�People do not forget. They do not forget the death of
their fellows, they do not forget torture and mutilation, they do not forget
injustice, they do not forget oppression, they do not forget the terrorism of
mighty powers. They not only don�t forget; they also strike back.� --Harold
Pinter, Nobel Laureate
The central tenet
of American foreign policy hasn�t changed since the early 1980s when Secretary
of State Henry Kissinger summarized our involvement in the Iraq-Iraq War
saying, �I hope they kill each other.� Kissinger�s dictum reveals the
basic racial and religious odium which animates the current policy and has
become the organizing principle for maintaining the global empire.
Now that the Muslim
world has been systematically ravaged from the southern-most part of Gaza to
the northern tip of Afghanistan, we can see that the application of the
Kissinger Doctrine is an effective method for decimating societies where
coveted resources are located.
By all accounts,
it�s been a huge success.
The policy seems to
be working best in Iraq, where provocative counterinsurgency operations have
incited a massive sectarian war. The conflict produces an ever-increasing
number of civilian casualties many of whom have been killed by other Iraqis. No
doubt Kissinger is gratified that his theory is working out so splendidly.
The western media
portrays the disaster in Iraq as the natural upshot of years of repression
under the former dictator, Saddam Hussein. But, Saddam had nothing to do with
the violence which is ripping Baghdad apart. That�s just a way of pacifying the
American public so they can go on their Christmas buying-spree without pangs of
remorse. In fact, Saddam is no different than America�s other tyrant friends in
Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. He simply stood in the way of Big
Oil�s dream of direct control of Iraq�s resources and created a likely rival
for �good friend� Israel.
The violence in
Iraq is entirely America�s doing; just follow the bloody footprints straight to
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. There's no need to look any farther.
The Bush team has
ignited a firestorm in Iraq which has swept through the capital and
countryside; pitting Arab against Arab, and Muslim against Muslim. That was the
objective from the very beginning. Now that the violence is spinning out of
control and could cross borders into neighboring countries, the grown-up
members of the policy-establishment, like James Baker, are getting jittery and
want to see a change of direction. Baker isn�t bothered by the death and
destruction as long as it is carried out with discretion and doesn�t disrupt
other imperial projects in Latin America, Africa, and Central Asia. But Iraq
has swallowed American foreign policy whole; leaving Bush little time (or
resources) to deal with other urgent matters in the rest of the world.
The military is
overextended and bogged down, the situation on the ground is chaotic, and
American prestige has taken a beating. The advocates of �creative destruction�
have released the genie from the bottle and energized the anarchic forces of
regional rebellion. Now, the outcome is anyone�s guess. What is certain,
though, is that Bush�s plan for an endless source of cheap gas and security for
Israel has taken a ruinous turn for the worse.
Israel has a
different perspective on the turmoil in Iraq. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
has embraced the neoconservative ideal of �positive instability� and clings to
the notion that toppling foreign regimes and disrupting Arab countries
improves his chances for regional dominance. In fact, just last week Olmert
opined that the war in Iraq has actually been �better for the safety and
security of Israel.� Olmert still believes that Israel�s imperial aspirations
are fortified by attacking and fragmenting other countries in the Arab world.
No doubt, his response comes as no surprise to anyone in the region.
It�s easy to see
how the assassination of Lebanese parliamentarian Pierre Gemayel fits perfectly
with Olmert�s worldview. If violence breaks out between the various Lebanese
groups, then the Christians will serve as a �proxy army� for Israeli interests.
What could be better for Olmert? That means he wouldn�t have to restart the
34-Day War and risk the lives of Israeli troops. He could just sit back and
watch as his Lebanese neighbors tear themselves apart in a second civil war and
hopefully weaken archrival Hezbollah in the process.
No wonder Olmert�s
popularity is soaring at 18 percent.
The "Gaza Solution"
American
hostilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Israel�s war in Lebanon are
part of a broader plan for remaking the Middle East to meet the needs of
American oil corporations, banking giants and Israel. The war on terror
provides the thinnest of cover for military operations which are clearly
colonial in nature. The Pentagon makes no effort to conceal their overall
objectives. In fact, Defense Department�s maps are available to the public
which outline the area of the Middle East and Central Asia as CentCom; the
central battlefield in the global resource war. What more proof does one need
that the entire region is in the gunsights of the Washington warlords?
The most
regrettable part of the current conflict is the way in which Muslims have been
subject to subtle, but deliberate vilification. This may have more to do with
geography than race, but the result is the same. Muslims never appeared on the
radar of public opinion before 9-11, now they are regular targets of
right-wing, xenophobic tirades and carefully crafted government fear-mongering.
Coincidence?
Not likely.
Bush and Blair have
assured us that �this is not a war against Muslims,� but neither has done
anything to silence the racist abuse which spews daily from radio talk shows or
from the op-ed pages of major newspapers. Tom Friedman frequently uses his
column to remind us of the problems which are particular to Islam and which can
be easily overcome by simply complying with the diktats of Washington and Tel
Aviv. Friedman�s annoying paternalism and prejudice is widely shared in the
corporate media where unreflective buffoons are all too eager to blame the
victims of occupation, exploitation and corporate vandalism.
If Muslims believe
that the war on terror is actually a war against Islam; it�s because all the
facts point to that conclusion. Sober leaders in the foreign policy
establishment should carefully consider the implications of this strategy
before continuing down this path. Waging a culture war against one and a half
billion Muslims who occupy the lands where we get our vital resources does not
augur well for our long-range interests. America�s economic viability is held
together by a webbing of pipelines, tankers, oil platforms and oil facilities.
All of these are vulnerable to the attacks of terrorists, guerillas, dissidents
or disgruntled enemies of the empire.
Are we prepared to
fight them all?
A �war of
civilizations�; is the misguided progeny of neoconservative fanatics. Their
plan is now writ large across the entire region so everyone can see that the
US-Israeli war is actually directed at Muslims alone.
This is
a huge mistake for which we all will pay dearly.
The war on
terror is the greatest public relations swindle of all time. Just look at a
map. We�re not fighting terror; we�re repositioning military assets to control
crucial pipeline routes and oil fields. The administration�s objectives are as
plain as day to anyone who knows the least bit about landlocked supplies of oil
and natural gas in Central Asia and 60 percent of the world�s oil in the Middle
East. If American industry controls these reserves they can control China�s
growth, maintain US military superiority, and force the world to use the
debt-plagued greenback into the next century.
Unfortunately,
America�s ongoing aggression requires a scapegoat; an unwitting victim that
they can demonize and portray as a imminent threat to U.S. national security.
Muslims.
Now we have
Muslim-only gulags scattered across the planet where every imaginable method of
torture is employed with complete impunity.
We topple their
regimes, shame their women, defile their holy book, train their repressive
security forces, incite violence between their religious sects, bomb their
cities and mosques, and jail anyone who appears the least bit suspicious.
If we are not �at
war with Muslims,� then why is the concertina wire still stretched around
Ramadi, Tal Afar, and Falluja? Why are the Madrasas still being bombed in
Northern Pakistan? Why is Abu Ghraib still overflowing with prisoners?
Why are Muslim scholars still refused entry into the United States and Muslim
civilians kept off airplanes? Why does right-wing radio still flood the
airwaves with their racist bile and anti-Islam vitriol?
And why does the
United States still stubbornly refuse to condemn Israel�s criminal attacks on
the Palestinians, like this month's bombing of Beit Hanoun where an entire
family was butchered in their sleep?
Why?
Bush�s plan for
Muslims has been clear since he assembled his flagship gulag at Guantanamo Bay
and presented it as the main icon of the New World Order. If Bush wants to
prove his sincerity, then he should release Gitmo�s inmates and order the
facility bulldozed into rubble. It is an abomination that should offend anyone
with a trace of decency.
We know Bush�s plan
for Muslims, because it is identical to that of his ideological twin, Olmert.
They both believe that the final solution to the �Muslim problem� lies in the
Gaza Model.
The Gaza Strip is
the world�s largest prison camp, containing 1.5 million Palestinians. They are
limited in their movements and have no reliable access to food, medical aid,
clean water, electricity or employment. They do not control their borders, air
space, roads or coastline. And, even though their elected officials have none
of the powers that are normally associated with national sovereignty, they have
been under constant siege by Israeli forces that aggressively destroy any
nationalist movement which operates beyond Tel Aviv�s control.
Israel claims the
absolute right to kill, detain, abduct or torture anyone it sees fit without
providing any means for a legal defense. They show the same disdain for
Palestinian human rights as they do for the 60 separate resolutions passed by
the United Nations. Israel does as it pleases.
Nothing about the
Gaza �open-air� detention facility is accidental. It�s a model that has been
meticulously developed over 39 years to create a permanent state of
imprisonment for the �undesirables� who have legal title to the land. If we
look across the Middle East into Central Asia, we can see that the same
fundamental principles for subjugation are being applied to Muslims throughout
the region.
The Gaza Model is
the logical corollary of Bush�s war on terror. It provides a means for
dealing with the people in resource-rich lands who stand in the way of
America�s corporate-political expansion. At its core, it is a strategy for
�pacification� through segregation, containment and brutality. These are the grim
requirements for America�s continued dominance into the next century.
The war on
terror is fueled by belligerence, deception and unrelenting aggression
against innocent people in their own countries. It is terrorism pure and
simple.
Bush will deny this,
but it is true just the same.
Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He can be reached at: fergiewhitney@msn.com.