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Recent
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April
10, 2003
Zoltan
Grossman
The Perils of Occupation: the Easier
the Victory, the Harder the Peace
Uri
Avnery
The Night After
Wayne Madsen
The Telltale Signs of Empire
Ron
Jacobs
Bush and Rummy's Drunken Drive-by
David Krieger
Before You Become Too Flushed with Victory, Think of Ali Ismaeel
Abbas
Jeremy
Brecher
What Can the World Do Now That Tanks Prowl Baghdad?
Robert
Jensen
The Unseen War
Geoffrey
Neale
Ashcroft's War on the Constitution:
A Patriot Attack on America
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Last Tango in Baghdad
Hammond
Guthrie
Rumors of War
Joseph
Heller
Nately's Old Man
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 4/10
Website
of the Day
The
Third Page
April
9, 2003
David
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Doug
Lummis
Saving Private Lynch: Hollywood and
War
Susan
Davis
The New York Times and the Peace Movement
David Vest
Smoking Gun? You're Watching It
John
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America's Sovereign Right to Do
as It Damn Well Pleases
Akiva
Eldar
Gary Bauer and AIPAC: an Unholy Alliance
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Suicide Bombers without the Suicide:
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Steve
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8, 2003
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Richard
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Dr. Phil in the Trenches
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Brown
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Report from the Oakland Docks: "The
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FERC and Wall Street: Conversations
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Linda Heard
Journalists Die, the Networks Lie, Iraqis Ask "Why?"
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Faruqui
Wallowing in Hypocrisy
Wallace
Gagne
Baghdad Babble
Harry
Browne
Report from the Protests at the Bush/Blair
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I Understand There's a Boy in
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War Web Log 4/8
M. Shahid
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April
7, 2003
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David
N. Gibbs
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War and Peace Summit a Royal Farce
Gideon
Levy
America is Not a Role Model
Diane
Christian
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Jules
Rabin
Remembering Deir Yassin
James Davis
Oddsmaking in Dublin: Will Bush
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Robert
Fisk
The Twisted Language of War
Patrick
Cockburn
Slaughter on the Road to Dibagah
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Mackay
War and Art
Seth Sandronsky
Wars and the Color Line
Steve
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War Web Log 4/7
April
5, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
The Iraqi Humanitarian Relief is
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Anne
Gwynne
A Drowning in Salem
Uri
Avnery
Roadmap to Nowhere
Chris
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William
Cook
Would You Have Sent Your Son (or Daughter) Off to War If...
Gila
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A Busy Day for Bulldozers
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Back from Baghdad: What Next for the Peace Movement?
Joanne
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Civilian Deaths and Official Apologies
John Stanton
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Aluf Benn
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War and Occupation
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Mark
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April
4, 2003
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Colin Powell's Shame
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The Mantra of the Troops: Support
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The End of the Innocence
Mickey
Z.
Makes Me Sic (Sic): Copy Editing
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Tristam
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Guthrie
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Steve
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War Web Log 04/04
April
3, 2003
Uri
Avnery
A Crooked Mirror: Presstitution and
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David
Vest
Can You Hear the Silence?
Anthony
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Colin Powell Telemarketer
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Takoma: the Dolphin Who Refused
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War, Debts and Deficits
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Now That Iraqis Are Being Killed Is Israel Any More Secure?
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Israel, We Won't Forget Rachel Corrie
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War Web Log 04/03
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April 11,
2003
The
NeoCons Have a Dream
Permanent
Occupation
by
MICHAEL BERRY
The neocons have a dream. A dream of celebrations
in the Iraqi streets at the site of rolling US tanks. Women waving
out from windows, men dancing at the edge of the roads, tossing
turbans into the air, children riding on the 20 foot long barrels
of the tanks, eating pink cotton candy handed down with a warm
smile from the helmeted drivers who spin it in the tank cabin.
It could be the Shi-ites of southern
Iraq having a memory of slaughter after the US encouraged them
to rise against Hussein in 1991. It could be Iraqis having intimate
knowledge of the effects the US lead emargo produced over the
last 12 years-intimate in the sense that they watch as their
children perish from malnutrition. It could be from a correct
suspicion that the US isn't really coming to liberate them (is
it ethical to accept gifts from the devil?). The failure of Iraqis
to welcome the liberating invaders with open arms may not depend
primarily on any of these things.
It is human nature to reject any outside,
foreign elements that appear by force and without invitation.
It is an instinctual reaction. People are naturally prone to
cling to the power of their home. Home is to be least feared,
even if the power of home is frightening. So much so that even
if the current US invasion actually was Operation Iraqi Freedom,
or if the Iraqis sensed that, there would still be resistence
to the US forces.
We Americans, our imaginations beaten
into total submission by our own homegrown dictator, the media,
should reflect on such a scenario occuring in our own home: Another
country has decided that it wants to free us of our ruling dictators,
the few giant corporations that run our state propaganda machine,
the media. The liberating country is composed entirely of non-white
people. And they're not Christian. In fact they think we're all
going to hell, after being freed in this life. Their fighterjets
drop leaflets on our cities, which inform us of our coming liberation,
and which asks us nicely not to resist. The leaflets go on to
explain that though our media dictatorship is not obviously destructive
to our freedom, as some oppressive regimes are in other countries,
it is the case that our media has programmed as all so deeply,
so effectively that our lack of freedom is unconscious to us.
The leaflets explain that in fact we
are no more than mere robots acting out the wishes of the media
giants, our evil dictators. And again they ask us nicely to not
resist their invasion, and to have a nice day. Military divisions
of the country amass on our borders, in Mexico and Canada, who
were paid well by the liberating country for their services.
Missiles begin to hail on our major cities. New York, Chicago,
Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston. We are told that the missiles
are aimed specifically at the corporate headquaters of our media
dictators, and all other structures and systems of power associated
with them. We experience total blackouts, our water is cut off,
and our supplies. Our military, loyal to the bitter end to our
media dictators, fight noble and risky battles, but are no match
for the invading liberating forces. Victory goes to the liberating
forces. Our media dictators have been destroyed. We are told
that we are now free. But they need to stick around for a while,
to help us set up an information network that tells the truth,
rather than the evil lies of our deceased media dictators. We
are told that once they set up new media outlets for us, then
we will be free to transmit any information we like. Under one
condition: that our new people-run media outlets only say what
they want us to say.... Such instinctual resistence has no conscience:
new free elections may vote out the liberating heretics without
so much as a thank you. At least not a majority thank you. Yet
there is something suspicious in the neocon's expression of their
dream, which some call a hubris that will lead to massive errors
and chaos in Iraq and the region. It is suspected that Wolfowitz
and Perle don't give much of a damn about chaos, collatoral damage,
Americans perishing in suicide attacks (or "terrorist homicide
attacks," as according to Ari Fleischer). In fact the neocons
may prefer it. Perpetual instablity is the single best breeder
of excuses for further US military excursions, full invasions
and regime changes. A US agent in control of the new "liberated"
administration in many countries of the region, except Israel-this
is their end of means. Or at least a pleasant dream. They can
also find evil-doing dictators in other countries, for example
Chavez, and even much oil, in Venezuela, and continue their dreams
elsewhere.
Claiming the invasions would be easy
and be met with celebrations are sufficient lies. The media dispatches
the necessary propaganda to keep the US population properly numb
to the facts--being the only population in the world capable
of stopping the US neocon war machine.
One question regarding non-celebratory
reluctant or dismissive participation by Iraqis in a post-war
environment is what would happen if, now free and democratic,
voted out all liberating US entities and their interests, military,
administrative, and business. That would not be allowed to happen.
What does that mean, not allowed to happen?
Wolfowitz has lately been espousing great
notions of pure democracy for Iraqis. He told the Duke of Sunday
Spin Tim Russert that "the goal is not to install some particular
group as the new leaders of Iraq. That absolutely contradicts
the whole notion of democracy." And furthermore, "The
oil revenues of Iraq, now, for the first time in decades will
be dedicated to the welfare of the Iraqi people instead of building
up the instruments of a tyrannical state." The neocons have
a dream. This almost seems to suggest that it would be fine and
well if the free Iraqi democracy voted out of Iraq all US interests.
In fact that seems to be what Wolfowitz intends to be the case
anyway.
Perhaps he's assuming a free democratic
Iraq will always vote in US interests.
What if representatives of an Iraqi electorate,
performing the will of their districts, construct policies that
do not favor US interests? Based on history one could suspect
that those elected officials might begin to mysteriously disappear
or be filled with bullets. Suggestive precedents abound, such
as Pinochet and the death of the elected president Allende of
Chile, Kissinger's role in coordinating that coup, and of other
such covert diplomatic excursions by the US around the world.
The US will claim that Iraq is not yet
stable enough for them to leave. For Iraq's own benefit, they
had better stay. No doubt they'll claim terrorism still lurking
in the dark alleys of Baghdad.
Michael Berry
can be reached at: michael.berry@jacobs.com
Today's Features
Zoltan
Grossman
The Perils of Occupation: the Easier
the Victory, the Harder the Peace
Uri
Avnery
The Night After
Wayne Madsen
The Telltale Signs of Empire
David Krieger
Before You Become Too Flushed with Victory, Think of Ali Ismaeel
Abbas
Jeremy
Brecher
What Can the World Do Now That Tanks Prowl Baghdad?
Robert
Jensen
The Unseen War
Geoffrey
Neale
Ashcroft's War on the Constitution:
A Patriot Attack on America
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Last Tango in Baghdad
Hammond
Guthrie
Rumors of War
Joseph
Heller
Nately's Old Man
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 4/10
Website
of the Day
The
Third Page
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