During the last few years it's become increasingly clear that the Iraq war is going pretty much the way a lot of neocons want it to go - as sort of a second-best solution. The first-best neocon situation would be an Iraq controlled by a multi-national-corporation-based "democracy" (basically an arm of the U.S. military-industrial complex). Under this scenario, Iraq would be a base from which to spread instability and chaos to the rest of the Middle East (except to Israel and some of the Bush family's Arab friends), basically a catalyst to gain control of the entire Middle-East and its oil. Since this neocon dream hasn't happened (now virtually impossible - part of the "being greeted as liberators" fantasy), the second best situation is to have an unstable, chaotic Iraq that is a catalyst of instability and chaos in neighboring countries. This clearly IS happening.
So, I would argue that the current situation in Iraq, which is bad news to most Americans, is actually good news to neocons (its the start of the "permanent war"). The seeming failure of the Bush approach in Iraq is actually, in their minds, largely a success. Cheney and Rumsfield, if nothing else, are smart, savvy guys when it comes to military operations. Strategically, how could they have done just enough to fail time and again? How could they have ****ed up so badly? Well, they haven't - at least not according to them. This has all been by design. I'm not the first to posit this theory.
He then discusses connecting the dots.
The short term for a multi-national-corporation-based "democracy" is imperial democracy. Some neocons openly use the term. Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things, has made the quip, "Instant-Mix Imperial Democracy, Buy One Get One Free." Another term is "Superpower democracy." Empire, creeping fascim have also been used.
I have blogged on this general topic before, prompted by a question posed by the Iraqi blogger Riverbend. The post is entitled, Riverbend ponders: Is the Iraq Debacle Intended?
More recently, former national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, made a similar argument. Maybe I put words in his mouth, but he comes pretty close to saying, "Bush is Steering US Toward War with Islam."
I'm also working on a piece about US supported death squads in Iraq. Examining that avenue is likely to help connect the dots on the question of whether the US leaders are intentionally fostering chaos, a permenant war.
Finally, I also started an essay about memoranda written by former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo. If you want to get creeped out, read this. It's very clear to Yoo that a 'war time president' has greatly expanded powers as Commander in Chief. There is the motive. Now we need to connect the dots to the means and the opportunity for these crime against peace.
12 comments:
GDAEman,
I noticed your response to my proposal on the Pedestrian Infidel at http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/2007/02/proposed-constitutional-amendment.html. I did ponder making specific references in my "whereases" but decided not as that support is pretty self-evident to anyone who reads the headlines.
Otherwise your 2 comments seemed to be of "blame the West" for todays' problems because of policy in the past. Well, Thomas Jefferson fought the first war with Islamic terrorism so how far back to we have to go before the West is found innocent of causing todays problems?
Anyway, regardless of the causes, Islam (not radical Islam) has declared war on the West. Here is a good link to what the US will be like in a few more years (the UK is already there) http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=38548&in_page_id=34.
So, since in the US we're not prepared to fight the PC crowd and admit that Islam wants to destroy our way of life, I suggest to all that you prepare for war in the streets within 25 years.
Scott (in Phx AZ)
Umm, actually the West is not at war with Islam. It is at war with radical Islam, contrary to what you said. Most muslims don't have a giant problem with the U.S. and the rest of western civilization.
thethoughtsontheworld.blogspot.com
Scott,
I read more than just headlines, and it isn't self-evident to me. So, references for your "whereases" would help your cause.
It isn't a matter of blaming the West, but acknowledging some accountability. Even if the Islamic world has declared war on the west, we have no "rights" to their natural resources; they have the right to nationalize their oil. That is, it wouldn't justify the 1953 US-led coup in Iran. Consequently, war on the west or not, Iran has some justification for distrusting the US.
Nor is it a matter of PC, with me anyway. Most religions want to spread; some branches of christianity and Mormons have their very active missionaries. They also have their social services, some funded by Bush's "faith based initiative." And, as the documentary "Jesus Camp" has demonstrated, some branches of christianity, the dominions, strongly integrate politics into their operations (though it isn't clear some of these televangelist christians aren't just pretending to be 'christian' in order to build their empires." See Chris Hedge's new book.)
As for war in the streets, it's more likely there will be an economic collapse with fighting among the "have nots" before thre is fighting islamists in the streets. I'm more concerned right now with fundamentalist christians destroying our way of life than islamists (again, see Hedge's new book).
Sorry GDAEman, your comment
I'm more concerned right now with fundamentalist christians destroying our way of life than islamists (again, see Hedge's new book).
marks you as off in moonbat land.
Fundamentalist Christians aren't be-heading (or threatening to be-head)those that resist them, and as the 2006 elections show, Democracy is alive and will as the voters gave congress back to the party of traitors instead of the party of stupid. There is no RATIONAL fear of Christianity in our secular US.
However, in Europe, the Islamic assault is well under way with increasing violence. It is only a few years away from that here punctuated by the occaisonal incident of SJS ("Sudden Jihad Syndrom) as evidenced in Salt Lake City 2 weeks or so ago.
Already in the US Islamic groups are pushing for Sharia law despite that it of course is diametrically opposed to the BofR. They make no bones about wanting to change our culture to accomodate them. I see nothing productive in pretending that they aren't willing to use whatever means necessary to do so.
Maybe this isn't the correct analyzation of GDAEman's comments, but its whats true:
The concern about fundamentalist Christians is not so much that they will run around chopping people's heads off. It's more that they will try to impose their beliefs (religous and political) on others.
Simmons,
"It's more that they will try to impose their beliefs (religous and political) on others."
Thats called Democracy, and its what we do every 2 years.
Again, anyone who who puts the Christian "right" on equal terms with Islam suffers from severe confusion at best. There is simply no comparison.
btw, I'm not religious, I don't give a damn what FANTASY anybody wants to believe, but I'm damned glad I live in a country with a Judeo-Christian heritage and not a Muslim paradise. And that goes double for the womenfolk in my family.
How is imposing one's beliefs on another democracy? Look up the word imposing in a dictionary. Do you know what it means? Usually it you impose forcefully. There's a difference between democracy and it.
Actually, the concern is one noted by Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves."
Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, has exposed people like James Dobson, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, who abuse "christianity" to gain personal power, and seek seeks absolute power in a so-called "Christian" state.
Hedges has a masters in divinity, and points out these people are not really evangelicals, they are more properly called dominionists or Christian reconstructionists. The evidence is clear: They prey on the weak and desperate in our society, often raising tons of money from those who can least afford it. They use scare tactics.
They are real, here and now. They are false profits who bear evil fruit of materialism, concentrated wealth, fame, political power and they identify with the discredited elite of our Country.
Regardless of one's position on Islam, we should be able to agree that the false profits who cloak themselves in phony christian garb are a threat to our way of life.
See: “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America”
Simmons,
We "impose" our believes on each other ALL the time through the democratic process. If you want play word games and semantics then a political dissussion won't be very fruitfull.
The claim here by you and GDAEman that some of the Christian right like Robertson and Falwell are somehow as dangerous, or deserve just as much attention and fear, as the Islamacists simply is fantasy. Regardless of what these people are doing (and there have been con-men of all stripes forever) there is ZERO chance of ANY takeover of this country by them.
Ignoring the threat of Islam while pretending that the religious right is somehow a danger to the American way of life is nothing less than stupid.
Scott,
In as much as the likes of Falwell and Robertson already have taken over to a degree, the notion of "zero chance" is rebutted on the face of it.
We are talking about an external threat versus an internal threat. The "imposing" of a government with that uses excessive secrecy cloaked as national security classifications; warrantless surveillance of phones, email, physical mail, physical property, and private financial records, etc.; detentions without judicial process and a judicial branch stacked with those who share their ideology. This is happening now.
We are presently witnessing dominionist Members of Congress like Tom Delay, who say things like "I am the government," establishing untold numbers of laws and distribution of government largesse over nearly a decade, which is siphoning off national wealth that to consolidate power. This is happening now, not some figment of a possible arabian assault.
We're not talking "possible" we're talking here and now. Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, a dominionist, is a senior Pentagon military intelligence official. He was intimately involved in the policies at Abu Ghraib, which have seriously damaged the Nation's reputation of having moral high ground and fueling justifications for radical Islamic recruitment. These wolves in sheeps clothing are currently infiltrating our elite armed forces units. For example, see The FORCE ministry home page.
This is the tip of the iceberg, but I'll leave off with saying that there is substantial evidence the US imperium has over reached. Thus, when you hear Islamist radicals say the US is going to crumble and Islam will stand in its place, they mean the weak shall enherit the earth.... their medival ways will be left standing... the US will fall of its own weight and corruption, thanks in part to the modern-day dominionist crusaders who are all for outsourcing US jobs in the name of God. The US manufacturing jobs are leaving and they aren't coming back, the US is in debt and has no tax base to generate the revenue needed to pay off that growing debt (to China who has nukes to make us pay up), the election system is coopted by wealth to the point many Americans feel their vote doesn't make a difference, people have grown cynical as Congress and our laws are dominated by dominionist and corporate money.
I listen to you and recall the phrase, "The Russians are coming." The Islamists are a paltry, fractured (Sunni vs Shia) force compared to Russia, that had the wealth-generating capacity of a state and its satellites, central control, a military that was dominant after WWII, space technology.
Then I look at the likes of Boykin, Blackwater USA, and the televangelist empire that has an inside track to constitutional power. Who is closer to disrupting our way of life?
Wow GDAEman,
"Who is closer to disrupting our way of life?" And "In as much as the likes of Falwell and Robertson already have taken over to a degree". Huh, huh. How and where has this happened much less affected Americans?
3,000 dead Americans on 9/11 because of 19 Muslim terrorists shouting Allahu Ackbar! But of course the death toll from right-wing religious fanatics is greater? Oh, they are not, thats right.
But somehow the religious right is going to take over. Its pretty indicative of the moral confusion in America when the only religion the ACLU likes on campus is Islam.
As for "wolves in sheeps clothing are currently infiltrating our elite armed forces units", so far all I've seen are prosections of Muslims in the armed forces for spying and, of course killing their fellow Americans.
You would make me laugh if it wasn't such a serious issue. It is VERY OBVIOUS that you don't read the headlines around the world.
You are a moonbat.
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