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CounterPunch
September
25, 2002
The Mad World
of Michael Ledeen
National Security, Iran and Iraq
by ANTHONY GANCARSKI
On September 19, the American public was presented
with a "White House Discussion Draft" of a Resolution
authorizing war on Iraq. As one would expect, it plays to the
internationalist bent of the multinational media. We are reminded
that Congress in 1998 sought to bring Iraq into "compliance"
with its "international obligations." Just as dutifully,
we are asked to remember the suffering of the Kurdish people,
at least that suffering imposed by the Hussein regime. We are
informed that Iraqi military had the gall to fire back when fired
upon, "on many thousands of occasions on United States and
Coalition Armed Forces engaged in enforcing the resolutions of
the United Nations Security Council.". This document in
many senses plays into the Wilsonian tradition, cloaking a naked
grab for resources and power in the bland garb of UN "peacekeeping",
and serviceably rationalizes yet another military adventure overseas.
World peace notwithstanding, the case
made in this Resolution offers no actual substantiation of Iraqi
ability to directly attack US citizens within US borders. The
Discussion Draft claims that "Iraq remains in material and
unacceptable breach of its international obligations by, among
other things, continuing to possess and develop a significant
chemical and biological weapons capability, actively seeking
a nuclear weapons capability, and supporting and harboring terrorist
organizations, thereby continuing to threaten the national security
interests of the United States". National Security is one
of the most flexible phrases in the lexicon of the post-Constitutional
era, encompassing both U.S. military colonies ("bases")
and oil fields and machinery in scores of countries. Rarely is
it used to address actual people living inside our borders, however.
So, instead of producing actual evidence
of an attempted Iraqi attack on US territory, the Administration
resorts to standard techniques of invective and defamation. Hussein,
according to the current President, is "evil" and "hates".
Bush also claims that Stalin is Hussein's hero. Perhaps while
the Iraqis think of ways to flout more UN dicta, Tariq Aziz can
call a press conference and make some claims regarding Nazi connections
with US Intelligence Services, and then we can cap the whole
affair off with a break dance contest.
But I digress. We all know that isn't
how the game is played on this level. The US is even now determining
what payoff the Russians require, how many Muslims the Chinese
want to exterminate, how much of Iraq Turkey would like to annex
in the name of "democracy in the region." Our masters
-- it is time we stop calling them our leaders or our representatives
-- envision a world managed by oil lobbyists, a world order enforced
by remote-controlled bombing runs.
Curiously, there may be some outside
Iraq who object to this. Intractable, maniacal regimes wanting
to work out better terms for their capitulation. Michael Ledeen's
"Iran, Afghanistan, and Us", a September 9th National
Review Online piece that urges war on Iran as soon as possible,
addresses the problems posed by those rogues in Tehran.
Ledeen begins the piece with a tacit
defense of the assumption that preemptive war is the God-given
right of empire, warning darkly of Iranian "doomsday scientists"
working feverishly to demonstrate Iranian nuclear capability
by the end of the year. If one believes Ledeen, these tests represent
"impending threats to our national security." The tests,
coupled with "our whole vision for Afghanistan" being
thwarted by assassination attempts on Hamid Karzai by "forces
sponsored, organized, and armed by Iran", justify taking
a close look at taking what the kids call preventive action against
those radicals in Tehran. In Ledeen's phrasing, "it is only
proper, since Iran is the mother of all modern terrorism, the
great engine of terror in the region, and the sworn enemy of
the United States."
Ledeen is a serious man, and his rhetoric
is serious to the point of histrionics. A cursory overview of
history indicates that Iran has played ball with the US quite
often, though not with the predictability of an official client
state. We can justly give thanks to Iran for the outcome of the
1980 Presidential election, for example. More recently, Iran's
government has even cooperated in the War on Terror, by supplying
a warm body or two with alleged Al Qaeda allegiances.
Michael Ledeen, like Walt Whitman, is
not opposed to contradicting himself. Thus it shouldn't surprise
the reader that he espouses contradictions about our knowledge
of Iran within the same paragraph. In sequence, Ledeen claims
that our intelligence vis-a-vis Iran is "modest", then
goes on to assert that "some of our top officials seem oddly
determined not to know what is going on there". After arguably
hinting that elements in the US government harbor an almost treasonous
allegiance to Tehran, Ledeen then goes on to make the predictable
linkage between the Iranian government and terrorist attacks
against Israel (Stopping terrorist attacks against Israel, as
we know, was first established by President Chester A. Arthur
as a top priority of United States "national security").
And there's that phrase again, meaningless
yet always with us, beyond the pale of questioning. Yet another
third rail, yet another topic beyond the boundaries of acceptable
discussion. Another nail in the coffin of our so-called representative
democracy. And still, there are those among us who believe the
Bush Administration and the rest of the War Party are behaving
in good faith.
Anthony Gancarski, a Spokane, Washington freelance writer, can
be reached at Anthony.Gancarski@attbi.com
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September
21 / 22, 2002
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