�We have succeeded, because we
stopped the talking about Iraqi children, and instead are talking about weapons
of mass destruction, not sanctions to hurt civilians."�U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, describing his plans for new 'smart
sanctions', House International Relations Committee, 7 February 2001
�It's really not a number I'm terribly interested in."�General
Colin Powell (When asked about the number of Iraqi people who were slaughtered
by Americans in the 1991 "Desert Storm" terror campaign�over 200,000
people killed)
In the vocabulary of hyper-imperialism, the slogan, �regime change,�
through the concocted doctrine of military preemption� has acquired a specific
meaning: access to colonialism. The concept works like this: If a
non-nuclear country is of a strategic importance to the economics and ideology
of hyper-imperialism, the U.S. could fabricate a ruse to invade it, change its
regime, and establish military bases on its territory. Iraq is the first
sovereign state to fall consequent to this doctrine.
Iraq, formerly shackled by U.S. made U.N. resolutions and economic
sanctions, and ruled by a dictatorship has become the ideal testing ground for
the establishment of hyper-imperialist colonialism and the paramount prize of
the new Israel-U.S.-Britain axis. Although the United States is occupying Iraq
with a Nazi-Israeli style iron fist, and despite a string of U.N. resolutions
sanctioning its occupation, Iraq is very far from being conquered, and it may
turn to be the place where hyper-imperialism would face decisive military defeat.
After almost 16 months from the invasion, U.S. forces are panting to maintain
the precarious status quo and semblance of control in front of a growing,
relentless, and fierce Iraqi resistance.
Regardless of the obvious failure of the U.S. to consolidate the
occupation regime by continuously changing its name, it is dubious, at least
for now, that the civilian leaders of hyper-imperialism would relinquish Iraq
in the very near future, even if their military were to sustain moderate to
heavy casualties. Under the prospects of long-term fabulous oil profits and
geo-strategic benefits for Israel, such hypothesis is anathema to U.S.
Zionists, otherwise called the neoconservatives, who strictly control the
agenda of Republicans and Democrats.
Many factors reinforce the U.S. reluctance to accept, thus far, the
failure of conquest. Among these are: availability of underemployed American
labor that could compensate for lost American soldiers; hired mercenaries paid
with seized Iraqi money; complicity of the Arab regimes for fear of
intervention; world order controlled by the United States; availability of
Iraqi oil money to finance the occupation; and the emergence of numerous
factions of Iraqi collaborationists. Cogently, the one thing that could force
the U.S. to withdraw is an implacable Iraqi uprising that inflicts incremental
heavy fatalities and casualties, and never allows them to relax and enjoy the
prey.
Presently, what U.S. war planners are hoping for is that the Iraqis
killed and maimed daily, unemployed and exhausted, and deprived of regional and
international support, would eventually succumb to the presumed irreversibility
of the occupation. Waiting in vain for this to happen, the U.S. tried using
many brutal tactics, including the creation of an Iraqi Governing Council,
interim government, fake sovereignty, Iraqification of the conflict, more
destruction of Iraqi property, prison pornography and sexual abuse, torture,
indiscriminate killing of civilians through reprisals, employment of Israeli-type
raids on urban centers, use of Israeli car-bomb techniques, etc.
So far, no plan has worked. This is despite the new fascist resources
brought in by a veteran expert in American terrorism and an organizer of
Central American death squads, who now lives in one of Saddam�s palaces as the
ambassador of the United States. Not even, the installation of another Iraqi
fascist dictator with strident connections to the CIA, Ayad Allawi, who
threatened to �annihilate the anti-American resistance,� is helping in
persuading the Iraqis to give up the struggle to liberate their country.
It is elementary that in order for the U.S. to impose its will on the
world and accomplish its ambitious objective of conquering Iraq, it would need
international consent�willingly or unwillingly. In other words, the U.S.
demands that the world acknowledge the reality of conquest and legalize its
status through imperialist diplomacy. The question is, "Does the U.S. need
diplomacy to implement its conquest? Certainly, it does; although it pretends
to be unilateralist, the U.S. still needs momentary alliances, and still needs
imperialist and regional consent. Without international cooperation, the U.S.
occupation would tumble down instantaneously because of prohibitive costs and
other factors. Briefly, how does the U.S. move between the shifting sand of
diplomacy and maneuvers of hyper-imperialism?
Here enters Colin Powell, an insidious master at hyper-imperialism, with
his diplomacy of coercive persuasion, military extortion, pyrotechnic lies, and
brazen deception to delineate stratagems for conquest. Because Colin Powell is
the highest commissar in the diplomatic order of Zionist hyper-imperialism, it
is natural that we investigate his public image and thought.
In truth, we cannot talk about U.S. foreign policy under George W. Bush,
without talking about Colin Powell first. That is because massive public
relations efforts have created an inflated figure of Powell and made of him a
�man for all seasons.� The often-vaunted diplomatic prowess of the former
general is a pure product of image making and politically motivated overrating
by pundits and opinion makers. Ironically, the idolization of Powell has
nothing to do with his persona, position, or professional performance, but has
a lot to do with catering to the African-American community by those who
ascribe him to it. This is notwithstanding the fact that Powell is scarcely
interested in the strenuous struggle of black America against discrimination,
and for justice and equality. Since his retirement and until he became
secretary of state, Powell had other concerns such as making good money with
promotional speeches on �leadership.� The question is, �Why all the publicity
that surrounds Powell?�
If Powell�s adulators argue, that he served this country as a former
national security advisor under Reagan and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff under George H.W. Bush, then I would rebut that he did not serve America
and the American people. He served the designs of U.S. imperialism and
committed huge crimes under its service. In Vietnam, he took part in an
imperialist war of aggression against a nation in search of independence and
unification; and his role in covering up the My-Lai massacre is public
knowledge. If other hypocrites would describe him as a �hero� of the Gulf War,
then this is an intended misnomer. Powell was no hero, but a man who committed
genocide, and he with the rest of the junta that destroyed tens of thousand of
Iraqi lives in that imperialist war, must face international justice for war crimes and crimes against
humanity. In the end, his role in the current Iraqi carnage puts him on par
with many other violent imperialist figures in U.S. history.
As for diplomacy, Powell is no diplomat. Nelson, a prestigious Canadian
educational publisher defines diplomacy as
follows: �diplomacy a system of formal, regularized communication that allows states
to peacefully conduct their business with each other.� Powell does not fit this
description. He is an aggressive man of war, and a sordid warmonger that now
wears civilian cloths and regularly uses war threats as the sole language of
communication.
In addition, while diplomacy requires possessing multicultural
historical knowledge of world societies, political systems, and intellectual
independence, Powell, based on the way he develops his themes, appears to lack
these basic requirements. Powell indirectly admitted to his lack of this
fundamental prerequisite for diplomacy by the way he affirmed his total
servility to the whims and backward ideology of George W. Bush. In an interview
with the Washington Post on November 12, 2003, Powell stated that he �Serves
at the pleasure of the president [sic],� and then added, �I think any good
subordinate accommodates himself to the wishes of his superiors and, in
effect, you determine how best to serve that individual.� [Emphasis added.] In
the end, he added that he �would never resign on policy.� The most glaring
implication of what Powell stated is that he has no principles of his own.
If, I made Powell to fail on all fronts, is there an area where he is
winning? Sure, there is�imperialist propaganda and intimidation. In addition,
Powell is not winning because he is Powell, but because he is the secretary of
an unaccountable, powerful imperialist state. To prove this point, if, for
example, Powell would take a job as a foreign secretary of Burundi or Nepal; he
would fade out of the news immediately. It is redundant to say, that any other
person in Powell�s position could do the same things that Powell does and
obtain the same results by employing imperialistic intimidation. However, from
studying his brief diplomatic biography, Powell�s limited function is the
implementation of the diplomacy of hyper-imperialism where he is supposed to
build imperialistic coalitions and obtain concessions to American positions.
The rationale that fueled this simplistic assumption is that world
diplomats, especially in developing countries, would fearfully bend to the
second African-American in an important foreign policy position (Andrew Young
was first). Unfortunately, this assumption is somewhat, true. Many world
leaders, especially, spineless Arab leaders obsequiously consider Powell as one
of them, since he belongs to a community that experienced oppression. In the
end, the fact that Bush proposed Powell for the position of secretary of state
before the election in 2000 to win over the black vote is rarely mentioned.
Ironically, by a bizarre twist of history, a dark skin color, often denigrated
in American politics and social habits, had become the determining factor in
Powell�s ascension.
It is in this limited sphere of presumed capacity to influence where
Powell�s diplomatic prowess is confined. What is remarkable about Powell, from
his �American Journey� to his hyper-imperialist journey, is that he talks like
a seasoned white supremacist; he reasons like a callous imperialist; he
deceives like a consummate Zionist, and he concludes his argument like a
crusading colonialist. In addition to all that, Powell appears to have mastered
the procurement of adulation for personal gratification and success.
Reportedly, he or his entourage spread the rumor that he partly descends from
British royalty, as if descending from royalties would put him on a pedestal
above the rest. Then there is the adulation he gives to others. On one
occasion, he caters to the Christian Right by declaring the U.S. is a
Judeo-Christian country; and, on another, he caters to American Zionists by
declaring Israel a great �democracy.�
Moreover, Powell always appears confident that no one is going to
challenge what he says. For once, we have to give him credit. From reading
texts of his interviews and viewing his press conferences, one comes away with
the solid conviction that people charged with asking him questions prefer not
to confront him. To analyze the reason for this conduct, we have to scrutinize
the spoken thought of Powell. It appears that Powell has also mastered the art
of linguistic acrobatics without a safety net�he swiftly jumps between the
trapezes of misleading arguments without hesitation. Consequently, journalists
who have their orders not to ask him any embarrassing questions on his foreign
policy, end up by not challenging any of his contorted statements for fear of
falling down because no safety net exists.
Powell, however, has entered history through the gate of doctrines at the
service of imperialism, thus proving that anyone, regardless of color, race, or
national origin can enlist in that service to advance his personal career and
promotion of family members. (Powell�s son, Michael is the chairman of the
Federal Communications Commission. Although Michael Powell may have all the
qualifications to be chairman, being the son of Colin Powell could have been
the decisive factor in that choice.) Nevertheless, even here, his so-called
doctrines are unoriginal and take their apparent logic from the sole military
strength of the United States. To understand Powell�s role in the context of
U.S. imperialism, I shall discuss in this part some of his �doctrines,� and
then move in the next part to discuss his convoluted explanations for the
occupation of Iraq.
Powell�s Original Doctrine
A PBS
program defines Powell�s original doctrine as follows: �Essentially, the
Doctrine expresses that military action should be used only as a last resort
and only if there is a clear risk to national security by the intended target.
The force, when used, should be overwhelming and disproportionate to the force
used by the enemy; there must be strong support for the campaign by the general
public; and there must be a clear exit strategy from the conflict in which the
military is engaged.� Let us examine the content:
- The first
part of the doctrine, � . . . Military action should be used only as a
last resort and only if there is a clear risk to national security by the
intended target� is axiomatic from a military viewpoint and natural
self-defense. However, by placing that thought in the context of
imperialism, we can find many subtexts that may attest to its theoretical
mendacity. First, it did not address the question as to what are the
conditions that pave the way for that �last resort� and it did not
explain, what real steps have been taken to make that �last resort� an
option. In the war against Afghanistan and Iraq, Powell�s postulation,
especially while he is holding a powerful position, has failed miserably.
For instance, the U.S. waged two wars of aggression for imperialist
calculations only, while inventing pretexts that national security was at
risk. First, no one proved yet that Afghanistan or al-Qaeda is responsible
for 9/11; and second, Iraq under Saddam never posed any risk to the United
States.
- The second
part of the doctrine, � . . . The force, when used, should be overwhelming
and disproportionate to the force used by the enemy� while it appears
logical from the viewpoint of imperialist aggressiveness, it has many
insidious fascist subtexts as well. First, it talked about �the forces if
used,� but it did not address if the force is justifiable in the first
place. In this case, use of force is at the service of politicians and not
underpinned by military necessities.
- Further, the
postulation, � . . . Should be overwhelming and disproportionate to the
force used by the enemy� is Hitlerism at its finest moment. Here is how I
interpret this: if an invented enemy, such as Iraq or Afghanistan, does
not possess what it takes to deter aggression, then the U.S. can
obliterate them with depleted uranium, daisy cutters, fire bombs, and many
other super killing methods in the U.S. arsenal. To uncover the
intentionality to inflict mass destruction in the Powell Doctrine, I must
note that, because Iraq only possessed outdated weaponry, the U.S. could
have abstained from using overwhelming radioactive weapons. It is clear that
the U.S. is in the business of using advanced weapons in all circumstances
with the intent to intimidate and induce voluntary subjugation. In
addition, the terms, �overwhelming and disproportionate� are clearly
Hitlerian and fascist in nature�why use disproportionate force, while
proportionate force is more than sufficient? If the intent is the
overkill, then violence imbues this doctrine from top to bottom.
- The third
part of the doctrine, � . . . There must be strong support for the
campaign by the general public,� is Powell�s most Machiavellian ruse of
his imperialist formula for victory. Powell well knows that power can
manipulate the public to accept war in a zillion ways. Moreover, even if
this public is against the military adventures of imperialism, it cannot
stop them. Consequently: 1) the insertion of the public in the
formulation of the doctrine is only a hypocritical allusion to the
presumable power of the people, and 2) the consent or refusal of the
people has never been a relevant factor in U.S. war decisions.
- The last part
of the doctrine, � . . . There must be a clear exit strategy from the
conflict in which the military is engaged,� is where Powell�s Doctrine
fails completely. In the age of hyper-imperialism of which he is an
exponent, the U.S. goes to war to stay; exit strategy, therefore, is no
longer required. This formula, however, works only if the U.S. finds
itself in a stalemate with either a tenacious and well-equipped adversary,
or consequent to a nuclear or traditional confrontation with a major
power.
Powell�s Smart Doctrine
Powell reinforced his imperialistic credentials immediately after he
took office as secretary of state in the Bush administration. The occasion was
in relation to the Iraqi question and the issue of the crumbling genocidal
sanctions on Iraq. Powell seemed infatuated with the word �smart.� Since his
�smart bombing� where the U.S. dropped 80 million tons of bombs on Iraq in
1991, he re-used the word �smart� again in 2001 but this time, he applied it to
economic sanctions.
As with George H.W. Bush who called his bombing of Iraq in
1991 the most humane bombing in history, to his son who called his invasion of
Iraq the most humane invasion in history, Powell called his new doctrine of how
to kill Iraqis with hunger, disease, and degradation of civilian
infrastructures and development, �Humane, Smart Sanctions.� Curiously, although
Powell popularized the concept of �smart sanctions,� he did not author it. One
liberal think tank (Fourth Freedom Forum) connected to U.S. imperialist
projects and an institute connected to the same project (Joan B. Kroc Institute
at the University of Notre Dame) conceived it. David Cortright, a former
anti-war activist turned imperialist, Alistair Millar and George Lopez,
president and vice president of the Fourth Freedom Forum, co-authored the
report: Smart Sanctions:
Restructuring U.N. Sanctions on Iraq as an alternative to war with
Iraq.
To discuss briefly the concept that became Powell�s own, let
us read the summary prepared by George Lopez:
�The United States should seek to limit Iraqi designs to develop weapons of
mass destruction by supporting a U.N.-sponsored �smart� sanctions mechanism.
Smart sanctions would involve a tightened system of border monitoring and
verification with an eye toward control of dual-use technologies. Financial
controls through the U.N. escrow account should be retained to limit Iraq's
purchasing abilities in the global marketplace. Private accounts of Iraqi
elites should also be frozen to limit purchases of dual-use goods or expertise.
The elimination of the blunt general trade sanctions, which are already
leaking, would lift a considerable burden off the Iraqi people.�
- First,
Lopez started his brief summary with outright deception. He and his
imperialist co-authors created an ideological American report on Iraqi
sanctions, but then he called to support it as a �U.N.-sponsored�
proposal.
- Second,
Lopez talks of �designs to produce WMD,� and a design is not a physical
object. Further, since the U.N. destroyed Iraq�s potential capabilities to
produce such weapons after the Gulf War in 1991, the U.S. shifted its
strategy from accusing Iraq of actual possession of primitive WMD to
contemplating �designs to produce them,� and that for the sole purpose to
keep the sanctions on, and to devise a final strategy to take the country.
- Third,
Lopez moves to address the issue of �dual use technologies.� This issue
was fundamental in the thinking of U.S. imperialists, but it had endless
implications. Briefly, every material object on earth, without exception,
has potential dual use�military and civilian. In practice, the U.S.
wanted, at that time, to strangle Iraq completely and deprive it from
recovering after 13 years of war, embargo and total economic sanctions,
especially knowing that the old sanction regime was falling apart because
of its unilateral imposition by Israel and the United States.
- Fourth,
Lopez then moves further to strengthen and further maintain U.S. control
over Iraqi oil revenues. In essence, the U.S. imposed colonization on Iraq
long before the actual invasion. As for the notion to lift the burden off
the Iraqi people, that was the usual rubbish that the U.S. is keen to
include in all its announcements on Iraq.
Powell�s Hyper-imperialist Doctrine
The Russia
Journal describes Powell�s hyper-imperialist doctrine as Powell�s Doctrine
II: �The Powell Doctrine II is a combination of the
use of overwhelming military force and benevolent unilateralism. Powell asked
that America "be trusted to use its power wisely and fairly." The
journal continues: �In an interesting way, Powell's shift in tactics is what
the United States is asking of the world. There is no possible way to thwart
America in its self-declared mission to save the world from itself, so it is
better to jump on the American juggernaut.�
Although the Russia Journal chose minimalism in its
definition of U.S. imperialism under Wolfowitz, Perle, Libby, Cheney, Rumsfeld,
and Bush, it, however, had the merit to point out to Powell�s role in it. In
addition, by solely concentrating on the trust factor, as demanded by the U.S.
for its military interventions, it�s a superficial way to examine all primary
factors that guide U.S. policy. A better way to describe Powell Doctrine II is
by highlighting other features such as the real objectives of hyper-imperialism.
Moreover, by citing Powell only, it neglected to mention the Zionist coalition
of which Powell is only a voice. This is my viewpoint:
- Powell�s role in hyper-imperialism is marginal, if not
insignificant. He is only a spokesperson who delivers speeches and
explains policy made by other circles. Bob Woodward, an assistant managing
editor of the Washington Post and an author, had unceremoniously
highlighted the nature of Powell�s role in the Bush administration in his
book, �Plan of Attack.� Woodward depicted an isolated Powell who rarely
sees the Bush and who needs an appointment through Condoleezza Rice to see
him . . .
- Many voices accredit Powell with �moderating� effects on Bush�s
foreign policy, Other rumors had gone so far as to suggest that Powell was
opposing the war on Iraq, and some organization had even called on its
members to place car stickers in support of Powell. This was a false
expectation that came out of despair. A man who is enamored with America�s
military power, served it militarily, and experienced its atrocity cannot
have any moderating effect on the politics of imperialism. In addition,
Powell never, publicly or privately, expressed any reservation on Bush�s
policy options. These remained the privilege of the Zionist elite around
Bush.
- Although Powell is a dangerous figure in U.S. imperialism, his cool
manners, somber facial expression, posed demeanors, and limitless
capability to take his performance seriously, never managed to cover up
for his shining lies. His acting session at the U.N., however, where every
pore of his body exuded blatant fabrications about Iraq�s dangerous
weapons, won him praise from all imperialist and Zionist circles in
London, Moscow, and Tel Aviv.
- Powell served Bush and his Zionist posse very well. His
contributions to U.S. imperialism are innumerable: he projected
�confidence� in his lies; he conferred �respect� on his deception, and
displayed a military character in dealing with his interviewers; and . . .
he made many trips overseas to twist arms and distribute threats.
Next: Part 18: Powell�s Theories on Iraq Sovereignty
B. J. Sabri is an Iraqi-American anti-war
activist. He can be reached at bjsabri@yahoo.com.