September 18, 2001
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
(Continued from Sept. 17th)
As shocking as the events of last Tuesday were, they are likely to
generate even more horrific actions by the U.S. government that will add
significantly to the 8,000,000 figure stated above. This response may
well be qualitatively and quantitatively worst than the events of
Tuesday. The New York Times headline of 9/14/01 states that, "Bush And
Top Aides Proclaim Policy Of Ending States That Back Terror" as if that
was a rationale, measured, or even sane option. States that have been
identified for possible elimination are "a number of Asian and African
countries, like Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, and even Pakistan." This is
beyond shocking and horrific-it is just as potentially suicidal,
homicidal, and more insane than the hijackers themselves.
Also, qualitatively, these actions will be even worse than the original
bombers if one accepts the mainstream premise that those involved are
"madmen", "religious fanatics", or a "terrorist group." If so, they are
acting as either individuals or as a small group. The U.S. actions may
continue the homicidal policies of a few thousand elites for the past 50
years, involving both political parties.
The retail terror is that of desperate and sometime fanatical small
groups and individuals who often have legitimate grievances, but engage
in individual criminal and illegitimate activities; the wholesale terror
is that of "rational" educated men where the pain, suffering, and deaths
of millions of people are contemplated, planned, and too often,
executed, for the purpose of furthering a nebulous concept called the
"national interest". Space does not allow a full explanation of the
elites Orwellian concept of the "national interest", but it can be
summarized as the protection and expansion of hegemony and an imperial
empire.
The American public is being prepared for war while being fed a
continuous stream of shocking and horrific repeated images of Tuesday's
events and heartfelt stories from the survivors and the loved ones of
those who lost family members. These stories are real and should not be
diminished. In fact, those who lost family members can be considered a
representative sample of humanity of the 8,000,000 who have been lost
previously. If we multiply by 800-1000 times the amount of pain, angst,
and anger being currently felt by the American public, we might begin to
understand how much of the rest of the world feels as they are
continually victimized.
Some particularly poignant images are the heart wrenching public stories
that we are seeing and hearing of family members with pictures and
flyers searching for their loved ones. These images are virtually the
same as those of the "Mothers of the Disappeared" who searched for their
(primarily) adult children in places such as Argentina, where over
11,000 were "disappeared" in 1976-1982, again with U.S. approval. Just
as the mothers of Argentina deserved our respect and compassion, so do
the relatives of those who are searching for their relatives now.
However we should not allow ourselves to be manipulated by the media and
U.S. government into turning real grief and anger into a national policy
of wholesale terror and genocide against innocent civilians in Asia and
Africa. What we are seeing in military terms is called "softening the
target." The target here is the American public and we are being
ideologically and emotionally prepared for the slaughter that may
commence soon.
None of the previously identified Asian and African countries are
democracies, which means that the people of these countries have
virtually no impact on developing the policies of their governments,
even if we assume that these governments are complicit in Tuesday's
actions. When one examines the recent history of these countries, one
will find that the American government had direct and indirect
influences on creating the conditions for the existence of some of these
governments. This is especially true of the Taliban government of
Afghanistan itself.
The New York Metropolitan Area has about 21,000,000 people or about 8 %
of the U.S. population. Almost everyone in America knows someone who
has been killed, injured or traumatized by the events of Tuesday. I
know that I do. Many people are calling for "revenge" or "vengeance"
and comments such as "kill them all" have been circulated on the TV,
radio, and email. A few more potentially benign comments have called
for "justice." This is only potentially benign since that term may be
defined by people such as Bush and Colin Powell. Powell is an
unrepentant participant in the Vietnam War, the terrorist contra war
against Nicaragua, and the Gulf war, at each level becoming more
responsible for the planning and execution of the policies.
Those affected, all of us, must do everything in our power to prevent a
wider war and even greater atrocity, do everything possible to stop the
genocide if it starts, and hold those responsible for their potential
war crimes during and after the war. If there is a great war in 2001
and it is not catastrophic (a real possibility), the crimes of that war
will be revisited upon the U.S. over the next generation. That is not
some kind of religious prophecy or threat, it is merely a
straightforward political analysis. If indeed it is Bin Laden, the
world must not deal only with him as an individual criminal, but
eliminate the conditions that create the injustices and war crimes that
will inevitably lead to more of these types of attacks in the future.
The phrase "No Justice, No Peace" is more than a slogan used in a march,
it is an observable historical fact. It is time to end the horror.
In a few short pages it is impossible to delineate all of the events
described over the past week or to give a comprehensive accounting of
U.S. foreign policy. Below are a few resources for up to date news and
some background reading, by Noam Chomsky, the noted analyst. The titles
of the books explain their relevance for this topic.
For the most current information see: http://www.commondreams.org.
For information on how the media distorts the news see:
http://www.fair.org/.
For excellent links on the Middle East see:
http://al-awda.org/newyork/links.html.
For background reading by Noam Chomsky see:
Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (with Ed
Herman)
Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians
Deterring Democracy
Jan Nickerson writes:
"Peter Lloyd, of Gocreate.com, has started a website for collecting and
sharing ideas for peaceful alternatives to responding to the Sept 11
attack. This site is for constructive ideas focused on the solution rather
than opinions and observations. Got some ideas? Post 'em here!
And spread the word."
THE PEACE IDEA TRUST
The United States has declared that it will respond to the September 11th
terrorist attack on its people and property with military action. The Peace
Idea Trust hopes to collect ideas from around the world for alternatives to a
violent response. All ideas will remain available for anyone, including the
US leadership, to consider and use."
http://gocreate.com/idea/peace/index.htm
