|
CounterPunch
February
28, 2003
The Anti-War Talk I Never Gave
The Roots of
a Radical
By MICKEY Z.
About a month ago, I was asked to speak at an
anti-war event in the People's Republic of Brooklyn. I immediately
put together some notes but the event was subsequently re-scheduled
and I was no longer able to attend. In the hope of provoking
more thought, I decided to transcribe the anti-war talk I didn't
make:
We are meeting here today at a time of
historic importance. As someone familiar explained: "Two
worlds are in conflictStwo philosophies of lifeSone of these
two worlds must break asunder." These are not the words
of our un-elected president but rather Adolph Hitler, in the
1930s. I do not compare these two time periods lightly.
The decisions made about the current
situation in Iraq will, one day, have many answering the question:
Where were you during the build-up? What did you do? These questions
will be asked of politicians, the UN, and others. But the same
questions will be asked of us.
You are all part of something unique.
The New York Times recently explained, "A small, scattered
movement is beginning to stir." But the New York Times,
as usual, got it wrong. A US invasion is still in the planning
phase and millions are already in the streets across the globe-not
disturbing the peace, but disturbing the war. At this point of
the Vietnam War-say, 1962 or 63-the media would've been flattering
the antiwar movement with the terms "small and scattered."
Antiwar meetings usually consisted of 4 or 5 people in a living
room afraid to go public. I can see that no one here is afraid
to go public or to question the corporate/government position.
You are part of a long and proud tradition.
Contrary to our history books, there have always been those who
oppose war. As far back as the Mexican-American War, there were
American soldiers who went as far as deserting and fighting for
the other side.
Opposition to the US intervention in
Vietnam, in fact, began as early as 1945 when merchant marines
refused to transport French soldiers back into Southeast Asia
to resume their colonial repression. It took 20 years and millions
of deaths before that movement grew large enough and confident
enough to hold a meeting as large as this one today. But I warn
you, being "anti-war" requires facts. If I stood up
in front of people and declared "Iraq has used weapons of
mass destruction against its own people," I'd need no proof
to back it up. But if I tell you the US has used WMD against
its own people, I'd be asked for footnotes.
Hermann Goering, Hitler's deputy, said
at his 1946 Nuremberg War Crimes trial: "Why of course the
people don't want warS NaturallyS That is understood. But, after
all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy
and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether
it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament,
or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can
always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy.
All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and
denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing
the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
I'm not here to tell any of you what
you should think about the impending US escalation of hostilities
against Iraq. However, I would like to supply you with the type
of information you will not get from the corporate media, so
when you make a decision on where you stand, you'll be making
an informed decision...a decision you can defend and share with
others.
To accomplish this in the little bit
of time I have here, I will briefly address seven examples of
corporate media disinformation.
1. Fundamentals: The US and UK are about
to start a war against Iraq. Firstly, it's not a war; it's a
slaughter. Second, no matter what you call it, this "war"
began when the Security Council imposed comprehensive sanctions
against Iraq on August 6, 1990, four days after Iraq invaded
Kuwait...and has continued unabated since then. The US and Britain
bombed Iraq 62 times in 2002 and 13 times in January 2003. The
ostensible reason for this bombing is Iraqi "violations"
of the "no-fly zone." However, no UN resolution mentions
the creation of no-fly zones, let alone military enforcement
of any such zone.
The war has also continued unabated since
August 6, 1990 because sanctions kill 5000 Iraqi children per
month. That's 166 per day...about 1 every 10 minutes. Former
Secretary of State Madelaine Albright, when asked to comment
on the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children as a result of the US
sanctions, answered: "We think the price is worth it."
2. This non-stop war is, in part, possible
through dehumanization. Aldous Huxley said, "The propagandist's
purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other
sets of people are human." The dehumanization of Iraq began
with a report that Iraqi soldiers had ripped Kuwaiti babies out
of incubators when they invaded Kuwait in August 1990. In October
1990, a 15-year-old Kuwaiti "refugee" named Nayirah
tearfully described witnessing Iraqi troops stealing incubators
from a hospital, leaving 312 babies "on the cold floor to
die." When the Senate voted to give support Daddy Bush's
war-by a margin of only five votes-seven senators recounted Nayirah's
story in justifying their "yes" vote.
Of course, it wasn't true. Nayirah's
false testimony was part of a $10 million Kuwait government propaganda
campaign managed by the public relations firm Hill and Knowlton.
Rather than working as a volunteer at a hospital, Nayirah was
actually the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to Washington.
"We didn't know it wasn't true at
the time," claims Brent Scowcroft, Bush's national security
adviser. But, he added, "It was useful in mobilizing public
opinion."
3. Another example of demonization are
the endless stories about the Iraqi government deliberately withholding
and stockpiling food and medicine...and using money intended
for humanitarian purposes to build palaces and enrich themselves.
While it is hardly beyond any State to
cheat its populace in the name of self-interest, this is a easy
case to investigate since funds from Iraqi oil sales are not
at the discretion of Saddam Hussein, but are kept in a UN escrow
account with the Bank of Paris in New York. In addition, the
UN conducts frequent inventories and heavily monitors food and
medicine stored in Iraq
Tun Myat, humanitarian coordinator and
head of the UN's "oil-for-food" program in Baghdad
from 2000-2002, told the New York Times: "I think the Iraqi
food-distribution system is probably second to none anywhere
in the world. It gets to everybody whom it's supposed to get
to in the country."
4. Iraq is hiding WMD and kicked out
inspectors in December 1998 UNSCOM director Richard Butler, prior
to the December 1998 US/UK bombardment of Iraq, removed inspectors.
Furthermore, the US government admitted that it had been using
UNSCOM to spy on Iraq. Since Iraq pays for the entire UN operation
through oil revenues, Iraq was (and probably still is) financing
UN workers to spy under US cover.
As for WMD, who has them, and who might
use them, it's instructive to recall that the US used WMD on
Iraq: 940,000 small depleted uranium (DU) armor-piercing shells
from planes and 14,000 larger shells from tanks in 1991.
For those unfamiliar with DU, consider
this: When fired, the uranium bursts into flame and sears through
steel armor. The heat of the shell causes any diesel fuel vapors
in the enemy tank to explode, and the crew inside is burned alive.
DU burns on contact, creating tiny aerosolized particles of radiation
less than five microns in diameter, small enough to be inhaled.
These minute particles can travel long distances when airborne.
The widespread use of DU in the Gulf
War has be linked to the Gulf War Syndrome: A 1994 study found
that 67 percent of the children conceived by Gulf War veterans
in Mississippi since the end of the war were born with severe
illnesses or birth defects. DU was also used by the US in Yugoslavia
and Afghanistan.
In other words, the US has conducted
4 nuclear wars: Japan, Iraq, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan but
is trying to convince the world that Saddam Hussein is a danger
to the world.
5. US and UK plans to attack Iraq have
nothing to do with oil interests. Four quick points to ponder:
¤Iraq possesses the world's second largest proven oil
reserves, currently estimated at 112.5 billion barrels, about
11 percent of the world total. ¤Iraq may have additional
undiscovered oil reserves, which might equal that of Saudi Arabia.
¤President-Select Bush, VP Dick Cheney, National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and others all have strong ties to
oil companies. ¤Chevron once named a tanker after Rice
as a gesture of thanks.
6. Hussein has used chemical weapons
and even gassed "his own people." The current debate
ignores some relevant points: ¤On March 5, 1984, State
Department spokesperson John Hughes addressed Iraq's use of chemical
weapons against Iran: "The United States strongly condemns
the prohibited use of chemical weapons wherever it occurs."
¤By year's end, the US had established full diplomatic
relations with Iraq for the first time since 1967. ¤Six
months after that, the Reagan administration authorized the sale
to Iraq of 45 dual-use, US-made Bell helicopters. ¤Former
Iraqi officer, General al-Shamari, told Newsweek that he was
in charge of firing chemical weapons from howitzers against Iranian
troops, and that US satellite information provided the targeting
information. A former CIA official confirmed to Newsweek that
the US provided military intelligence to Iraq, including on chemical
warfare. General al-Shamari now lives safely in the U.S., running
a restaurant outside of Washington DC ¤The US and UK continued
support for Hussein after the gassing of the Kurds at Halabja
in 1988 ¤One possible reason for this support: 24 US corporations
supplied Iraq with nuclear, chemical, biological, and missile
technology, prior to 1991. The list includes Honeywell, Rockwell,
Hewlett Packard, Dupont, Eastman Kodak, and Bechtel. ¤If
the Kurds are Hussein's people, the Tibetans are Hu Jintao's
people; the Zapatistas are Vicente Fox's people; the Chechens
are Putin's people; the Palestinians are Sharon's people; the
Seminoles were Andrew Jackson's people; and the Puerto Ricans
being bombed and radiated with DU in Vieques are Bush's people.
There is documented proof that one nation
has used WMD on its own people. In late 1993, then-Energy Secretary
Hazel O'Leary released documents about secret nuclear experiments
by the US government on US citizens. Immediately after the "success"
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear researchers wanted to study
the effects of plutonium on the human body. They performed two
kinds of experiments: ¤The first targeted some 800 African-American
prisoners, mentally retarded children, and others who were induced,
by money or by verbal subterfuge, to submit to irradiation. ¤The
second test exposed large civilian populations to intentional
releases of radioactive isotopes into the atmosphere. These experiments
were not a momentary lapse in judgment: The declassified documents
on US radiation experiments stretch three miles long.
If you were to add up the current war
budget, nuclear weapons budget of the Energy Department, the
military portion of NASA, foreign military aid, veteran's benefits,
and interest payments incurred by past military spending, you'd
discover that the US spends close to $700 billion a year on war...more
than one million dollars per minute and they have to justify
that spending. Iraq today. North Korea next. Colombia soon afterwards.
The US probably has one bomb for each
person in the country so if you're not careful, you may get yours
soon.
More than one million dollars per minute
spent on weapons...one Iraqi children dies every 10 minutes:
Go ahead, do the math, how much of our tax dollars were spent
and how many children died while I stood up here talking?
How is all this possible? The answer,
of course, is propaganda. That may not be a word we often use
in polite discourse-we usually use "public relations"-but
it's still propaganda. I.F. Stone said, "Every government
is run by liars and nothing they say should be believed,"
so let me offer an illustration of life in a propaganda state.
I hold in my hand today's corrections
box from the New York Times. It contains a handful of items,
so don't let it ever be said that the corporate media does not
admit its mistakes. But there's a tacit message here: Besides
these few minor typos, everything else in yesterday's Times was
correct, accurate, true, and "fit to print." It has
now passed on to become part of the official record. That is
how propaganda works.
The Australian scholar, Alex Carey, once
listed what he felt were the three most significant developments
of the twentieth century. ¤the growth and spread of democracy
¤the growth and spread of corporate power ¤the
development of corporate propaganda to protect corporate power
against democracy
Well, this new century may have just
begun, but its not too early to have a say in what the three
most significant developments of the twenty-first century might
be. What can we do?
The great Indian writer, Arundhati Roy,
suggests: "We can hone our memory, we can learn from our
history. We can continue to build public opinion until it becomes
a deafening roar."
Antonio Gramsci suggested one maintain
"Pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will."
This means we must recognize reality but not be overwhelmed by
it.
This also means standing up to and exposing
corporate power and that can get you in trouble. Take it from
me...you will have people question your sanity. Some of the nicer
names you'll be called are paranoid and psychotic.
At moments like that, I find solace in
the words of William S. Burroughs who defined paranoia as "getting
the facts straight," and said, "A psychotic is someone
who has just find out what's going on"
Once you've gotten your facts straight
and found out what's going on, you must come out again and again.
Not one meeting or one rally, but over and over...bringing more
people. Let's find out the answer to Abbie Hoffman's rhetorical
question: "What if when they called a war, no one went?"
One last warning: after a few of those
protests or events, you may also find yourself called a "radical"-as
if it were an insult. But I suggest you wear that label with
pride. The Latin origin of the word radical is the same as the
word "root." In other words, a radical is one who gets
to the root of things. As Martin Luther King declared, "When
you're right, you can never be too radical."
Mickey Z. is the author of The Murdering
of My Years: Artists and Activists Making Ends Meet (www.murderingofmyyears.com)
and an editor at Wide Angle (www.wideangleny.com). He can be
reached at: mzx2@earthlink.net.
Yesterday's
Features
Dr. Richard Lichtman
Psychologists
and War
John Stanton
Life
in a Barrel of Oil
Carol Norris
George Bush's War on Himself: the World is His Battlefield
Wayne Madsen
The
First Shots of the War
Pablo Mukherjee
Orwell's
Bastards: Lies and Shameless Pretence
Larry Mosqueda
A Duty to Obey All Unlawful Orders
Behzad Yaghmaian
Scarf and Make-Up: the Modern Face of Islam
Jason Leopold
Hell-Bent for War: the Six Year Campaign by Right Wing Think
Tanks to Promote Takeover of Iraq
Anthony Gancarski
Bush's Divine Inspiration:
What If Jesus Were a Gunslinger?
Ellen Cantarow
The
Day of the Barricades: New York City Against the People
Sam Bahour & Michael Dahan
Snow Covered Rubble
Website of the Day
Bush
and Blair: the Duet
Keep CounterPunch Alive:
Make
a Tax-Deductible Donation Today Online!
home / subscribe
/ about us / books
/ archives / search
/ links /
CounterPunch Available Exclusively
to Subscribers:
- CounterPunch Special:
The Persecution of Gershon Legman by Susan Davis: Smut, the Post Office, Commies
and the FBI;
- Reeling Democrats: Is Pelosi the Answer?
- Gandhi v. Hitler: the Secret Race for the Nobel
Prize;
- Sullying Mario Savio's
Memory;
- Lynching Then and Now;
- Earn While You Learn: Chris Whittle and Child Labor;
The Case of the Pompous
Professor;
- The Class Struggle in
Boston: All that
Effort, But What Did They Get?
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
/
|
February 22
/ 23, 2003
Laura Flanders
Security Threat?
Bernadette Devlin McAliskey Barred Entry to US
Alexander Cockburn
The Trouble with E-Bombs
Kathy Kelly
Letter from Baghdad
Tight Squeeze
Subcomandate
Marcos
A Universal
No to the War of Fear
William Cook
Armageddon Anxiety
Jo Freeman
Conservative Women
Michael Colby
Howard Dean is No Green
Ben Tripp
Fact-Checking the Constitution
Joanne Mariner
Pets Unite!
Richard Falk and David Krieger
Iraq and the Failures of Democracy
Uri Avnery
War Crimes and Sharon
Ian Williams
John Bolton in Jerusalem
Michael Wolff
How Sanctions Destroyed Iraqi Education
William Hughes
The Zev and Ari Show
Susanna Sonnenberg
Boxing Missoula
Michael Ortiz Hill
Peace and Humility
Anis Shivani
When Kafka Aligns with Orwell
John Mihelich
The Hidden History of Butte's
Working Class
Rich Procter
Bush and His Fabled Gut
Adam Engel
Voice of the Nation
Becky Johnson
The Hopscotch Rebellion
Krieger, Tripp, Ashley
Poets' Basement
Website of
the Weekend
The
Pedro Martinez of Palestine
February 15
/ 16, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
Colin
Powell and the Great "Intelligence Fraud"
Rep. Dennis
Kucinich
The Whole World is Watching
Edward Said
A Monumental Hypocrisy
Wouter Hijink
Report from Amsterdam
"War: Do Not Feed!"
Linda Heard
At Last! Proud to be British
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Taking a Stand on Iraq
Robert Fisk
The Case Against War
Lev Grinberg
Lessons from Israel
A War Without Legitimacy
Chris Floyd
Cold Fronts:
Bush War Profits
Ahmad Faruqui
Stepping Back from the Brink of War
Norman Madarasz
French Kisses from the Citizens of France
Adam Lebowitz
Scott Ritter in Tokyo
Kurt Nimmo
Bring Us the Head of Osama bin Laden
Forrest Hylton
The Revolt in Bolivia
Col. Dan Smith
Irrelevance and Credibility:
Bush, NATO and the UN
Wayne Madsen
The Lies of Tom Lantos
Ranjit Hoskote
The Invisible Modernities of the Islamic World
Emily Zitter-Smith
Who's Safe Now?
An American in Cairo
Rich Procter
Anybody Remember the Powell Doctrine?
Poets Basement:
Eliot
Katz, Scott Handleman, and Bruce Tomczak
Website of the Weekend
Anti-War
Posters
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
|