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CounterPunch
November
5, 2002
Oprah Winfrey:
Warmonger?
by FEDWA WAZWAZ
There is a Sanskrit proverb that says, "When
understanding is demented, destruction is near." One of
the major misunderstandings that exist today is the definition
of freedom. Many have come to accept that freedom translates
to the ability to make choices. However, what value is a choice
made with a demented understanding of reality?
Take for example our choice to wage war
against Iraq. On Oct. 9, TV personality Oprah Winfrey used her
program to market the war. Winfrey ran video clips in a sound-bite
manner by "experts" as a "moral" obligation
to rid the world of Saddam Hussein.
One person in the audience found the
courage to comment that the show seemed to be "propagandizing"
in favor of war. Winfrey replied that the program was simply
laying out the facts so members of the audience could reach their
own conclusion. There was a brief clip by Scott Ritter, the former
U.N. weapons inspector on Iraq, to falsely lend credibility to
her program. Yet, certain facts were missing.
For example, Ritter believes Iraq no
longer possesses viable weapons of mass destruction. And there
is no evidence, but only conjecture and speculation, that Iraq
has that capability.
Is this really a humanitarian mission,
as Oprah would like us to believe, or are there other motives
driving this war?
Let's see what hidden agenda lays behind
those pro-Israeli "experts" who were pushing for war.
In 1996, an Israeli think tank called the Institute for Advanced
Strategic and Political Studies published a paper by Richard
Perle and Douglas Feith titled, "A Clean Break: A New Strategy
for Securing the Realm," which advised incoming Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to renege on the Oslo Peace
Process.
Perle is now the chairman of the Defense
Policy Board at the Pentagon and Feith holds one of the top four
posts at the Pentagon as under-secretary of policy.
The paper is basically a plan by which
Israel would "shape its strategic environment," beginning
with the removal of Saddam Hussein and putting in place the Hashemite
monarchy in Baghdad.
Iraq is "the tactical pivot,"
as a recent presentation at the Pentagon put it, for re-mapping
the Middle East on Israeli-American interests. Destabilization
of other "despotic regimes" will follow, according
to plan.
So the plan to attack Iraq was plotted
six years ago by pro-Israelis who now hold key positions in the
Pentagon.
But there are other hidden agendas as
well. Many high-ranking leaders of the religious right in America
have been quite vocal attacking Islam, the Quran and prophet
Muhammad publicly. Neither the Bush Administration nor any Republican
leader has condemned their attacks or disassociated themselves
from these extremists. In fact, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay,
with other members of Congress, spoke alongside these extremists
at their Christian Coalition convention.
The extremists see Islam as a threat
and any blow that can be given to a Muslim nation in favor of
Israel is a winning point. They view this war as bringing the
world ever closer to the second coming of Jesus.
And there is the oil factor. America
and the oil companies stand to profit so much from this "moral"
war. When was a humanitarian mission rewarded so well?
Besides the deaths of Iraqis and Americans,
this war will spill anarchy in the region _ producing hotbeds
for extremists, terrorists and further ethnic wars.
Look at this war from the minds of people
in the region. If the American leadership chooses to join forces
with religious extremists and pro-Israeli think tanks in this
country to wage war against Iraq, Osama bin Laden's main recruitment
slogan that the "Jews and Crusaders" are waging a war
against Islam will become very credible.
So what conclusion did Oprah's audience
reach when certain facts were missing from her program? Pro-war.
Understanding any subject cannot be achieved by passively watching
emotionally manipulative propaganda programs. We must question,
analyze and verify the information. Are these sources biased?
Are these "experts" using "the facts" to
attain a political, religious or hidden agenda? Furthermore,
what are the opposing arguments? And more importantly, what are
the consequences to us and others?
If we continue to make choices with a
demented understanding of these events, we will lead ourselves
and the world to destruction and oppression, not freedom and
peace.
Fedwa Wazwaz
lives in Crystal, Minnesota. She is a programmer/analyst at the
University of Minnesota, a member of Interfaith Minnesotans for
Middle East Justice and communications director for the Islamic
Resource Group. She can be reached at fwazwaz@hotmail.com.
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