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The Changing Face of Terror
By Mike Whitney
03/15/06 "ICH"
-- --Ever since the attacks on 9-11 we have heard one slogan
reiterated more frequently than any other, “Everything changed on
September 11”.
The phrase has become the motto for transforming America according
to the policy objectives of the men in power. In fact, the criminal
conduct of government officials and their wars of aggression have
all been causally brushed aside by invoking their keynote defense,
“Everything changed”!
September 11 has been the most abused and manipulated public
relations scam in history. It is trotted out in every presidential
speech, every executive press conference, and every appearance by an
administration official. It is routinely used to undermine the rule
of law and to vindicate the despotic powers of the president.
“Everything changed”; “The gloves came off”; “We must accept the new
realities of the post 9-11 world”.
September 11 has become the defining moment in human history; the
seminal event that provides the meager justification for butchery
and repression.
The United States is now gripped by a form of low-grade state
terror; the twin-axels of fear and deception keep the imperial
bandwagon gliding along its path. America has been subsumed in a
swamp of paranoia and lies; clearing the way for future hostilities
and greater brutality.
Everything changed.
We know now that every breach of the law, every assault on
tradition, every illegal war was perfectly timed to coincide with
the “galvanizing moment”; a “Pearl Harbor-type event” that would
rally the public behind their war president and begin the long,
descent into iniquity.
The Patriot Act was prepared and ready for approval well before
9-11, just as the NSA program of blanket-spying on the American
people began shortly after. Rumsfeld was already looking for excuses
to attack Iraq just hours after the Towers fell, and in a matter of
months, White House attorneys would be building a legal defense for
the cruel and inhuman treatment of prisoners.
Was this merely coincidence or was the Bush administration already
prepared for the transition to dictatorship?
Treaties were shredded, civil liberties were savaged, and every
obstacle to presidential authority was removed. Now, the only
principle the Bush administration adheres to is the fundamental
belief that it is above the law.
In Iraq we see a mirror-image of the radical ideology that energizes
domestic policy. The daily slaughter of innocent people is
papered-over by a slick public relations campaign disparaging terror
and touting liberation. Again, we see the twin-axels of fear and
deception rotating simultaneously.
The promises of reconstruction, democracy, and security have
disappeared behind the daily onslaught of cluster-bombs, death
squads, malnutrition, poisoned water, unemployment, and despair.
New Orleans is only different by a matter of degrees. America’s
“Jewel of the South” has been transformed into a garrison city,
replete with armored vehicles, fully-armed military personnel, and
contingents of corporate paramilitaries.
If riots had broken out, we would have seen a reenactment of Falluja-type
justice dispensed by Army regulars and Cheney’s mercenaries.
In the 6 months since Hurricane Katrina, the administration has not
provided funds for the reconstruction of even one home in the
region. Bush’s abhorrence to “nation building” has been faithfully
honored in New Orleans as well as Baghdad. The American public has
been dumbstruck by the extent of the governments’ callousness. This
country has never seen capitalism stripped of its adornments; a
predatory, mean-spirited system that discards its own people when
profit is not involved.
In Iraq, fear and deception are the driving forces behind the
policy. The MSM has played a major role by providing bogus
information that is designed to mislead the public.
Can we believe the media when they refer to “suicide bombers” or
“sectarian violence” without evidence? Isn’t the moniker “suicide
bomber” loaded with political bias; suggesting crazed, Muslim
fanatics who have no regard for their own lives or the lives of
others? Where’s the proof? Couldn’t it be a device that the media
purposely uses to reinforce racial stereotypes and, thus, support
the war-effort?
The same rule applies to sectarian violence. The phrase “sectarian
violence” is meant to imply that this is not America’s war at all,
but that we are simply innocent bystanders keeping the warring
parties from killing each other.
What rubbish.
The term “sectarian violence” suggests that the media knows who is
detonating the bombs, provoking ethnic tensions, and producing the
mountains of carnage.
But do they? Most of them are locked up in the Palestine Hotel all
day, polishing up the narrative they are provided by the Pentagon.
The media reports what they are told to report and most of it is
nothing more than the verbatim statements from administration and
military officials.
Who could read the papers or listen to the news and not draw that
very same conclusion?
Perhaps, there is a far more sinister force behind the seemingly
random bombings that alternate between Shiite and Sunni communities.
Perhaps, they are being ignited by people who want to see Iraq
broken up into mini-statelets that are less threatening to the
occupying army? Perhaps, they are part of a massive covert operation
intended to weaken resistance and spread anarchy throughout the
region?
Perhaps, Iraq, like America, is being controlled by men who believe
that terror is the most effective way to govern.
At least that would explain why “everything has changed”.
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