Tuesday, September 03, 2002

The War for Global Hegemony The War for Global Hegemony   I have become more pessimistic about war with Iraq in the last couple of days.  I think Tareq Aziz, the Iraqi deputy prime minister, had it right when he said today "If the question of so-called weapons of mass destruction is a genuine concern by the U.S., this matter could be dealt with reasonably and equitably, but if it is a pretext for (regime) change ... then they will use whatever pretext that remains in their hands to attack Iraq."   Bush and Rumsfeld are bent on war because they want to teach the world a lesson.  They want to demonstrate American power to attack any country not willing to become part of the American world order. To do this, they need a scapegoat.  That scapegoat is Iraq.    Despite the fact that Iraq has no connection with September 11th, this war has everything to do with the fight against terrorism.  One root cause of Islamic terrorism is the inability of Arabs to oppose U.S. hegemony over their countries in any meaningful way.  Bush’s response is increased repression.  In other terrorist situations, like the Algerian revolution against the French, or the activity of the IRA, repression alone has not succeeded.  A reduction in violence only comes when a political solution is offered as well.    The coming war will bring a long period of repression and violence, because a political solution to the problem of U.S. global hegemony is nowhere in sight.   In this climate, any challenge to U.S. authority becomes a threat.  This is why Bush is so quick to speak of war without end.    Bush has to pull off a war with Iraq, because his backers cannot afford  the blow to his authority if he fails.  Speculation will become “evidence” and aggressive incidents will be manufactured.  Congress will be too fearful to ask questions, and a grand bargain will be struck to take the war out of the political debate.   The logic of domination involves a never ending series of challenge and response.  After Iraq an even weaker challenge will be a cause for war.  The open divisions and nervousness among the elites about this war of aggression provide an excellent starting point for the peace movement.  But it will not be enough to simply argue that the U.S. should return to its core democratic values.  To really end this war will require Americans to address the root causes.  For us old anti-war activists, that means reeducating ourselves and the public about the causes of U.S. imperialism. 10:18:45 PM   comment []

© Copyright 2002 Toby Sackton. Last update: 12/26/2002; 9:29:45 PM.