|
Hypocrisy rules the West
By Paul Craig Roberts
10/01/07 "ICH" -- -- Shame has vanished from Western
“civilization.” Hypocrisy has taken its place.
On September 28, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown could be
heard on National Public Radio decrying the use of violence
against democratic protesters by the government in Burma. Brown
declared the British people’s revulsion over the violence
inflicted by the Burmese government on its people. But Brown
said nothing about the violence the British government was
inflicting on Iraqis and Afghans.
George W. Bush also struck the blameless pose when he declared:
“The world is watching the people of Burma take to the streets
to demand their freedom, and the American people stand in
solidarity with these brave individuals.”
Bush and Brown do not have the same sympathy for the peoples of
Iraq and Afghanistan. Neither Bush nor Brown stand in solidarity
with those who are demanding their freedom from foreign
occupation by American and British troops. Indeed, Bush and
Brown, as commanders in chief, are on a killing spree that makes
the government in Burma look extremely restrained by comparison.
Why were British soldiers sent to kill Iraqis and Afghans?
September 11 had nothing whatsoever to do with the UK. No doubt
but that the corrupt Tony Blair was paid off to drag the British
people into Bush’s Middle East war for American/Israeli
hegemony, but
Brown has done nothing to terminate Bush’s use of the British
military as mercenaries.
The NPR announcers also supported the Burmese people, but they,
too, show little disturbance over Bush’s five-year old wars that
we now know were based entirely on lies. Al Qaeda is not the
Taliban, and Iraq had no WMD. Neither country was a threat to
the US. Now that we know this, why does the media still give
Bush and Brown a free pass to use violence against Iraqis and
Afghans?
To cut to the chase, what is the difference between Bush and
Brown on one hand and the murderous Burmese government on the
other? Bush and Brown are actually worse. They pretend to be
democrats concerned with what people actually want. The Burmese
government doesn’t pretend to be anything but a military
dictatorship. Moreover, the Burmese government is clean by
comparison as it hasn’t committed acts of naked aggression--war
crimes under the Nuremberg standard--by invading other countries
and attempting to occupy them.
Despite all the killing Bush has accomplished, he thirsts for
yet more blood. Iran is in his and Israel’s sights. All
indications are that Bush is going to attack Iran. Propaganda,
demonizations, and crass lies are pouring out of the Bush regime
and its media and academic propagandists such as Columbia
University president Lee Bollinger. Both parties in Congress
have lined up behind the coming attack on Iran. The despicable
senator Joe Lieberman even snuck language into a bill to give
Bush the go ahead.
Who is going to stop Bush from a third war crime? Not his vice
president, Not his national security adviser, not his secretary
of defense. Not his secretary of state. Not Congress. Not the US
military. Not the corporate fat cats. Not the Israel Lobby. Not
the bought and paid for “allies.” Not the anti-war movement. Not
the American people. Certainly not the media. [ http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081507K.shtml
]
Americans are content with whatever crimes their government
commits as long as the justification is Americans’ safety.
Americans’ willingness to murder others out of fear for their
own safety is a result of September 11. The antiwar movement is
impotent, because it has accepted the government’s 9/11 story.
To oppose a war when you accept the government’s reason for the
war is an indefensible position.
The Bush regime knows that if people will believe its 9/11
story, they will believe anything. Propaganda silences facts,
and Americans fall for one set of falsehoods after another. The
alleged 9/11 hijackers all came from countries allied with the
US, principally Saudi Arabia, but Americans believe the
government’s lies that Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Syria are
responsible. Americans have been convinced that without “regime
change” in these countries, the American superpower will remain
helpless in face of stateless Muslims armed with box cutters.
Americans have been brainwashed to believe that Muslims hate us
for our “freedom and democracy,” whereas in fact the problem is
the US government’s immoral foreign policy and interference in
the internal affairs of Muslim countries. Bush’s message to the
Middle East is clear: Be a puppet state or be destroyed.
In the meantime, to prevent democracy and civil liberties from
getting in the way of making Americans safe, Bush has set aside
habeas corpus, due process, right to legal representation,
privacy, and the separation of powers mandated by the US
Constitution. Otherwise, Bush says, we will lose the “war on
terror.”
Bush says he has made Americans safe by ridding them of these
constitutional impediments to their safety. And once American
bombs fall on Iran and Syria, those countries will be free and
democratic, too, like Iraq and Afghanistan.
In leading Americans to this conclusion, Bush has sunk the
United States to a new low in human intelligence and morality.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
in the Reagan Administration. He is the author of Supply-Side
Revolution : An Insider's Account of Policymaking in Washington;
Alienation and the Soviet Economy and Meltdown: Inside the
Soviet Economy, and is the co-author with Lawrence M. Stratton
of The Tyranny of Good Intentions : How Prosecutors and
Bureaucrats Are Trampling the Constitution in the Name of
Justice.
Click
on "comments" below to
read or post comments
Comment
Guidelines
Be succinct, constructive and
relevant to the story.
We
encourage engaging, diverse and
meaningful commentary. Do not
include personal information such
as names, addresses, phone
numbers and emails. Comments
falling outside our guidelines
– those including personal
attacks and profanity – are
not permitted.
See our complete
Comment
Policy and
use
this link to notify us if you
have concerns about a comment.
We’ll promptly review and
remove any inappropriate
postings.
Send Page To a Friend
In accordance
with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
is distributed without profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for research and educational
purposes. Information Clearing House has no
affiliation whatsoever with the originator of
this article nor is Information ClearingHouse
endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
|
