by Don Hynes
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| Vantage Point | Culture and Politics by Don Hynes |
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"No man is prejudiced in favor of a thing, knowing it to be wrong.
He is attached to it on the belief of its being right; and when he sees it is not so,
the prejudice will be gone." - Tom Paine
September 30, 2003 Obsession Fundamentalism is a form of possession, self-possession albeit, by a belief, and translates behaviorally into an obsessive character. How else to explain the Administration’s dogged pursuit of an invasion of Iraq despite the overwhelming dissent of our allies, of world opinion, of pragmatic foreign policy, and in the President’s case, the best advice of his own father. Administration talking heads defending the war and the subsequent military occupation of Iraq are like 21st century deck officers on the Pequod. Gee, things were going along so well if it weren’t for that darned whale, I mean country, I mean dead-enders, I mean Sadaam loyalists, terrorists, you know, those darned turban heads screwing up our luxury cruise through the mid-East. Bush thumps along on the bridge, his wooden prop echoing through the ship, declaring victory over a force he’s barely reckoned with let alone understood. Down among the mates only Starbuck is deeply concerned, because in his view the captain’s obsession betrayed the more important commitment, to plunder and profit. Starbuck didn’t mind Ahab going for the great white one as long as it didn’t interfere with whaling. Captain Dubya is shoring up this problem by sharing the booty, but the ship is still listing if not sinking under the weight of his obsession. The notorious $87B figure is just another dart at the wall by Administration forecasters. They know less about the costs of military occupation and reconstruction than they did about weapons of mass destruction, and remember only 25 cents on a dollar goes to reconstruction, the other .75 goes to the military occupation that includes protection for Halliburton and other corporate profiteers. As an old salt once taught george’s da, “it’s the economy stupid” and Iraq is the dark sinkhole to which Bush has sunk his presidential harpoon. As Max Cleland, a triple amputee and Vietnam war hero who had his courage slandered by Karl Rove in the last Georgia senatorial election recently opined: “We are keeping American forces on the ground (in Iraq), where they have become sitting ducks in a shooting gallery for every terrorist in the Middle East. Welcome to Vietnam, Mr. President. Sorry you didn't go when you had the chance.” One Pill Makes You Larger Robert Fisk suggests that the U.S. military occupiers are losing touch with reality by refusing to account for Iraqi dead unless they are connected to U.S. military casualties, while Iraq Body Count has done an independent study on Iraqi casualties since the war was declared over. The colonialist detachment of the occupation forces recently allowed Major General David Petraeus, military commander for northern Iraq, to describe General Sultan Ahmed as a man of “honour and integrity,” the man who persuaded General Schwartzkoff to allow his use of Iraqi gunships following the 1991 truce to murder thousands of Iraqi dissidents. The bitter irony of the Petraeus evaluation of his “fellow general” may be part of the reason for the growing questioning of Iraqi occupation by GIs on the ground, as in this public statement by Tim Predmore, on active duty with the 101st airborne "we are facing death for no reason." Or why there is an organized effort on the part of military families to bring their sons and fathers and husbands home now. Or because the Pentagon has deliberately failed to protect the troops with the research necessary to prevent another debacle of 33% veterans on full disability ten years after GW1 amidst the growing linkage between DU weaponry and Lou Gehrig’s disease. Or maybe it’s because there is honor in our military and having been terribly lied to and betrayed just one generation ago they haven’t lost their memory nor their courage to speak out: “When we put (our enlisted men and women) in harm's way, it had better count for something, It can't be because some policy wonk back here has a brain fart of an idea of a strategy that isn't thought out.” - retired General Anthony Zinni on U.S. Iraq policy. Secretary Powell’s request that critics hold their fire was met with demands to cut off funding until there is accountability for the reasons for war and a game plan for reconstruction and Iraqi sovereignty. Senator Kennedy called the case for war “a fraud made up in Texas” for political gain, while Ambassador Wilson seeks some semblance of honesty having fingered the fraudulent charges by the Administration of a Niger uranium purchase by Iraq and been paid back by a “senior official” blowing his CIA agent wife’s cover a Federal crime that Bush Sr. once described this way: “I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious, of traitors.” Maybe george isn’t spending enough time with his da. The President said he never linked his invasion of Iraq with 9-11. Read his letter to Congress. Surprise, the hunt for WMD yields ZERO. The Defense Intelligence Agency concluded this week that the information gleaned from Iraqi defectors and exiles, including Ahmed Chalabi whose previous career in bank fraud and embezzlement made him a sterling choice for Iraqi puppet in chief, was completely worthless although gathering the useless information cost a million bucks! Josh Mitchell reports on New Bridge Strategies, promoting Joe Allbaugh to front-runner for most egregious predator amongst the President’s cronies. The former chief of staff for Bush in Texas and Campaign 2000 recently started his consulting firm in the Beltway that helps clients navigate an “interactive map of Iraq (which) will show areas of opportunity in the post-war rebuilding effort for specific industries.” No interest peddling by this ten figure grifter and bush buddy, no indeed. The people of Iraq aren’t fooled by this piracy nor are many of our Allies about the auctioning off of Iraq. Chief of Occupation Bremer plans are so shallow that he’s calling up re-treads from the economic rape of Russia to “assist in the reconstruction.” Michael Meecher writes in the Guardian that the whole claim of war on terror and its connection to Iraq was bogus and the invasion planned in principle long before 9-11. Seems like someone on the crew (not the Captain!!) has been lying. Is this Compassion? Queequeg’s been out of a job so long he’s building his coffin. Bush laments over violence and terrorism but the U.S. continues to lead the world in arms sales. Damn those rogue whalers! The crew hasn’t abandoned ship but with the Arctic Shelf breaking up and Ahab writing tax breaks for Humvees some progressives are seeing Canada as a destination resort! Nicholas Kristof continues his sensitive reporting on the effects of the President’s recent decision to cut off funding to a worldwide effort that helped women in need. Some of us on the well fed side of the world’s table can’t comprehend what trade rules mean for those who live hand to mouth or for whom farming is not a business but a lost way of life. The people we comprehend least, although the most talked about, are the terrorists themselves. Suicide bombers have been the cause of horrible tragedies in Israel and a prime source of Sharon fuel for continuing military occupation and brutal violence against the Palestinians. Here’s a thoughtful exploration of what is morally wrong with suicide bombing that doesn’t apologize or excuse but does seek to understand. Ways to Help Sign with MoveOn to have Rumsfeld fired. Help True Majority block further funding for the Iraq occupation. Take action on the environment and prevent spoiling of our coasts, global warming, saving Yellowstone and other NRDC biogems. Tell Proctor and Gamble’s Millstone division you support their decision to market free trade coffee. Support the Justice Program’s sponsored Innocent Protection Act. Support Working Assets Voting Matters. Poetry IV by Wendell Berry from A Timbered Choir (Counterpoint). The summer ends, and it is time To face another way. Our theme Reversed, we harvest the last row To store against the cold, undo The garden that will be undone. We grieve under the weakened sun To see all earth's green fountains dried, And fallen all the works of light. You do not speak, and I regret This downfall of the good we sought As though the fault were mine. I bring The plow to turn the shattering Leaves and bent stems into the dark, From which they may return. At work, I see you leaving our bright land, The last cut flowers in your hand. Peace. *** |
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