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Today's
Stories
July
10 / 12, 2004
Kathleen
Christison
The Problem with Neutrality Between
Palestinians and Israel
July
9, 2004
Dave
Zirin
Carlos Delgado on Deck: Blue Jays Slugger
Stands Up Against War
Justin
Delacour
Wishing Kerry Would Shut Up About
Latin America
Robert
Fisk
Iraq in Reverse: Martial Laws Fuel Insurgency
Boris
Kagarlitsky
Two Congresses and a Funeral
William
S. Lind
The October Surprises
Sibel
Edmonds
Our Broken System: John Ashcroft's War on Truth
Ron
Jacobs
Reading Tea Leaves: What Vietnam Tells Us About Iraq's Future
Gary
Leupp
The Lie That Will Not Die: Cheney and
the Iraq/al-Qaeda Link
July
8, 2004
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
The Inexplicable John McCain
Toufic
Haddad
Protesting Israel's Apartheid Wall:
a Letter from the Hunger Strikers' Tent
Dave
Lindorff
Liberation as Martial Law
Joshua
Frank
The Fall: How Beltway Dems Sank Howard
Dean
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush & Cheney Play the Hitler Card
James
Petras
The Truth About Jimmy Carter
July
7, 2004
John
Chuckman
Kerry's BBQ: a Deafening Silence
of Meaning
Virginia
Tilley
A Line in the Sand: Azmi Bishara's
Hunger Strike
Susan
Martinez
A Letter to Bill Cosby
Mickey
Z
Elie Wiesel's Strange Parade
Michael
Donnelly
Our Own Private Wilderness: Trusting the Land in the Inland Empire
Sean
Donahue
Boston Social Forum: the Dems aren't the Only Show in Beantown
Diane
Christian
Sovereignty and Freedom in Iraq
July
6, 2004
Lisa
Viscidi
Fleeing Guatemala: Central Americans
Risk Lives to Reach El Norte
Marc
Norton
The Felonious Five Ride Again: the
Supreme Court and Enemy Combatants
James
Brooks
Chemical Warfare on the West Bank?
Ray
McGovern
Porter Goss as CIA Director?
William
Cook
Legacy of Deceit: If Dante Knew of Bush and the Neo-Cons...
July
5, 2004
Forrest
Hylton
US Imperialism in Latin America: Sept.
11, July 4 and Systematic Torture
Chris
White
A Former Marine Sgt. on the Meaning
of Independence Day
Joe
Bageant
Cranky Reflections on the 4th of July
Robert
Jensen
Stupid White Movie: What Michael Moore
Misses About the Empire
Kathy
Kelly
"Two Days an' a Wake-Up"
July
3 / 4, 2004
Elaine
Cassel
Bush's Police State and Independence
Day
Stan
Goff
ABC of Opportunism: "Progressive"
Latin American Leaders Support the Coup in Haiti
Snehal
Shingavi
"We Want Real Justice for Bhopal": Two Survivors Speak
Out
Bruce
Anderson
The Cheney-Leahy Metaphor and the Greens
Sharon
Smith
Twilight of the Greens: the Chokehold of "Anybody But Bush"
Josh
Frank
Ralph Nader's Revolt: an Interview with Greg Bates
Robert
Fisk
Pentagon Tried to Censor Saddam's Hearing
Joe
Bageant
Sons of a Laboring God: Leftnecks Unite!
Brian
Cloughley
Fortress Bush and the One Law Doctrine
Justin
Delacour
The Anti-Chavez Echo Chamber: Venezuela's Media Tycoons
William
S. Lind
Saudi Spillover
Linda
S. Heard
A Joke Called "Justice"
Greg
Moses
"It's Illegal, But It's Our Right": Korean Labor Won't
Back Down
Ron
Jacobs
"Ain't You Proud to be White on Independence Day?"
Toni
Solo
Weary of Indigenous Resistances? Just Pretend They're Not There
Dan
Nagengast
Chicken Manure as Cattle Food: Safe, But Do We Want to Eat It?
Stew
Albert
Brando, a Personal Recollection
Dave
Zirin
From the Black Panthers to Sacheen Littlefeather: a Eulogy for
Our Brando
Patrick
W. Gavin
The Progressive Case for Dodgeball
Steven
Rosenthal / Junaid Ahmad
The Problem is Bigger Than the Bushes: a Review of F911
Poets'
Basement
Kearney, Ford and Davies
Website
of the Day
Global Peace Solution
July
2, 2004
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Suicide Right on the Stage: the Demise
of the Green Party
Douglas
Valentine
Fahrenheit 911: Mocking the Moral Crisis of Capitalism
Gary
Leupp
"Just Because I Could": On Obscenities and Opportunities
Lee
Ballinger
Illegal People: Kerry Opposes Immigrant Rights
Robert
Fisk
Saddam in the Dock: Confused? Hardly
CounterPunch
Wire
"What Law Formed This Court?": a Transcript of Saddam's
Arraignment
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush's Drug Card Lottery: the Price Ain't Right
Saul
Landau
Buzz Words and Venezuela
July 1, 2004
Katherine
van Wormer
Bush's Damaged Mind: the Madness in
His Method
Joe
Bageant
Is Our President a Whackjob? Does It Matter?
William
James Martin
The Dogma of Richard Perle
Dave
Lindorff
Bush's Evacuation Moment
Robert
Fisk
Bread and Circus Trials in Iraq
Alan
Maass
Green Party in Reverse
Website
of the Day
Michael Moore and Israel: Blind or a Coward?
June
30, 2004
Kurt Nimmo
Nicholson
Baker's Checkpoint: a New Kind of Anger About Bush
Tariq
Ali
Getting Away with Murder in Iraq
Jennifer
Van Bergen
Bush and the Detainees
Douglas
Valentine
Apotheosis of the Psychopaths: Instead of Fahrenheit 9/11, Rescreen
The Quiet American
David
Price
Fahrenheit 9/11 Through the McCain-Feingold Looking Glass
Roger
Normand
America's Criminal Occupation of Iraq
Stan
Cox
Sanitized for Your Protection: Ashcroft's
War on Art
Henry
David Thoreau
On the Futility of Bush v. Kerry: All Voting is a Kind of Gaming
Ben
Tripp
Who Dast Call Him Liar: a Rebuttal to Nicholas Kristof
June
29, 2004
Patrick
Cockburn
The Cloak-and-Dagger Handover
Robert
Fisk
Alice in an Iraqi Wonderland
Troy
Selvaratnam
New York Times Boosts Pet Developer
Harry
Browne
Bush in Ireland
Ray
McGovern
The CIA According to Anonymous
Elaine
Cassel
Hamdi, Padilla & Rasul: Who Really
Won?
June
28, 2004
Patrick
Cockburn / Leyla Linton
Grisly Rituals in Iraq
Amira
Hass
Confronting Myths and Deadly Power
June
26 / 27, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
Venezuela: the Gang's All Here
Patrick
Cockburn
Iyad Allawi, the CIA's New Stooge
in Iraq
Dennis
Hans
Once They Were Sweethearts: Cheney,
the NYTs and the Myth of an Iraq Link to 9/11
Ben
Tripp
Adventures in Fuel Efficiency
Dave
Lindorff
That State Department Terrorism
Report: What They Knew, But Didn't Tell You
Chris
Floyd
Cold Irons Bound: the Russian Gambit
Ali
Tonak
Contamination at Berkeley: Profit Motives,
Academic Freedom and the Case of Ignacio Chapela
Keith
Rosenthal
The Withering of the Anti-War Movement
Bryan
Sacks
The Failure of the 9/11 Commission
Wayne
Madsen
Another Case of Blowback
Thomas
St. John
L. Frank Baum, Racist: Indian-Hating
in the Wizard of Oz
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
American Swadeshi
June
25, 2004
Stephen
Gowans
US to North Korea: "Trust Us"
Saul
Landau
2006 Pentagon Budget as Sacrilege:
Bush Invests the National Treasure in Death and Destruction
Amir
Butler
Iraq: the Deadly Embrace
Jack
McCarthy
Another Times Plagiarism Scandal?
Did Maureen Dowd Lift from the World Weekly News?
Greg
Bates
Chomsky and Zinn Plan to Vote Nader
June 24, 2004
Gary Leupp
John
Lehman on the Iraq / al-Qaeda Links
Patrick Cockburn
A
Day in the Life of Col. Abu Mohammed: Defusing Bombs, Facing
Death Threats
Harry Browne
On
the Rebound: Bush Bounces Back...in Europe
Bill Kaufman
Another
Marxist for Kerry: Joel Kovel's Sad Smear of Ralph Nader
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush,
Cheney and the 9/11 Commission: What Did They Know? What Did
They Tell?
Rick Gioimbetti
Andrea Yates: Victim of Psychiatric Violence?
John Chuckman
Call Center ID Hypocrisy
Diana Johnstone
Kerry
and Kosovo: the Lie of a "Good War"
June 23, 2004
Laura Carlsen
Bush
and Castro Face Off
Dave Zirin
Barry
Bonds vs. Boston: "A Flea Market of Racism"
Kurt Nimmo
From
Saddam, With Love
Patricia Wolff
Foundation Wars
Mahboob A. Khawaja
"They Had Me Arrested and Shackled My Son"
Patrick Cockburn
The
Pretense of an Independent Iraq
Website of the Day
The Road to Abu Ghraib
June 22, 2004
Dave Lindorff
The
Meaning of Putin's Pronouncement: Mutually Assured Pre-emption
Ron Jacobs
Nuclear Plants in US Protectorate of Iraq?
Vanessa Jones
Coogee, Peter Garrett and Valium Earrings
Mickey Z
An Open Letter to the People of Iraq
John L. Hess
Clinton Exhales
Pedro Marset/Ex-Solidarity
Committee for Pacho Cortés
An Exchange on the Case of Pacho Cortés
Bruce Jackson
Saying
No to Prosecutors: Why Steve Kurtz's Colleagues Refused to Testify
Website of the Day
From Boot Camp to Boot Hill
June
21, 2004
Gary
Leupp
Putin's Helpful Remarks
Lucson
Pierre-Charles
Haiti After the Press Went Home: Chaos
Upon Chaos
Cockburn
/ Khan
Saddam May Face Death Penalty
Uri
Avnery
Irreversible Mental Damage
June
19 / 20, 2004
Patrick
Cockburn
Inside the Green Zone: US is Paranoid
and Isolated
Bruce
Anderson
Frozen Gringos
Diane
Christian
Morality and Death: a Meditation
on Bush and Blake
Walter
A. Davis
Passion of the Christ in Abu Ghraib
Josh
Frank
How Democrats Helped Bush Rape Mother
Nature
Col.
Dan Smith
Respectable Genocide?: the Crisis
in Sudan
Brian
Cloughley
A Profound Disruption of the Senses
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush and the Timken Plant, a
Year Later
Prudence
Crowther
Mr. Ashcroft, Deport Me!
Poets'
Basement
Iqbal/Alam, Krieger and Albert
Kathy
Kelly
Dying to See Their Kids
June
18, 2004
Chris
Floyd
Blood Victory
Dave
Zirin
Danielle Green, Basketball Player
& Disabled Vet, Speaks Out Against War
Justin
E.H. Smith
The Christian Question in American
Politics
Gary
Leupp
The "Long-Established" Link?:
Iraq, al-Qaeda, and al-Zarqawi
June
17, 2004
Noel
Ignatiev
Zionism, Anti-Semitism and the People
of Palestine
Kurt
Nimmo
The Bush-Kerry Conundrum
Ed
Cardoni
The Persecution of Steve Kurtz
Ron
Jacobs
Power Relations: Rounding Up Everyone Who Knows More Than They
Do
Dave
Lindorff
Philly Daily News: "Four Wasted Years"
Greg
Moses
Geneva Ignored
Norm
Dixon
How Reagan Armed Saddam with Chemical
Weapons
June
18, 2004
Noel
Ignatiev
Zionism, Anti-Semitism and the People
of Palestine
Kurt
Nimmo
The Bush-Kerry Conundrum
Ed
Cardoni
The Persecution of Steve Kurtz
Ron
Jacobs
Power Relations: Rounding Up Everyone Who Knows More Than They
Do
Dave
Lindorff
Philly Daily News: "Four Wasted Years"
Greg
Moses
Geneva Ignored
Norm
Dixon
How Reagan Armed Saddam with Chemical
Weapons
June
16, 2004
Lenni
Brenner
A Question for Kerry Supporters
Davey
D
Hip Hop Reflections on Reagan
Daniel
Wolff
Why Did Michael Moore Withhold Video Evidence of US Prisoner
Abuse?
Bruce
Jackson
Harry Levin and the Penultimate Manuscript of Finnegans Wake
Patrick
Cockburn
Boom! Boom! Out Go the Lights: Bombings Target Oil and Power
Facilities
Gary
Handschumacher
Mourn Ben Linder, Not His Killer: Reagan's Death Squads
JG
Turning Haiti into One Big Sweatshop
Mario
Benedetti
Obituary with Cheers
Vicente
Navarro
Meet the New Head of the IMF: Who
is Rodrigo Rato?
Website
of the Day
Iraqi Oil Revenue Watch
June
15, 2004
Harry
Browne
Ireland Adds a Brick to Fortress Europe
Neve
Gordon
The Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited
David
Palmer
Richard Armitage, Abu Ghraib and CACI
John
Blair
Lovelock's Misguided Call: Nukes Are No Solution to Global Warming
Dave
Lindorff
God Wins in TKO
Bill
Quigley
Blood-Pouring Peace Activists: State Charges Dropped; Feds Step
In
Patrick
Cockburn
Carbombs and Street Dances: 13 More Killed in Baghdad Blast
John
Chuckman
John Kerry, Political Placebo
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
|
Weekend
Edition
July 10 / 12, 2004
Empire
Speak
What
Roger Noriega Really Means
By
TONI SOLO
Few people get to read US imperial declarations
in the original. Access to official imperial texts is mostly
via the interpretations and translations offered in newspapers,
magazines and radio or TV. These translations tend to be unreliable
because corporate media reporter-clerks themselves tend to be
treacherous, lazy, biased and smug. It may be that the safest
translation rule is to read any imperial text as meaning the
opposite of what it seems to say.
While that rule is pretty accurate
in most cases, those who need more precise translation may find
this elementary primer a useful practical tool. For reasons of
simplicity the examples are all taken from US Senate testimony
by Roger Noriega.1 A handy glossary of terms can be found among
the clandestine cemeteries, remains of massacred villages and
the bodies of hundreds of thousands of victims of torture throughout
the length and breadth of Latin America. Check the tens of millions
of people living on less than US$2 a day for the index.
Exercise One:
plutocrat panhandling as high morality
Empire speak "Our own
destiny is uniquely bound to that of our neighbors to the north
and south...........Our open societies, however, are vulnerable
to both internal and external threats - crime of all kinds and
dimensions, internal conflict and, as September 11th made clear,
dangerous new forms of terrorism."
Translation We cannot be expected
to eradicate the narcotics and arms trades since they are an
essential and significant part of our financial and economic
system. They help keep me, you Senators, and the US government
administration rich and powerful. We need significantly more
tax-payers' money so we can continue to fail to address these
issues we have to fake concern about with a show of concerted,
but mostly irrelevant, activity. Why?.... Oh, so as to make the
corrupt plutocracy you Senators and myself represent even more
rich and powerful than we are already.
Empire-speak "The most
encouraging development in the hemisphere over the last two decades
has been the decisive shift to democratic governance. In 1980,
fewer than half the countries in the hemisphere had freely elected
leaders. .........(now) Only one - Cuba - does not. Beginning
at the 1994 Summit of the Americas, thirty-four Heads of State
and Government have repeatedly endorsed democracy and free trade
as guiding principles."
Translation Despite the regrettable
fact that our preferred, murderous, kleptocrat dictatorships
are no longer sustainable or, strictly speaking, necessary, we
continue to project our power through corrupt local oligarchies
and decisive electoral interventions as for example in Nicaragua
and El Salvador and currently in the Bolivian and Venezuelan
referendums. We need substantial funding in order to subvert
free and fair electoral process throughout the Americas so as
to keep the poor majority from developing any alternative to
what we want. Furthermore, my colleague US Trade Representative
Robert Zoellick can't make the Americas safe for corporate multinational
business if his "comply or else" trade deals are subject
to due democratic scrutiny. So pay up.
Empire-speak "Democratic,
prosperous nations make the best neighbors. ........ They are
likely to work with us to combat trans-national threats and to
advance views similar to our own in multilateral fora such as
the UN, the OAS, and the international financial institutions."
Translation We need more money
to continue buying friends and bullying opponents so as to get
what we want in the United Nations and the Organization of American
States just like we did on Iraq. Did I say Iraq? I meant Haiti.
Likewise we need to make sure we retain decisive influence in
the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World
Trade Organization. So give us the money, OK?
Exercise 2:
tyranny as democracy
Empire-speak "We aim to
encourage continued progress throughout the hemisphere toward
effective democracy with broad-based economic growth, human development
and both personal and national security."
Translation We are determined
to continue imposing corporate welfare via the self-same neo-liberal
economic policies that have failed categorically, remarkably
and demonstrably to alleviate poverty in Latin America over the
last twenty years. The continent suffers more poverty now than
it did in 1990 when we really got down to forcing through privatization
and cutbacks in public services. This is exactly as it should
be because it makes it easier for us to get what we want. That's
worth money....
Empire-speak "While the
manifestations of Haiti's ills are poverty and misery, the root
causes are political. President Aristide's government failed
its people in every way. Now we can make a new beginning in helping
Haiti to build a democracy that respects the rule of law and
protects the human rights of its citizens."
Translation We successfully
supported murderous tyrannies in Haiti from 1916 until 1990 thus
ensuring that the people of Haiti never got any misguided ideas
about taking decisions for themselves. This guy Aristide was
a problem for a while but we successfully undermined him and
coerced him out of power. Now we need a bunch of money to clean
up some of the mess we made so as to offer a local alternative
to China for US sweat-shop apparel multinationals and give ourselves
a secure base for our developing intervention in Cuba.
Exercise 3:
democracy as practical joke
Empire-speak "Just a few
months ago, Bolivia was in the headlines. When Gonzalo Sanchez
de Lozada was elected president of Bolivia in August 2002, we
looked forward to working with him to implement, among other
things, market-oriented economic reforms he had previously developed.
However, he was forced to resign this past December by popular
demonstrations against some of those very policies........A principal
objective of our democracy program in Bolivia is to draw the
long-marginalized indigenous population into political life.....We
believe that a stable democracy is a necessary condition for
success in the fight against illegal drugs."
Translation We screwed up some
in Bolivia but expect to keep the place in line mainly by purchasing
local politicians and the military as we have always done and
co-opting popular political organizations. At the same time as
we're subverting democracy there, we can slip in a strong military
presence with our one-size-fits-all fictional "war on drugs".
Our local helpers have been able to fit up Colombian rural workers
rights activist Pacho Cortes as a "terrorist", so the
"war on terror" fits in here neatly too. As a stand-by
we can de-stabilize the country by staging an incident on the
border with our miltary riends in Chile requiring a State of
Emergency and intervention from the OAS. Cool. And cheap too.
Empire-speak "Venezuela
remains a cause for considerable concern.........The United States
has a major interest in preserving and regenerating democracy
in Venezuela and facilitating a peaceful, constitutional solution
to the ongoing political crisis. Foreign assistance resources
will be used to improve the functioning of institutions that
underpin democracy, in particular stronger, more democratic political
parties and democracy-related NGOs. The absence of such dependable
actors has greatly increased the distance between Chavez and
his detractors and prolonged the crisis, with devastating effects
on the national economy as well."
Translation Popular support
for Venezuela's President Chavez is a real headache. We've got
to find a way of getting the corrupt old oligarchy back into
power again:preferably without an expensive armed intervention.
We're pumping millions of dollars into subverting the electoral
process, buying politicians and local civil rganizations and
propping up local opposition media whose credibility and sales
are plummeting. It's a bummer that the Venezuelan economy is
on the up-and-up but we can still get away with lying about that
for another few months:no one in the US media will check their
facts in any case. So give us time on this one.....and money....
Empire-speak "In Cuba,
the one country in the region that does not have a freely elected
government, our policy is to encourage a rapid, peaceful transition
to democracy characterized by strong support for human rights
and an open market economy...... We intend to help create the
conditions that will bring to an end the hemisphere's only otalitarian
government and reintegrate the Cuban people as members of the
community of the Americas."
Translation Cuba is the one
country in Latin America that's consistently shown us up for
the bumbling, hypocritical, mass-murdering, racist dunderheads
that we are. This is not good for our self-esteem or for our
international standing. We have to destroy the successful:relative
to anywhere else in Latin America:social, economic and cultural
arrangments Cubans currently enjoy, force at least 60% of the
population into poverty:like we have everywhere else in Latin
America:and sell off everything that belongs to the Cuban people
to ourselves and our friends at pathetic knock-down prices:like
we have everywhere else in Latin America:otherwise it''ll never
get to be a real member of our kind of neighbourhood:right? That
costs money too.
Exercise 4:
poverty, such a shame (tears rented from the walrus and the carpenter)
Empire-speak "At the Special
Summit of the Americas held in Monterrey, Mexico, this past January,
the democratically elected Heads of State and Government declared
their commitment to economic growth to reduce poverty.........The
Summit declaration welcomed the progress achieved to date toward
the establishment of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
and reaffirmed the commitment to complete the FTAA on schedule,
that is, by the January 2005 deadline. The declaration contained
numerous other statements of support for sound macroeconomic
policies, prudent fiscal management, and public policies that
stimulate domestic savings, meet the need for creation of productive
jobs, and contribute to greater social inclusion."
Translation We had an excursion
to sunny Mexico last winter where we stitched up a deal with
our cronies from Latin America to protect the rich, keep wages
down, maintain dividends , encourage capital flight and promote
profitable speculation. We reckon to complete ontinent-wide free
(for us) trade-in-your-sovereignty deals at the same time as
we impose conditions we wouldn't accept for a minute:"sound
macroeconomic policies, prudent fiscal management, and public
policies that stimulate domestic avings, meet the need for creation
of productive jobs, and contribute to greater social inclusion."
- yeah, Alan Greenspan thought that was funny too.......it all
costs money though......
Empire-speak "At present,
too many in the hemisphere are trapped in poverty and suffer
from malnutrition. Without attention to their basic human needs
- food, basic sanitation and quality education and healthcare,
they will never be able to participate in the gains generated
by economic growth and expanded trade. Consequently, we are continuing
to dedicate significant resources to improve nutrition and healthcare
in selected countries and regions."
Translation We couldn't care
less about poverty as such but it's a bad advertisement for us
to say so. We'll continue to spend around 0.1% of our GDP (peanuts,
right?) throwing crumbs in the direction of poverty alleviation
aound the world, even some of it in Latin America:but remember
all that "aid" is good for US business and it also
means we can unload genetically manipulated foodstuffs on people
who are too poor to be able to say no. And THAT means our agri-business
industries end up holding the levers controlling food security
throughout Latin America. Ditto pharmaceuticals. A good investment.
Fund it.
Empire-speak "In Nicaragua,
the second poorest country in our hemisphere, our programs address
fundamental obstacles to development, including food aid to ameliorate
the impact of rural unemployment. We are also providing assistance
to diversify agricultural production and link agricultural products
to local, regional and global arkets, giving small farmers a
stake in the national economy."
Translation We continue to
obstruct equitable and sustainable rural development in Nicaragua,
as in the rest of Central America, by focusing on non-traditional
exports, encouraging measures to wipe out self-sufficiency in
basic grain production and to promote ver-dependency on agro-chemicals.
So far, as in Honduras, we have managed to encourage a massive
demographic shift from rural to urban areas. This has created
a satisfactorily large urban unskilled workforce desperate for
jobs that foreign investors can soak up as cut-price labour for
the maquiladoras. So domestically we have a reliable source of
cheap tropical food products all year round and a handy alternative
to Haiti, Mexico or Honduras for cheap maquila labour if those
places ever get funny ideas about permitting labour unions or
paying a living wage.
Exercise 5:
militarization, good; environmentalism...are you kidding?
Empire-speak "Notwithstanding
Haiti, Colombia continues to present the most urgent case for
law enforcement and other assistance in the region. Counternarcotics
remains at the center of U.S. relations with Colombia, which
supplies 90% of the cocaine consumed in the United States. However,
as Colombia's three terrorist organizations - the FARC, LN, and
AUC - fund their activities with the proceeds of drug trafficking,
a unified response is necessary. ........The total ACI request
for FY 2005 (including Colombia) is $731 million. These funds
are needed to support a unified Andean regional campaign against
the drug trade and narco-terrorism."
Translation We're making no
headway in Colombia. President Uribe is an ok bona fide fascist
right up our street, though we're not sure how long we can keep
on pretending he's helping us in the "war on drugs"
since he depends on drugs kingpins in the army and paramilitaries
to keep the guerillas under control. Never mind for now, we've
called the AUC terrorists:don't take us too seriously on that
one, they're our kind of terrorists:and issued extradition warrants
for Mancuso and Castano and some other guys but, hey, we need
them to destabilise Venezuela:trust me. In any case we're using
mercenaries down there so there are no comebacks:massacres, corruption
- no worries. Anyhow, Colombia's cheaper than Israel ight? So
OK that cheque.....
Empire-speak "Your letter
of invitation asked specifically whether, in my opinion, there
were any critical gaps in the Administration's foreign assistance
request for the Western Hemisphere. Needless to say, there are
always choices that must be made in putting together a budget
of this kind. Our request level is sufficient to address he highest
priority needs in our hemisphere."
Translation You don't seriously
expect me to talk about the environmental disasters our policies
are encouraging throughout Latin America do you? Desertification
through promotion of unsustainable agricultural economic policies,
catastrophic waste of water resources through encouragement of
inappropriate hydroelectric schemes, systematic displacement
of rural and indigenous populations as the direct and indirect
result of energy xploration and exploitation programs and infrastructure
integration plans like Plan Puebla Panama, devastation of vast
areas of agricultural and forest areas through chemical and biological
warfare as part of the bogus "war on drugs", iping
out biodiversity with our multinationals' reckless propagation
of transgenic crops ......no, let's not talk about all that.......
Exercise six:the
final wind-up
Empire-speak "The institutions
of government, social services, and the free market economy we
enjoy in the United States were not created overnight. We cannot
expect that other countries in this hemisphere, most of which
have a much shorter or inconsistent experience with democratic
governance, will achieve a similar institutionalization of rights
and freedoms in a few short years. .........As they become more
stable partners in international endeavors and more open markets
for our goods and services, we will become better friends in
the broadest sense of the word. That is the overall objective
we seek through our assistance program. I ask your support for
full funding of the Administration's FY 2005 budget."
Translation We have no intention
of letting the poor majority in Latin America decide their own
destiny any more than we intend to permit genuine democracy and
rule of law here in the US. You all voted for the PATRIOT Act
didn't you? OK then. Just like here at home we will make sure
the available political arrangments throughout Latin America
serve our greedy destructive needs now and for the future just
as we have always done since the Declaration of President Monroe.......That'll
be several billions of dollars well spent on our overall military-industrial
corporate welfare - we'll all do well out of this, believe me.
Empire-speak:
"Thank you for your attention."
Translation You guys vote through
that funding now and thanks for faithfully neglecting your constitutional
duty to subject this farrago of invention and half-truth of mine
to any scrutiny worth the name.
To contact toni solo: tonisolo01@yahoo.com.
1 Testimony of Roger F. Noriega,
Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs,
Department of State, Before the Committee on Foreign Relations
United State Senate, March 2, 2004
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