Destroying to Save
The
Not so Hidden Agenda in Administration Policies
By Daniel Jordan and Neil
Wollman
05/01/06 "ICH"
-- -- One infamous line from the
Vietnam War was, “It became necessary to destroy the village to
save it.” The Bush Administration has carried this thinking to
stratospheric heights. Here are some pointed examples.
Destroying Freedom To Save
It:
The Orwellian absurdity of the Patriot Act, destroying
freedom to save it from evildoers, goes unchallenged in American
media and politics. Our government claims the right to infringe
on any and all civil liberties; engage in warrantless wiretaps;
peek at our email messages, book purchases and library
withdrawals; and enter our homes all without even the minimal
oversight from FISA. Spying on citizens is deemed “Homeland
Security.”
This Administration claims
the right to imprison people without access to the outside
world, family or counsel. Lest Americans think this applies only
to foreign “bad guys” Halliburton’s KBR subsidiary is building
detention centers across the nation to hold tens of thousands of
people. Bill Bennett has just blustered that the U.S. ought roll
out the Espionage Act again and prosecute for treason reporters
who criticize or expose facts about the Bush Administration. Our
nation is being pushed beyond normal politics. Conservatives and
liberals alike should be concerned. Critics (including these
authors) are likely already on watch lists.
Destroying Iraq To Save
It:
To save Iraqis from a tyrant whom we created we have
destroyed their infrastructure and killed thousands of Iraqis
whose lives we, and they, were told would improve. Post-invasion
deaths attributable to the war have exceeded those from the
ravages of Saddam. Their right to vote is overshadowed by daily
miseries, fear, death via sectarian violence or U.S. military
air strikes, sickness from devastated water and healthcares
systems, and constant frustrations from lack of everyday
resources.
One quintessential example of
“destroying to save” is Fallujah. The US tried either to round
up or kill the able-bodied
men in Fallujah by bombing everyone out of the town, and then
driving the men back into it so they could be bombed some more.
We leveled Fallujah in 2004 and remain intent on rearranging the
rubble.
Destroying Our Environment
(And Future Economy) To Save It:
The Administration claims
to be saving the environment while keeping our economy strong.
But current policies will do neither. The Administration refuses
to acknowledge the destruction of our environment, and proceeds
gleefully with policies that will hasten the process. Using
Global Warming as an example, it has not restricted carbon
dioxide but put in limited voluntary measures that have done
little, not supported the relevant Kyoto Protocols, disputed
alarming research or called for further years of study when
action was needed, and ousted or gagged scientists with opposing
views. Figures released in mid-April place 2004 greenhouse
gasses at their highest level ever recorded, with the U.S. being
the principle culprit.
Thus we see Polar ice caps
melting and glaciers receding. Alaskans are now concerned about
forest fires. Greenland is no longer covered solidly in ice.
Warming oceans are destroying marine ecosystems. Rising sea
levels are forcing remote villagers to move to higher ground (if
any exists).
Rising sea levels will
destroy our climate, coastlines and economy. If remote villagers
need to move, so will wealthy seaside resort residents in the
U.S. What will our economy look like when our major cities, most
along our coasts, are under water? We will see ever increasing
post-disaster mass relocations like those following Hurricane
Katrina.
We citizens share the blame,
though, as these policies are partly driven by our daily
decisions. Each of us drives the demand for oil that leads to a
degraded ecosystem and a foreign policy that leads to seeking
foreign oil control.
Readers willing to look
honestly at events will find their own examples of our
government destroying things in the name of saving them. If the
current administration’s philosophy carries into the future,
expect the destruction of our social security and Medicare
systems—for starters—allegedly
to save them of course. Perhaps our only hope is that the Bush
Administration will continue to stretch destructiveness to such
an extent that even its supporters will begin to object.
The Neo-Con’s vision of a
“New American Century” has dragged
us instead into an Anti-American Century in which our children
will pay dearly for our mistakes. Destroying our country and
others is not a form of salvation, but of mass suicide.
Daniel Jordan, Ph.D.;
Research consultant and Dean, College of Social and Political
Justice, International University for Graduate Studies, St.
Kitts & Nevis, BWI;
drdanj@adelphia.net
Neil Wollman; Ph.D.;
Senior Fellow, Peace Studies Institute, Professor of Psychology;
Manchester College, North Manchester, IN 46962;
njwollman@manchester.edu;
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