Patriotism, Legless soldiers and confident pronouncements
With the 4th of July just around the corner it seems appropriate that the public at large be treated to such uplifting images and information as the American media machine is serving up today. For starters, we have Bush's most recent photo op; he is taking a "slow jog" around a spongy track that circles the White House with crippled Army Staff Sgt. Chrisitan Bagge. Now, while I have the utmost respect for the courage shown by Sgt. Bagge for overcoming the terrible tradgedy of his maiming, it sickens me to see Bush use this man's courage and determination to prop up his plumeting approval ratings. The message is clear: we as Americans, and especially those men and women serving in the armed forces, need to show perseverance in this long and difficult war. If Sgt. Bagge can learn to jog with two prosthetic limbs then other soldier's can "stick it out" in Iraq. Further, it is also implied by association that Bush ( running alongside the man) too, is showing courage and perseverance in his refusal to be swayed by those calling for an end to the war in Iraq. Meanwhile, the number of U.S. fatalities has reached 2,527 (2,524 confirmed by DOD) and the number of innocent Iraqis losing their lives is in the tens of thousands. But not to fear, not to worry. We as a nation must "persevere," as Bush would say. We will not back down, because if will do the "terrorists" will win.
As ridiculous as these kinds of official proclamations sound in the face of the horrible loss of life, AOL news reports today that Americans are number 1 when it comes to "national pride." This is according to a patriotism survey of 34 countries conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. It is this kind of national pride and delusion that allows criminal wars to be perpetrated by the U.S. government against innocent peoples around the globe. It is no accident then that we are spoon fed the pictures of Bush jogging with a battle-scared soldier, the info on how patriotic we are as a people, and Condi Rice's statement upon her visit to Afghanistan that "we are not going to tire, we are not going to leave" (Associated Press, 6/28/06). It all fits together nicely like a jigsaw puzzle.
It is further no surprise that the U.S. puppet president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, is a former employee of Unocal, as is the U.S. ambassador in Iraq Zalamy Khalilzad. The return of the flourishing drug trade (Afghanistan produces 90 % of the world's heroin supply) continues to support the efforts of the Taliban, who were allegedly created by the CIA and for some time protected Unocal's pipeline project designed to remove valuable natural gas resources from the region. In his book War and Globalisation, Michel Chossudovsky points out that "without U.S. support channeled through the Pakistani ISI, the Taliban would not have been able to form a government in 1996." David Ray Griffin tells us "when the Taliban, with financial support from Saudi Arabia and the CIA funneled through the ISI, conquered Kabul in 1996, Unocal was hopeful that it would provide enough stability to allow its pipelines to be built and protected." (The New Pearl Harbor, 2004) He also quotes P.Stobdan (Strategic Analysis, 8/99) who claims that Unocal reportedly provided some of the financial support for the Taliban.
In Iraq the primary motivation for the ongoing U.S. occupation also relates to natural resources, especially oil, although the imperative of establishing and maintaining a solid political and military presence in the Middle East is a key objective which relates to larger schemes and plans as well. In an article he contributed to the Jordan Times in August of 2005 professor Abbas J. Ali paraphrases the neoconservative thinkers Lawrence Kaplan and William Kristol who reportedly assert in their book The War over Iraq, that America's presence there is about more than the Middle East and the war on terror. They claim "it is about what sort of role the United States intends to play in the world in the 21st century." Apparently these two argue that America must persistently exert military might in these areas that constitute a threat to its' interests, and that the "mission begins in Baghdad, but does not end there."
With what we know about the aspirations of the Project For a New American Century this shouldn't be surprising. Kristol is part of that group and is simply aspousing their philosophy of global domination. As for those Americans who might be waivering in their support of the current and planned future course of action by our country in Iraq and the world, a little propaganda, a little psychological pep-rally; as the most patriotic of days, the 4th of July, approaches; might serve to temporarily still their doubts and replace their fears with the warm, glowing feelings that usually accompany the multi-colored fireworks displays that will light up night skies across America in a little over a week.
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