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CounterPunch
December
2, 2002
Fighting Patriotism, & Losing
By ANTHONY GANCARSKI
November 27, 2002 was not a good news day for
Chris Hitchens. Hot on the heels of his comic foil Henry Kissinger
scoring that plum 9/11 Commission Appointment, the Hitch was
greeted with some troubling news from the NY TIMES. "Opposition
Leader Fears That US Support Is Waning" spotlighted a selection
of quotes from "Sharif Ali bin Hussein, who harbors hopes
of being king of Iraq one day soon." Ali is the chairman
of the Iraqi National Congress, an organization that Hitchens
has touted as a credible alternative to the Hussein regime.
What does Ali want from the US government,
besides petty cash? Ali frets that the US shouldn't view Iraq
as a "colony" and piously adds that "Iraqis should
do this job." He worries that the "level of engagement"
between Washington and his London-based organization is too low,
given that "America commits troops to Iraq" in "one
or two months." Mr. Ali last was in Iraq as an infant; however,
he assures the US government that "it's a myth that there
is an opposition government waiting in the wings in Baghdad.
Saddam has definitely eliminated those with any atom of independence."
Predictably, the INC has just received $6.5 million from Washington,
which is meant to last them for the next couple of months; attached
to it is the curious provision that it is not to be spent inside
Iraq.
Left unaddressed by the TIMES is what
the point is of Washington paying a group of Iraqi exiles millions
a month to sit in London and produce asinine soundbites. Veterans
starve under our nation's overpasses, single mothers struggle
to keep their rent paid and their heat on, federal employees
get stiffed on their yearly pay raises, and still we can rest
assured that Ahmed Chalabi's dry cleaning bill is paid for via
Washington.
Apparently, the inherent contradictions
involved in the poor, damned suckers of America bankrolling such
"conquering heroes" don't worry Hitchens much. Implicit
in Hitchens' advocacy of the INC is a belief that the people
of Iraq, recovering from having their land turned into a Superfund
site via US military efforts over the last decade, somehow will
embrace some perfumed London dandy as the face of their Jeffersonian
democracy. No less a figure than Dapper Don Rumsfeld speculated
that it would be "wonderful" and "fabulous"
to bring "liberation" to Iraq as it was brought to
Afghanistan; perhaps it is more than coincidence that Sharif,
like Karzai in Kabul, lacks what politely could be called a mandate.
But the Terror War thus far hasn't been
about mandates in any strict sense. There is very little talk
of bringing democracy to Uzbekistan or freedom to the Chechens.
The US allies in this operation, so far, have been unrepentant
despots and gladhanders with a keen interest in facilitating
access to minerals for US and UK companies. And in this age of
smartbomb mercantilism, perhaps that is the most equitable --
humane, even -- arrangement possible. Consider what words spring
forth from the lapdog scribes of the ever-loyal opposition:
"So you must make sure the Democrats
have a national security program of their own. Bash Ashcroft,
sure. Don't surrender civil liberties. Bash Bush for ditching
the independent investigation into pre-Sept. 11 intelligence
failures. . . But don't stop there. Bash Bush for walking away
from Afghanistan once the fighting was over. Remind the country
that our safety depends on keeping al-Qaeda on the run. Bash
Bush for distracting from the necessary fight against al-Qaeda
with an unnecessary, risky, and unjustified (but easier) war
against Saddam Hussein. And don't stop at bashing. Put forward
a fighting patriotism."
Todd Gitlin, in MOTHER JONES, representing
the so-called left. As we look forward to forced inoculations
and yet another year of bumpersticker jingoism imposed on us,
Gitlin urges us to demand that our politicians get tough on "national
security", to pretend to give a rat's ass about Al Qaeda
beyond wondering which of our "foreign entanglements"
actually bankrolls them. Likewise, the "fighting patriotism"
Gitlin speaks of is nothing more than a catchphrase, standing
as totem for the vacuity of his piece and perspective in general.
I'd like to close on an optimistic, hopefully
unifying note. The reemergence of Henry Kissinger from the undoubtedly
lucrative "private sector" is actually exceptional
news for both Gitlin and Hitchens. Hitchens got his meal ticket
back. And Gitlin got his sham "independent commission."
Fight on, Patriots -- you make Patrick Henry proud.
Anthony Gancarski lives in Spokane. His work appears frequently
in CounterPunch. Emails are welcome at Anthony.Gancarski@attbi.com.
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