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Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 3, Number 7 March 16 - 22, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
The
Aftermath – Has Already Begun By
John Cory Back
to Alternative Reader Index
The
corporate media is busy hyping Showdown: Iraq - guessing at start dates and
offering its tabloid version of "two-headed alien threatens the world.”
The ratings driven drivel fails to provide context, depth, and historical
perspective. No, waiting for the trigger is much more exciting and profitable.
Just like an old western movie where the gunslingers face off - camera cuts
between their squinting eyes - hands ready to draw - suspenseful music. Quick,
somebody grab the popcorn. In
the meantime, Afghanistan has learned that it has much in common with
America’s poor and hungry school children. Having posed for the photo-op with
the great white-father, Afghanistan finds itself on the discount shelf
struggling with increased skirmishes, deep factional fighting, the return of
pro-Taliban governors, and an indifferent US. Move along folks, nothing to see
here. Once
a pariah, Pakistan is now an ally. Doesn’t matter that Pakistan harbors both
Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders, or that it has and is selling nuclear technology
to an assortment of "bad people,” or that it may be working in secret to
help Muslim nations gain nuclear power in order to compete with Israel and
actually be heard in the world arena. No, they’ve been bought and paid for as
part of the new US "friend-of-the-month” club subscription plan. Just
like Turkey. After all, America has what everyone wants - money. Never mind all
that "they hate us because of our freedoms” talk. In
the meantime, Indonesia and Malaysia, home to the world’s largest Islamic
populations see the US policies and war on Iraq as a war on Muslims everywhere.
But of course, what could they do against the mighty US? There’s no proof that
they were involved in Bali or Kenya bombings or anywhere else - right? I mean
the CIA and FBI would tell us. The
coming "shock and awe” attack on Iraq and then the "humane combat”
of surrounding Baghdad, cutting power and water, and starving everyone into
submission will surely prove to the world that America is the last great and
wise superpower. Proof that war can be kept to minimal collateral damage – and
that war really is peace. After
the Rangers have landed, will come the Raiders - the corporate raiders.
Haliburton, Brown & Root, all the oil boys, and maybe there will even be
room for Enron – a chance to redeem itself by establishing a new power grid of
profitability and accounting acumen. All of this will be tax-free for the GOP
corporations of the world while they continue to layoff American workers and cut
benefits for retirees in order to boost their investors’ portfolios and CEO
stock options. Ashcroft
and apostles will arrest the bong-dealers, ignore the bomb makers, close the
borders and crush civil liberties because war is about the restriction of
freedom, in the national interest of godly patriotism. On
the homefront, the still angry militiamen and white supremacy legions will worm
their way into military databases and obtain biological weapons information, and
target federal and regional structures. And when disaster explodes, aided by
headline hungry media outlets like FOX and CNN, these acts will be smothered in
the speculation of Islamic retaliation. And this White House will again
capitalize on tragedy for partisan gain. Look
at a map. Iraq is bordered by neighbors who do not and will not support the
imperial rule of America in the Middle East. Death by a thousand paper cuts will
become the hazard of the new American governance. The same will happen to the
"moderate” Arab countries like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and
Jordan. Fresh targets for fundamentalists who see the evil of western secular
ungodly government. And don’t forget the problem of Kurds and Turkish forces
ready to blow each other up. The
US will partner with Israel, not in the peaceful equitable resolution of the
Palestinian conflict, but in the establishment of superior military force in
support of Israel, regardless of Israeli sins. The
UN has been deemed "irrelevant” by the mighty superpower of America and
will be ignored or shoved aside on any issue that conflicts with world corporate
domination. This includes the corporate war against the formation of an economic
power like the EU. This town ain’t big enough for two superpowers. Not
anymore. With
all eyes on Iraq, the boiling cauldron of North Korea, the Philippines, South
America, and Africa bubbles and froths. What is to become of an unwatched pot? This
is not prognostication on my part; it is the picture of the past. From Munich to
Oklahoma City to the World Trade Center to Beirut and back, the past twenty
years are filled with escalating terrorism. Twenty years ago only a few
terrorist organizations had religious overtones, but by the 1990s over half
claimed some form of Islam and God as their guiding principle. Just whose side
is God on? The
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was partly fueled by the need to root out
the spreading work of terrorism and resistance to the superpowers of the world.
1979 was also the year of uprising and overthrow of the Shah and expulsion of
the US from Iran which caught the world by surprise. And today we can all see
how well it all turned out. Right? The
war on terrorism was not the sole creation of this Bush administration. And
while the events of 9/11 have sparked new intensity, terrorism will continue
with increasing escalation and violence. In
a chilling and prophetic article, published Oct. 29, 1985 in The Tech, just a
few weeks after the Achille Lauro hijacking and the Reagan administration’s
illegal and near catastrophic interception of the Egyptian airliner carrying the
hijackers, Lukas Ruecker wrote: "The
unavoidable and horrifying result of the interception will be an increase of
violence on part of terrorists. Fruitful compromises will become rare. The world
will soon have to lament even more Leon Klinghoffers, many of whom will have
died unnecessarily.” The
aftermath of war on Iraq has already begun. And while America buys off
adversaries, turns allies into adversaries, and decides that it alone knows what
is best for everyone else; somewhere Osama bin Laden bides his time. Somewhere a
disciple of Timothy McVeigh plans and re-plans. And somewhere in the darkness a
man hears the cries of starving and diseased children above the sounds of bombs
and helicopters and artillery – and feels the burning rage of revenge. March 1, 2003 Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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