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WAR ON TERROR SHIELDS GLOBAL POWER GRAB
The spectre of terrorism - real and exaggerated - has become a shield of impunity, protecting governments around the world from scrutiny for their human rights abuses . The War on Terror was never a war in the traditional sense. It is, instead, a kind of brand, an idea that can be easily franchised by any government in the market for an all-purpose opposition cleanser : Naomi Klein, Guardian
I have felt for some time that the ' War on Terror ' is a term that has been used indiscriminately by George Bush and other World leaders ~ to cover a multitude of deceptions and lies as well as a barely disguised neo- conservative global power grab and an undeclared war on people who dare to dissent from their views.
America is the classic example as we continue to hide the multitude of our now well documented deceptions and lies, regarding our illegal war, occupation and exploitation of Iraq, under the smokescreen of The War on Terror.
Naomi Klein of The Guardian appropriately compares it to a deadly franchise and " a smokescreen used by governments to wipe out opponents. "
Indeed, in an article she wrote on August 23, 2003 ~ she called the War on Terror A Deadly Franchise .
In light of the recent bombings in London and Egypt ~ her words are worth repeating because they still ring true today;
" The Marriott hotel in Jakarta was still burning when Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia's security minister, explained the implications of the day's attack: "Those who criticise about human rights being breached must understand that all the bombing victims are more important than any human rights issue."
In a sentence, we got the best summary yet of the philosophy underlying Bush's so-called War on Terror. Terrorism doesn't just blow up buildings; it blasts every other issue off the political map. The spectre of terrorism - real and exaggerated - has become a shield of impunity, protecting governments around the world from scrutiny for their human rights abuses.
Many have argued that the War on Terror is the US government's thinly veiled excuse for constructing a classic empire, in the model of Rome or Britain. Two years into the crusade, it's clear this is a mistake: the Bush gang doesn't have the stick-to-it-ness to successfully occupy one country, let alone a dozen. Bush and the gang do, however, have the hustle of good marketers, and they know how to contract out. What Bush has created in the WoT is less a "doctrine" for world domination than an easy-to-assemble toolkit for any mini-empire looking to get rid of the opposition and expand its power.
The War on Terror was never a war in the traditional sense. It is, instead, a kind of brand, an idea that can be easily franchised by any government in the market for an all-purpose opposition cleanser. We already know that the WoT works on domestic groups that use terrorist tactics such as Hamas or the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (Farc). But that's only its most basic application. WoT can be used on any liberation or opposition movement. It can also be applied liberally on unwanted immigrants, pesky human rights activists and even on hard-to-get-out investigative journalists.
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, was the first to adopt Bush's franchise, parroting the White House's pledges to "pull up these wild plants by the root, smash their infrastructure" as he sent bulldozers into the occupied territories to uproot olive trees and tanks to raze civilian homes. It soon included human rights observers who were bearing witness to the attacks, as well as aid workers and journalists. "
People like Rachel Corrie , organizations like Greenpeace, and too many journalists to list .
Next time you hear the words WAR ON TERROR uttered by unindicted war criminals like Bush and Blair ~ look beneath their words to the offenses being shielded and the civil liberties that are being erased.
Allen L Roland
Catch me on Monday, August 1st at
7AM and 4 PM PST
TRUTHTALK
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