"The Evil that men do,lives after them" (The War Against Terrorism - Post Afghanistan)

Name: leviathan

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Product:	The War Against Terrorism - Post Afghanistan
Date:	24/02/02 (408 review reads)
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“From this day the World has changed.”
So said the President of the United States of America, along with plethora of other world leaders, even before the dust of the WTC buildings had settled over the remains of those so brutally murdered by ‘suicidal terrorists’.

Everyone clamoured to know HOW? Such a thing could happen.
WHY? Was the US a target for these Evildoers! However very few, even now months after the atrocity are prepared to look deeper for the reasons. Preferring to believe the media spin that it’s all a matter of religious differences, or envy of the relatively wealthy lifestyle we enjoy in the West. In fact anything rather face the fact that perhaps, our sometimes far from honourable foreign policies have helped to create Terrorists.

I believe refusing to accept our ‘mistakes’ is a very dangerous route to take.

Since the horror of Sept 11.2001. And I do see what occurred as an unjustifiable, unforgivable act of horror. The world appears to have split into two camps.
Hawks and Doves…Or as the Donald Rumsfeld US Defence Secretary puts it. “Those who are with us, and those who are against us.” Those with Right on their side. And Evildoers!

If only it were that simple! Indeed once upon a time, before modern communication systems, and history books, provided us with information, it might have been. But for some of us with long memories and a passion for history, (particularly modern political history) it isn’t simple at all. Not even with all the media, and political tub-thumping whipping up patriotic fervour, providing, as Samuel Johnson so aptly put it, a refuge for scoundrels. Or in modern parlance, a cover from behind which those with deeply unpopular or downright shocking agenda’s can operate without censure.

Lets take a look at some of the ‘measures’ our defenders of freedom and justice have ‘sl
ipped’ in behind the glow of patriotism, and the darker side of racism and bigotry.
(1) Those ‘changes’ to the US and UK’s legal systems, and privacy laws, (which I doubt will be removed from the statute books even if every last so-called terrorist was in prison, or six feet under.) These include imprisonment without trial, or access to legal representation. Closed Military Tribunals empowered to hand down a death sentence. The right to phone tap, intercept surface and e-mails, access to bank accounts, etc, and the right of entry to property without ‘security’ agencies needing legal warrants. All that, and suspects taken out of a country without extradiction proceedings , to be caged like animals without trial or POW status.

Doesn’t sound very ‘just’ or ‘freedom defending’ to me. But then neither does increasing the largest defence budget in the world by a further $43 billion dollars, to build missile defence shields, more giant aircraft carriers, nuclear missiles, and other weapons of mass destruction. None of which it has to be said will do anything to prevent further attacks of the kind we saw on Sept 11.
Which begs the question. Is this massive build –up of weaponry designed to protect US soil and citizens from attack by an enemy, or US political interests generally, wherever they consider them to be threatened?
History teaches us, it’s the latter! I shall give examples later.

(2). War on Terrorism! Who couldn’t respond to such a battle cry?
Okay! The beleaguered Palestinians for one. The oppressed Kurdish peoples of Northern Turkey another. Yet using GW Bush’s ‘B’ movie gun-slingers rhetoric, as an excuse for further incursions and bloody attacks, the Turkish and Israeli governments have increased their use of force, against those whose ‘crime’ is wanting their own lands back, and the right to self-determ
ination. You know those ‘rights’ the War on Terrorism set out to defend. Resulting in more suicide martyrs to their cause taking more innocent lives.

Personally I could never condone the murder of innocents in the pursuit of any cause no matter how just, but I hope my mind will always remain open to understanding what drives someone to doing so.(A recent conversation with a 86yr old WW2 French Resistence fighter, has, I freely admit, helped me to see things from ‘the other side’). His view, which I found quite chilling at first, is that when fighting an oppressive occupation, or Regime, ANYTHING GOES! And that those who give succour to ‘the enemy’ must also expect to be treated like the ‘enemy’.

Considering the US gives Israel $4 billion in aid (mostly arms) each year, whilst we Europeans continue to trade with Israel, and do little except offer platitudes, to the oppressed Palestinians. Is it so surprising many Arabs and Muslims hold a deep and abiding hatred for the US and we in the West? Or that they feel betrayed by organizations like the UN. Who have been passing Resolutions calling on the Israeli’s to return to their pre1967 borders, and too stop building settlements on Palestinian lands since 1969, yet who have done nothing to force Israel to comply.
Unlike the way sanctions were placed on Iraq when the dictator Saddam Hussein refused to comply with UN directives after the Gulf War.

Now I can hear you muttering, about Saddam Hussein being a murdering evil despot.
And I agree. He is!
However he has ALWAYS been a murdering evil despot. Yet when it suited the US and Europe to support him in the war against neighbouring Iran, who had just deposed their equally despotic, but West friendly Shah, they ignored his genocidal tendencies and poured arms and aid into Iraq like there was no tomorrow.
Saddam Hussein was the Good Guy. Ayatollah Khomeini Pure Evil. Neither t
he US or Europe cared a jot about the Marsh Arabs and Kurds Saddam was ‘testing’ his biological weaponry on.Until that was Saddam invaded Kuwait, (another undemocratic but West friendly state) and the OIL supplies were threatened.
Whoops! Or as the ever meddling CIA say when someone bites the hand that has been feeding them “We have Blowback!”

Osama bin Laden is another case of Blowback. A madman backed up with US weaponry, British SAS ‘experts’, and all the aid he needed, when it was thought Afghanistan might fall to Russia, and become another Communist State.
Osama bin Laden Good Guy. Russians. Evil Commies. But when Russia withdrew and the threat diminished..So did the US. Leaving Afghanistan to the tender mercies of Osama and the Taliban. An Islamic Fundamentalist organization, which began in Pakistan. Was approved of and funded by Pakistan.
The same Pakistan. Who prior to Sept 11 was an international pariah. Denounced when the Military overthrew the democratically elected government.
The same Pakistan who now enjoy the backing of the US and its allies, and have been handsomely rewarded for the incalculable damage their support of the Taliban has done to the Afghani people, because it now suits us to turn a blind eye on yet another military dictatorship.


Frankly the list of ‘evildoers’ backed by the US and to a lesser extent we Europeans does not make pleasant reading. At different times truly evil men such as Pol Pot. Pinochet. Noriago. To name but a few have been treated as favourite sons of US and British administrations.

However try pointing out we have often made an ‘unfortunate’ choice of ‘friends’, and one is instantly branded as Anti-American. A terrorist appeaser, etc etc. Just as one is instantly branded Anti-Semitic for daring to criticize Israeli occupation and illegal settlement building!

Now we come to Bush’
s Axis of Evil. Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
Or ‘Rogue States’as they were known prior to Sept 11,before the use of the words Good and Evil became popularized. Evil regimes, intent on stock-piling weapons of mass destruction, which they would undoubtedly unleash on a unsuspecting world. Unless the good and benevolent Super Power with enough nuclear weapons stock-piled to destroy the entire planet ten times over, stops them!
Of course we can trust the Brits and the US with such weapons can’t we? They would NEVER use nuclear weapons first? Nor routinely use biological or chemical weapons. Because hey we are the GOOD GUYS !

The fact that Britian and the US are the ONLY countries to have dropped nuclear bombs on a civilian population, seems to have been forgotten. After all the Japanese were regarded as EVIL! And if we need an ‘excuse ‘for obliterating hundreds of thousands of lives, we can say that if we hadn’t ‘tested’ the new weapon on real live targets we would never have known how truely awful they were, and WW2 would have lasted much longer.
However I would be really interested to see the US come up with a viable excuse for using Agent Orange (bio-chemical weapon) and Napam (chemical weapon) during the Vietnam war against civilian targets.
I would also like to see them pay compensation to the few Korean survivors of No Gun Ri. Where after strafing a village killing hundreds, the US troops marched the surviving refugees up a railway line, and then opened fire on them. (Pulitzer Prize winning investigation 1999).Or as one US Korean War veteran put it. “ We were ordered to shoot ‘em. Old men, women, children, crippled, blind or crazy! Made no difference. Some made it to tunnel, and we kept ‘em pinned down in there for three days before we pulled out. Fifty years on an I still don’t sleep at night for thinking on what we did!”
But we can trust the US to use
its Might fairly and justly. Because they like us are the GOOD GUYS! Those refugees were Evil! Perhaps as Evil as the 13 civil rights marchers gunned down by British Paratroopers on Bloody Sunday!

Now if you can remember this op is supposed to be about the War on Terrorism post Afghanistan. But since GW Bush changed the parameters, and developed his Axis of Evil as he needs some reason to justify the extra $43 billion expenditure( his Republican Party owes the Defence Industry big time for the millions of dollars they have poured into the party kitty), and to cover the fact that despite their super power status they still haven’t found Osama bin Laden, or most of his senior supporters. Perhaps we should look at likely outcomes of the US dragging its allies into full scale war against those countries deemed as Evil.

Iraq. Undoubtedly ruled by a despotic, dangerous family, whom it is believed have means to retaliate unpleasantly if attacked. First target , would probably be Israel. With Sharon ( a war-mongering, refugee murdering bigot) in charge. Israel would undoubtedly use every weapon at its disposal to fight back. And if anyone thinks they haven’t any nuclear weapons. I suggest they remind themselves of which country is Israel’s greatest supporter!
Moreoever if the US intends to invade Iraq. From where would such an invasion begin.Turkey?
Kuwait? Would the rest of the Middle East feel comfortable having the huge US force, which would be necessary for an affective invasion , so close? Somehow I don’t believe they would whilst there is so much anti Arab and anti Muslim feeling around.

Iran. How many reading this op , either remember, or know about what sort of government Iran had in the 1950’s? Okay. Those who do will know it led by the ‘progressive’ ‘socialist leaning’ benign Mohammad Mossedegh , who wanted a better return for his people from Iran’s natural
resource oil. He wanted those returns to diversify the economy, and to fund massive education ,health programmes etc.
However there was a small problem. The 1933 contract with Anglo-Persian Oil. The way around it,full Nationalization of the oil industry.

Whoa! Said the British..We can’t have that. We need the oil and the revenues to rebuild our own economy.
Whoa! Said the US. They can’t do that. To socialist. Messes up the ‘Marshal Plan’.

Ergo in 1953 The US staged a coup in Iran, and returned and propped up the more ‘reasonable’ West friendly Shah.
Result. Corruption, people denied democracy, a share in the country’s wealth and a country totally dependent on one source of income. Oil!
Enter the ‘Mullahs’ and a return to the Dark Ages.
So much for being one of the Good Guys”!

The recently elected government of Iran. Is the most moderate for decades, and more importantly has the backing of the young. Sure the ‘Mullahs’ still have great power, but it is weakening, and will continue to weaken if the ‘moderates’ receive our support.
Treating Iran as an ‘enemy’ will in all probability have the opposite effect. Which might suit the hawks and the defence industries, but won’t do anything for World peace, or keep office workers safe from suicide pilots!

North Korea.
Hardly a ‘progressive’ or ‘moderate’ regime. But ‘cracks’ had begun to appear, and the Sunshine policy of South Korea may well have widened them. Its what the ordinary people of North and South Korea want. But by politically and socially, isolating an already starving population, they are more likely to try ’breaking out’ using the weapons they have been building for fifty years.
Which again may well suit the hawks and defence industries, but would threaten the Japanese and also bring the nu
clear armed Chinese into any resulting war.


So. Has the world changed since Sept 11 2001?

I contend it hasn’t, except for those killed and their families. And that includes the UN/Red Cross’s estimated 4000 innocent Afghani’s blown into oblivion with cluster and daisycutter bombs. Nice weapons of choice for the Good Guys.

Terrorism will never defeated, because we’ll continue to provide the fuel, by exploiting others to feed our ever greedy capitalist system. Its how the Good Guys operate.

So the next time,you wear those expensive trainers, or that bargain priced designer label think about who made them.
Perhaps they were made in Indonesia where the average monthly wage, wouldn’t buy one pair of those trainers.
Indonesia that once had a leader called Sukarno. A man dedicated to raising the standard of living for all its people. A socialist who dreamed of making his country an independent economic power house in the far east. Who envisioned his countries vast resources being used for that purpose.

Whoa! Said the US and British governments. We can’t have that. An economically independent Indonesia might hurt us financially.
Enter Suharto! A military dictator willing to give the US and Europe carte-blanche with his countries resources and its people, in exchange for power and personal wealth.
Trouble was Suharto couldn’t overthrow Sukarno without help. US President Ford and his sidekick Kissinger made sure he got ALL the help he needed, (including British warships to protect his troops) and one and half million Indonesian people died.
Suharto got very rich. Multi-national companies were allowed to plunder Indonesia and virtually enslave its peoples. (US Criminal History Brian Wilson 1999) and we get cheap trainers.

But hey we and the US are the Good Guys Right?

Yeah Right! Course we are?

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