What makes the American public so gullible about going to war?
Let's dispense with the obvious. The media, especially TV, has been dumbed down and manipulated by the same corporations that run our government. The more TV we watch, the more misinformation we get.
But there is more going on than that. It is much easier to believe what the media is telling us then to look for the truth elsewhere. Five minutes of TV news is all the time we need to spend. The stories are simple; the bad guys and good guys are there in black and white. People in charge, the good guys, are bombing and shooting the bad. On to "American Idol."
Were it merely intellectual laziness, however, making war would not be as compelling as it is. There is also an emotional component, and that is the fantasy of revenge. What adventure movie is without this most satisfying way of spilling the blood of others. "Make my day." We are strong; we are just; and we have a moral imperative to murder. The ecstasy of war is like a drug.
Like most drugs, however, it has a nasty hangover. The war movie we were starring in is suddenly lost. The body bags coming home make us feel uncomfortable and ashamed. Blood on our hands?
Most troubling, we suspect that the butchery in Iraq does not belong solely to the madmen in the White House. It belongs to us all.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians
H. Lee Wind's recent letter confuses "biased reporting" with the printing of facts that one might not like. Did the Nakba happen? Most historians who don't have an ideological ax to grind admit the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948. Try Zochrot , a Israeli organization dedicated to making this history better know.
There hasn't been a half century of catastrophe for the Palestinian people since the Nakba? Millions living in refuge camps in the largest and most concentrated ghetto in the world? Child hunger figures that approach starvation? Constant attacks by tanks, bulldozers and helicopter gunships? Amnesty International recently stated that over half of the more than 650 Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers in 2006 were civilians, 120 of them children and young people under 18. I don't know H. Lee Wind's definition of a catastrophe for an entire people. Must it become an actual genocide?
And calling the reporting of Palestinian suffering a "decidedly unilateral and simple-minded approach" sounds like obfuscation and political spin. Plenty of people referred to Jewish suffering before the Second World War as too complex and complicated to become involved with. Once the war started, trying to stop the genocide became "disruptive" to the war effort and was never actively pursued by Allied Forces. What will Americans be saying when eventually confronted with the fact that their tax dollars (over 3 billion a year) supported this kind of racism in occupied Palestine?
Are there two morally acceptable points of view in an impending genocide? The Jewish and the German? The Tutsi and the Hutu, the Armenian and the Turkish? The Palestinian and the Israeli? Only in H. Lee Wand's imagination.
There hasn't been a half century of catastrophe for the Palestinian people since the Nakba? Millions living in refuge camps in the largest and most concentrated ghetto in the world? Child hunger figures that approach starvation? Constant attacks by tanks, bulldozers and helicopter gunships? Amnesty International recently stated that over half of the more than 650 Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers in 2006 were civilians, 120 of them children and young people under 18. I don't know H. Lee Wind's definition of a catastrophe for an entire people. Must it become an actual genocide?
And calling the reporting of Palestinian suffering a "decidedly unilateral and simple-minded approach" sounds like obfuscation and political spin. Plenty of people referred to Jewish suffering before the Second World War as too complex and complicated to become involved with. Once the war started, trying to stop the genocide became "disruptive" to the war effort and was never actively pursued by Allied Forces. What will Americans be saying when eventually confronted with the fact that their tax dollars (over 3 billion a year) supported this kind of racism in occupied Palestine?
Are there two morally acceptable points of view in an impending genocide? The Jewish and the German? The Tutsi and the Hutu, the Armenian and the Turkish? The Palestinian and the Israeli? Only in H. Lee Wand's imagination.
Twenty First Century
It certainly looks like a winning hand. Ronald Reagan found it to be, that potent combination of populism, racism, and nationalism that made him so popular, and that continued to undermine wages, civil liberties and peace right through the three administrations that followed.
The approach has a hidden agenda, that of corporate domination and special privileges for the very wealthy. That is why the Reagan formula is continuing its way through Europe in Italy, England and now France with the victory of Sarkozy It can be applied wherever there is identifiably different race or religion that can be blamed for society’s shortcomings. By getting the people to vent their economic frustration on the few, they are quite willing to give up their rights to fair wages, civil liberties, and any other benefits that democratic societies should provide.
The origin of such tactics has not been right wing economic thought from the University of Chicago. These theories merely make palatable what was the genius of the Third Reich, the use of fear and nationalism to mask the totalitarianism at the heart of corporate dominance. Perhaps the Twenty-First Century will be seen as merely a continuation of the bloodshed and inhumanity of the Twentieth, only to be interrupted by depressions and world wars.
To survive, we need another model. One freed from the profit motive, the current religion of our economic elite. Perhaps our salvation will spring one day from the ashes of the millions sacrificed to this false god.
The approach has a hidden agenda, that of corporate domination and special privileges for the very wealthy. That is why the Reagan formula is continuing its way through Europe in Italy, England and now France with the victory of Sarkozy It can be applied wherever there is identifiably different race or religion that can be blamed for society’s shortcomings. By getting the people to vent their economic frustration on the few, they are quite willing to give up their rights to fair wages, civil liberties, and any other benefits that democratic societies should provide.
The origin of such tactics has not been right wing economic thought from the University of Chicago. These theories merely make palatable what was the genius of the Third Reich, the use of fear and nationalism to mask the totalitarianism at the heart of corporate dominance. Perhaps the Twenty-First Century will be seen as merely a continuation of the bloodshed and inhumanity of the Twentieth, only to be interrupted by depressions and world wars.
To survive, we need another model. One freed from the profit motive, the current religion of our economic elite. Perhaps our salvation will spring one day from the ashes of the millions sacrificed to this false god.
Americans on Iraq
Much has been revealed in the last four years about the reasons behind our misguided invasion of Iraq. We have seen the giant oil US companies making billions as they have gained ownership over the incalculable wealth of Iraq's oil fields. We have watched the weapons manufacturers and defense contractors making similar fortunes from the occupation, with no end in sight. Finally, we can document how the Israeli lobby, that curious and deadly combination of Jewish and Christian fanaticism, pushes hard for war and is doing so again with Iran. The money and power of these dominant groups made the invasion of Iraq all but inevitable. Politicians like Hillary knew about the war lies from the start but understood whom she must serve. We have a broken political system, with both parties pretty much sold to the highest bidder.
But the most startling fact of all is how little the average American knows about these major influences controlling US foreign policy. Many still think that we invaded for noble reasons, and that we must stay until we have brought peace and democracy to the Middle East. Most Americans simply can't tell simplistic and feel good propaganda from the ugly truth. They get their news from TV and other forms of mainstream media. They are well meaning, even idealistic. But in the end, they are childishly naive and easily fooled. And therein lies the real danger to our democracy. We the people have lost control of our destiny.
But the most startling fact of all is how little the average American knows about these major influences controlling US foreign policy. Many still think that we invaded for noble reasons, and that we must stay until we have brought peace and democracy to the Middle East. Most Americans simply can't tell simplistic and feel good propaganda from the ugly truth. They get their news from TV and other forms of mainstream media. They are well meaning, even idealistic. But in the end, they are childishly naive and easily fooled. And therein lies the real danger to our democracy. We the people have lost control of our destiny.
Friday, March 23, 2007
The Mother Load of Evil Deeds
Some people have questioned the effectiveness of torture for the truly wicked terrorists threatening America. But the confessions of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed have changed all that. Several years of beatings and near drownings have produced the mother load of evil deeds. It turns out that Khalid planned almost everything that happened in the last ten years, as well as several things that didn't.
It almost makes one wish that we had tortured him a little longer. There are still unsolved mysteries that plague our nation, like the anthrax attack on Congress, the election fraud in Florida, and the murder of JonBenet. Why leave things hanging if you have someone willing to sing to the authorities?
There are a few problems with all these confessions by one person. What will we accuse Osama of if we ever catch him? Moreover, what will we ever charge those 400 poor slobs in Guantanamo Bay with, the ones wearing dog collars around their necks? There isn't really much left. Indecent exposure?
The Pentagon will figure something out. We will never really get to hear or read what these leftover prisoners say anyway. National security you know. So in a couple of years, the Pentagon will have them confessing to the same crimes and the majority of Americans aren't going to remember that Khalid said that too. If Americans had better memories, our kids wouldn't be dying in Iraq and a band of criminals and liars wouldn't be running our country.
It almost makes one wish that we had tortured him a little longer. There are still unsolved mysteries that plague our nation, like the anthrax attack on Congress, the election fraud in Florida, and the murder of JonBenet. Why leave things hanging if you have someone willing to sing to the authorities?
There are a few problems with all these confessions by one person. What will we accuse Osama of if we ever catch him? Moreover, what will we ever charge those 400 poor slobs in Guantanamo Bay with, the ones wearing dog collars around their necks? There isn't really much left. Indecent exposure?
The Pentagon will figure something out. We will never really get to hear or read what these leftover prisoners say anyway. National security you know. So in a couple of years, the Pentagon will have them confessing to the same crimes and the majority of Americans aren't going to remember that Khalid said that too. If Americans had better memories, our kids wouldn't be dying in Iraq and a band of criminals and liars wouldn't be running our country.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Not Far Away Enough
Perhaps it wasn't her stories as much as the film. Feryal Abu Haikal, a headmistress at a girls' school in Hebron and guest this weekend at a church in New Paltz, told of trying to shepherd her young students to school through groups of the rock throwing settlers. But the film showed the settlers kicking and taunting the young girls and heaving rocks at them. One ten your old was hit in the face while Israeli soldiers stood by laughing.
Far away? Not far enough. Many of the settlers are from Brooklyn. The money for the illegal settlements on Palestinian land comes from right wing extremist religious groups in the United States, both Christian and Jewish. The soldiers' weapons, their jeeps and the bulldozers they use on Palestinian homes are all paid for by US tax dollars. UN resolutions against this racism have been routinely vetoed by our government. Our politicians, heavily financed by these extremist groups, pass resolution after resolution supporting Israel. And our national media completes the hometown support for throwing rocks at little kids. Palestinian suffering is always hidden from the American people.
Israel wants to remove millions of Palestinians from the West Bank and replace them with Jewish settlers, a recipe for endless bloodshed in the Middle East. But American support is key; it just couldn't happen without us.
So the next time a US politicians heaps praise on Israel, ask them who they are working for, extremist groups who fund them or US citizens.
Fred
Far away? Not far enough. Many of the settlers are from Brooklyn. The money for the illegal settlements on Palestinian land comes from right wing extremist religious groups in the United States, both Christian and Jewish. The soldiers' weapons, their jeeps and the bulldozers they use on Palestinian homes are all paid for by US tax dollars. UN resolutions against this racism have been routinely vetoed by our government. Our politicians, heavily financed by these extremist groups, pass resolution after resolution supporting Israel. And our national media completes the hometown support for throwing rocks at little kids. Palestinian suffering is always hidden from the American people.
Israel wants to remove millions of Palestinians from the West Bank and replace them with Jewish settlers, a recipe for endless bloodshed in the Middle East. But American support is key; it just couldn't happen without us.
So the next time a US politicians heaps praise on Israel, ask them who they are working for, extremist groups who fund them or US citizens.
Fred
Marketplace on NPR:
Your report from the West Bank today (2/16/07) was offensive in any number of ways. You interviewed a number of "settlers" who waxed eloquent about their reasons for moving to illegal settlements on Palestinian land (the country is beautiful, neighborhoods are new, and almost everyone speaks English). But the settlers were also upset by a number of developments (Palestinians "throw stones," and threaten terrorist attacks, all of which have reduced property values).
No Palestinian was interviewed. No mention was made of the violations of international law involved in these "settlers" taking land that doesn't belong to them. Certainly there was no hint that these settlers, backed by the Israeli Defense Force routinely harass, beat, and shoot Palestinians.
No, your report was just about a nice group of people who have a few real estate problems. Like a backed up sewer system.
I can't imagine the level of racism it must have taken to do this report. Marketplace's casual acceptance of apartheid is morally intolerable.
Fred
No Palestinian was interviewed. No mention was made of the violations of international law involved in these "settlers" taking land that doesn't belong to them. Certainly there was no hint that these settlers, backed by the Israeli Defense Force routinely harass, beat, and shoot Palestinians.
No, your report was just about a nice group of people who have a few real estate problems. Like a backed up sewer system.
I can't imagine the level of racism it must have taken to do this report. Marketplace's casual acceptance of apartheid is morally intolerable.
Fred
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