars...who knows? I won't even try to guess. That would be just an example of ME trying to make YOU fearful about shadowy possibilities -- the old "Slippery Slope fallacy," since we have a fallacy buff among us. Obviously, the US is being hypocritical here when talking about the vileness of secrecy. Think Saddam Hussein has been hiding things? Try to petition the US government for much information -- under the (now almost useless) Freedom of Information Act -- and see how far you get. Not that Saddam Hussein ISN'T being secretive. But to drive spikes of fear into Americans' hearts by saying he COULD have nukes (but no delivery systems that could reach the USA) is fear-mongering at its highest. It's the same concept that now allows police and government to invade your homes, cars, computers, bank accounts, credit cards, library cards, Safeway Club cards, etc. By simply crying "wolf...MAYBE!", the US has leap-frogged over the most basic principle of American law -- you are innocent until proven guilty -- to force the burden of proof upon the defendant. Hell, they can now arrest and detain you and NOT EVEN TELL YOU what you are being charged with, if anything. Hard to prove yourself innocent of a ghost crime...such as having Weapons of Mass Destruction which no one can find. You can't file a murder until you have a corpse. We don't even have the infamous smoking gun. But it MIGHT be there! MAYBE! Ridiculous. Frankly, killing Saddam Hussein is a swell idea. No one likes the fucker. But don't think we're lobbing missiles into Baghdad to "free" the population, any more than we entered WWII to "liberate" the Jews (especially since we ourselves were a highly segregated and racist society at the time). ANY accusation the US has made against Saddam Hussein is inflated at best, completely false at worst, and hypocritical across the board. I personally doubt the US will scorch the entire city of Baghdad with its promised "shock & awe" attack -- that would be too bloodthirsty even for that pale poverty-vampire Bush. But IF we do it, blanketing the city in flame and death, it would be for one purpose: to show the whole world that the USA has the will and power to annihilate anything it fucking wants to, so step back, bitch, unless you want a goddamn taste. SHOCK & AWE = GLOBAL FEAR. Oh, and I hope everyone who endorses this war today votes to dismantle the National Rifle Association and ban all personal weapons in the US tomorrow. You never know...someone with a gun MIGHT shoot you. Hey, what's in that swarthy guy's suitcase? Did that faggot get AIDS on my shirt? That black dude's probably a crack addict. The Jews are ripping me off. And let's not even talk about all the Mexicans and Feminists who want to steal my job.... Duck, motherfucker. Fortifying the bunker and bolting 3-inch iron sheets across the windows and doors, JOHN G Why does he make me smile? |
