|
CounterPunch
October
24, 2002
America's New New Improved War©
by T.W. CROFT
In a little movie from a few years ago called
"The Princess Bride", Vizzini, the Sicilian profiteer
who kidnaps the young, beautiful Princess-to-be Buttercup in
order to cause a war, is finally tracked down by the Dread Pirate
Roberts, the masked Man in Black. Unknown to the blindfolded
Princess, DPR is actually her long-lost boyfriend once, himself,
captured by the original DPR, now there to rescue her. In a shell
game that involved a glass of poisoned wine, Vizzini, in his
pompous manner, explains to Roberts that "You fell victim
to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is Never get
involved in a land war in Asia."
Many of us have been watching the 24-hour
cable news war drumbeat. We are on the verge of a new "new
improved war"© that appears to indeed be a major
land war in Asia. Or two. This, despite the mission drift from
the old new improved war against the evil ones©,
a multiplicity of fronts, and the only real strategic question
the decision as to whether to launch before or after the Super
Bowl.
C-Span2 recently ran a feature on the
Kennedy White House tapes from October and November, 1962, during
the Cuba missile crisis. It was scarily close to the movie "Thirteen
Days", which, albeit dramatized, seemed to accurately portray
the heated debate between Kennedy, McNamara, etc., and General
Curtis LeMay, and other generals. Part of a 40-year look-back,
the shows and articles about this crisis are, to say the least,
horrendously timely. All tell the story of how the civilian leadership
kept the military leadership under control. Odd that, today,
the reverse seems to be true, the civilian chicken hawks out
for blood.
Then, our country and the world stumbled
to within a few hours of a war with the Soviet Union, when, thank
God, the President's measured approach to the crisis, coupled
with some back channel luck, succeeded. The Soviets withdrew
their missiles from Cuba in return for our reciprocal measure
in Turkey. The south's major cities, in one frightening war scenario
quiz posed by Kennedy to a war tactician, on the tape, were assumed
cooked as a result of a "limited" launch by Cuba of
only 5-8 missiles, in response to our first attack.
I was a kid of 11 or so at the time in
Georgia, the state after Florida closest to Cuba. I remember
the "duck and cover" exercises, and the fears of my
family and teachers. Of course, we did not know at the time,
none of us, how close we came. What would have happened if this
crisis had happened after LBJ made the tragic transition to the
presidency, and Brezhnev replaced Krushchev, both changes coming
within a short time of this showdown. God only knows.
Like LBJ's Gulf of Tonkin resolution,
the Commander-in-Chief has sweet-talked through, in the middle
of the night this time, a hugely deceptive but more Constitutionally
questionable Congressional green light. Let's hope the UN resists
more effectively than did most of the Democrats. Now that the
U.S. has slogged into a half-dozen other fronts, can you say
military and foreign relations quagmire?
Eisenhower's classic parting criticism
of the military-industrial complex, even ahead of the build-up
in Vietnam, could not have imagined the links between the Pentagon
and the corporate world. With Cheney's former corporation, Halliburton,
you have a direct business interest in both oil pipelines and
war logistics. Bush's Sr's Carlye Group, a global finance power,
with the Bin Ladens as investors, have been connected to similar
concerns.
This new "new improved war "©
has been sloganized and branded on Fox TV and other channels
(the movie of the week is not far behind). And, since some media
have been mighty accomplices of the White House, which introduced
the "product" after Labor Day, maybe we should add
whole portions of the media to Eisenhower's definition.
Inconvenient voices have pointed out
the hypocrisy of the White House covering up the North Korea
WMD © (weapons-of-mass destruction) status until after the
Iraq war powers vote. They've noted the ugly fact that America
seems to have habitually armed and empowered many of the axis-of-evil
© -ites, and other incongruent truisms.
Meanwhile, our nation and world is now
in the "eye" of the economic "Perfect Storm"
that I spoke of in an article published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
the summer of 2001. The downturn of basic industries and related
trade deficits, the impact of volatile energy prices and the
debt crunch on consumers and corporations are now well-documented
factors in the recent recession that started with the dot-com
collapse, extended by the recent corporate scandals and shocks
of 9/11. The new economic global shocks and energy cost increases
that are bound to accompany the new improved war © may push
the nation into a dreaded double-dip recession, or worse. Our
nation has a very difficult road ahead on many fronts. The fall-out
on increased poverty and long-term joblessness has already been
deep and troubling. A global melt-down is not inconceivable here.
The hawks have to be stopped. We need
to keep in mind the words of Kennedy, as we think of a future
after this uncertain time. At the end of the crisis, Jack Kennedy
addressed the nation and said, "What kind of a peace do
we seek? I'm talking about a genuine peace, the kind of peace
that makes life on earth worth living. Not merely peace in our
time, peace in all time. Our problems are man-made, therefore,
they can be solved by man. For, in the final analysis, our most
basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, we
all breath the same air, we all cherish our children's future,
and we are all mortal."
The disgusting reality may be that there
is no major stumbling block to this insane steamroller until
hundreds of our boys and girls are shipped home in "patriot
bags" © to devastated loved ones, or until Europeans
and others are finally shocked into a more united opposition,
after unacceptable levels of senseless deaths on both sides,
and the inevitable "collateral damage" that breaks
out not just in the theatre of war but in many other places thought
safe.
But before we invade Iraq, North Korea,
support another coup attempt in Venezuela, or expand the existing
war-on-terror © in the Philippines, Columbia, Georgia (over
there, not Atlanta), while continuing to safeguard Afghanistan
and Pakistan, and who knows where else, let's get a couple of
things straight. The costs, fortunately, do not appear to be
as potentially catastrophic as a crisis 40 years ago that threatened
to envelop the whole world. The fact is, though, it could escalate
into a conventional firestorm in scores of countries, for dozens
of years.
The world is a very scary place now.
I have been more fearful than I have been since the Vietnam days,
when I marched in the streets, during another hostile time for
dissenters. Then, I kept an eye on an escape route to Canada
or the Bahamas for myself if drafted. Now, I have children.
If you are a young man or woman in the
services or reserves, or thinking of joining, and before you
sign up for Uncle W's choice travel packages to visit the scenic
caves of Afghanistan, the frozen mountains of North Korea, the
oil fields of Venezuela, the poppy fields of Colombia, the sand
dunes of Iraq, the minefields of Indonesia, the clear cuts of
the Philippines or any one of several other scenic venues (dress
is casualin today's modern, cool, new improved army ©.and
the entertainment will be a blast!)you may want to remember this
little rhyme from Vizzini's rascal accomplices in Princess, Inigo
(the Spaniard) and Fezzik (the Giant), as they set sail, having
captured the Princess...
Inigo: Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?
Fezzik: If there are, we'll all be dead.
T.W. Croft
is the Director of the Heartland Labor Capital Network. The Network
commissioned Working Capital: The Power of Labor's Pensions,
published by Cornell University Press. He can be reached at:
t.w.croft@att.net
© T.W.Croft, 2002
Yesterday's
Features
Edward Said
Israel,
Iraq and the United States
Pat Califa
The Necessity of Excess
Michael O'McCarthy
George W. and Alcoholism
Michael Ortiz Hill
Bush's Armageddon
Obsession
Elaine Cassel
Anti-Terrorism: a history of abuses
Russell Mokhiber and
Robert Weissman
Bowling for Baghdad
Anis Shivani
A Left Critique of Multiculturalism
Anthony Gancarski
Concerned Citizen: Episode 4
New
Print Edition of CounterPunch Available Exclusively
to Subscribers:
- The Shafts of Death: Bush, Coal Mines, and Death
in the Tunnels;
- Speak Memory!: Carter and the Draft;
- Daniel Pipes' World: Smearing Pro-Arab Academics;
- Ashcroft's Gays: the War on Free Speech;
- Saddam's Amnesty: Could It Happen Here?
- Criminalizing Dissent: a history and preview;
- Iraq 1987: When the Going Was Good;
- Egypt in Turmoil: an Anthropologist's Account;
- Green and Grounded: Profiled at the Gate.
Remember, the CounterPunch website is
supported exclusively by subscribers to our newsletter. Our worldwide
web audience is soaring , with about seven million hits a month
now. This is inspiring, but the work involved also compels us
to remind you more urgently than ever to subscribe and/or make
a (tax deductible) donation if you can afford it. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe
Now!
Or Call Toll Free 1 800 840 3683
home / subscribe
/ about us
/ books
/ archives
/ search
/ links
/
|
October 14,
2002
Harry Browne
Ireland:
No to War; No to Nice
Don Atapattu
The Tragedy of Alan Dershowitz
Linda Heard
So You
Think You Live in a Democracy?
Bob Feldman
Flashback: Inspecting Nuclear Israel
Adam Engel
The Anger
of Achilles
Anthony Gancarski
The
Washington Post and the Wal-Mart Way
Philip Farruggio
Sleepers
Harold Gould
Islamic
West Asia and US Foreign Policy:
A Tale of Strategic Self-Delusion
Dan Brook
An Open Letter to Barbara Lee
October 12
/ 13, 2002
Alexander
Cockburn
Vindication
Through Violence:
Jimmy Carter and the DC Sniper
Robert Jensen
The American
Political Paradox:
More Freedom, Less Democracy
Ben Tripp
Congratulations! It's a War!
Susan Davis
Proverbial
Wisdom:
Red!
David Krieger
A Bleak Day for America
Anis Shivani
George W. in Therapy
Ken Paff
Where Do Hoffa's Tactics Belong in a Mob-Free Teamsters?
Carol Norris
The Politics of Fear
Elaine Cassel
The Lynne Stewart Case:
When Representing an Accused Terrorist Can Land a Lawyer in Jail
Musa AlShaer
Scenes
from an Occupied Wedding
Anthony Gancarski
Concerned Citizen: a serialized
novel (Episode 3)
M. Shahid
Alam
I Will Fight Your Enemies
October 11,
2002
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Montana
Fusion
Steve Kelly's Wild Ride for Congress
Ralph Nader
Whirlwind
Wheelchair Intl.
Anthony Gancarski
Stayin'
Alive: Notes on Facials and Saving Face
Romi Mahajan
What
War Means to the Iraqi People
Uri Avnery
Israel:
the Jewish Demographic State?
Francis Boyle
Bush's
Banana Republic
Lee Sustar
Taft-Hartley,
Bush and the Dock Workers
Katherine
van Wormer
Dry Drunk
Syndrome and George W. Bush
Jerre Skog
The Blessings
of Growth:
The Greatest Deception of All Time
October 10,
2002
Elson E. Boles
Iraq and
Chemical Weapons:
The US Connection
Senator Russ Feingold
"Confused Justifications and
Vague Proposals": Why I Oppose Bush's War Resolution
William A.
Cook
What Bush
Didn't Tell the UN:
The Case Against Israel
Jorge Mariscal
Chicanos
and Chicanas Say:
"No a la Guerra"
Norman Madarasz
Rio's
Holiest View:
Brazilian Elections 2002
Amir Boroomand
Just
Nod, Please
Fedwa Wazwaz
Falwell,
Graham & Friedman:
Religious Extremism in America
Kurt Nimmo
Condoleezza
Rice at the Waldorf Astoria
Resources:
100s of Links
About 9/11
CounterPunch:
Complete
Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath
Five
Days That
Shook The World:
Seattle and Beyond
By
Alexander Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
Photos by Allan Sekula
(Click Here to Order from CounterPunch
Online at 20% Off Amazon.com's price!)
Read
Whiteout and Find Out
How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
|