- Throughout Bush's tenure in the White
House, our Commander in Chef and his staff of gourmets have prepared a
veritable smorgasbord of propagandistic delights for the psyches of those
who still cling to the myth of America's innate superiority.
-
- American Exceptionalism is a pathological
fiction which our wealthy and corporate elites have cynically employed
for years to justify their acts of imperialism, exploitation, enslavement,
and genocide. America's current regime has taken this rationalization for
crimes against humanity to new heights.
-
- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death is the latest
Haute cuisine to emerge from the perverse kitchen of America's ruling elite.
Bush's sub-30% approval rating indicated that the minds of America's masses
were starving for propaganda to realign their thinking.
-
- Strauss's disciples responded with a
particularly delicious meal. On 6/8/06 George Bush presided over the execution
of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. A butcher of over a hundred thousand human beings
sentenced a murderer of a relative handful of people to die by explosion.
American justice was served, ladies and gentlemen.
-
- Father, we thank you for providing us
with this blessed bounty which will satisfy our wretched masses' ravenous
appetite for violence, drama, revenge, and evidence of their righteousness.
And bless Israel, the World Bank, Tony Blair, and Fox News. Amen.
-
- While the Neocons and their bellicose
supporters are thanking their God for bestowing the blessing of Zarqawi's
execution upon America and the "free world", this killjoy sees
very little cause for celebration.
-
- Isn't it obvious that we're winning?
-
- Proudly displaying their macabre trophy
picture of Zarqawi, the US military and its hand-maidens in the mainstream
media now have "tangible proof" that America is succeeding in
the "War on Terror". Never mind that Osama bin Laden, a man who
walks with a cane and survives on dialysis, is still at large nearly five
years after 9/11. Forget the fact that many of the "terrorists"
exist as reactionaries to unwavering American support of the ruthless Israeli
squatters in Palestine and cruel tyrants like the Shah of Iran. Disregard
the knowledge that the Iraqi Resistance shows little or no sign of relenting,
despite the staggering human and financial toll the invasion has taken
on the United States.
-
- Marvel at our humanity...
-
- Speaking about Zarqawi on behalf of the
invading US forces, Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters at the
Pentagon on Friday via a video link from Baghdad, Iraq:
-
- Despite the fact that this person actually
had no regard for human life, we were not going to treat him in the same
manner. And so, they did clean his face up for the shots that were shown
publicly.
-
- How humane of them to clean up their
trophy before displaying it to the public. Did they also cleanse their
victims in Fallujah or Haditha? If you are going to kill someone, you can
at least have the human decency to clean them up afterwards.
-
- The buck doesn't stop on his desk...
-
-
- Noted for his unfettered presentation
of the truth, Mike Whitney recently wrote a piece concerning the mainstream
media complex's complicity in perpetuating the Iraqi Occupation. Mike opined:
-
- "The bloody footprints from Haditha
lead straight to the corporate headquarters at Time Warner and FOX News.
They are every bit as guilty as anyone who served in Kilo Company."
-
- While the mainstream media system is
certainly awash in the blood of over 40,000 Iraqi civilians, 2500 US military
personnel, and the hapless victims of Haditha, Fallujah and scores of other
My Lai-like atrocities throughout Iraq, the largest set of bloody footprints
leads directly to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Despite the fact that he is too
pusillanimous to do his own bidding, our self-proclaimed "Decider"
bears the ultimate responsibility for tens of thousands of brutal deaths
and severe injuries.
-
- Reeking with his usual fetid stench of
hypocrisy, on 6/8 Bush crowed:
-
- "Zarqawi personally beheaded American
hostages and other civilians in Iraq. Now Zarqawi has met his end and this
violent man will never murder again."
-
- George Bush may have little interest
in studying the complexities of humanity or the world, but he ranks as
one of the foremost aficionados of murder and revenge. As governor of Texas,
he presided over 36 of the 98 executions perpetrated by the entire United
States in 1999. He demonstrated the depths of his sadistic depravity when
he openly mocked Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman Texas had executed
since the Civil War.
-
- In further remarks concerning Zarqawi's
death, Bush stated:
-
- "The ideology of terror has lost
one of its most visible and aggressive leaders. Zarqawi's death is a severe
blow to al Qaeda."
-
- Let's take a moment to dissect the propaganda.
-
- Note how Bush characterized terror as
an ideology rather than a coercive means of achieving political change.
Portraying terror as a sociopolitical system proliferated by adherents
dedicated to usurping Capitalism and "democracy", America's sacred
cows, keeps many Americans sold on a perpetual war.
-
- With the "threat" of the spread
of Communism (a true ideology) virtually extinguished, the Machiavellian
leaders of the United States crafted a "new and improved" amorphous
and ubiquitous enemy. Virtually anyone opposing their ideologies of Capitalism,
Fascism, and Zionism are cast as "terrorists".
-
- Bush cast the die shortly after 9/11
when he quickly moved to implant a false dichotomy in the shaken and vulnerable
collective American psyche:
-
- "You are either with us or you are
against us in the fight against terror."
-
- Continuing with the analysis of Bush's
remarks concerning Zarqawi, consider his assertion that the United States
struck a severe blow against al Qaeda. This is simply laughable. Zarqawi
will become a martyr. Scores of radical Islamic militants will trip over
themselves to take his place. And devastating retaliations are a virtual
certainty in the seething cauldron of rage and hatred America has created
in the Middle East.
-
- Can you say moral quagmire?
-
-
- Iraqi Resistance fighters are struggling
to expel foreign invaders who are slaughtering innocent civilians. While
their videotaped executions, roadside bombs, and attacks on Iraqi civilians
are heinous and despicable, how is it that America has the moral high ground?
-
- Let's review for a moment. Bush's doctrine
of pre-emptive war, the non-existent WMD's, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay,
Fallujah, Haditha, the use of depleted uranium On second thought, the United
States appears to be miring itself in moral quicksand.
-
- Who is better off with Zarqawi dead?
-
-
- While it is true that a sociopathic religious
fanatic is dead, the equally conscienceless imperial invaders who provoked
his reactionary violence continue to decimate Iraq and abet the Palestinian
Genocide, creating a whole new generation of Zarqawis.
-
- Cheney, Halliburton, the Carlyle Group,
Israel, and many other beneficiaries of the "War on Terror" can
hang their hats on the "success" of killing Zarqawi as they justify
perpetuating American oppression and war crimes in the Middle East.
-
- Aside from an excuse to continue the
war, Zarqawi's execution yields yet another nugget for the ruling elite
at America's helm. Bush Regime propagandists in the mainstream media are
trumpeting that cell phone technology yielded the intelligence that located
Zarqawi. What could better justify Bush's trampling of the Bill of Rights?
Look what the NSA can do once that goddamn piece of paper is out of the
way!
-
- And then there are the Congressional
elections in 2006, which could favor the war-mongers and further cement
their power now that they have achieved a "major victory".
-
- Mighty America pursued Zarqawi for two
years with 140,000 well-equipped personnel at its disposal and a $25 million
reward on his head before finally bringing him to "justice".
Zarqawi's death on 6/8/06 simply provides further evidence of the increasing
impotence and self-destructiveness of the United States.
-
- Revenge is indeed a dish best served
cold. A chilled platter now sets before you, America. As you savor each
bite, remember the devastating cost of preparing this truly grotesque repast.
-
- Jason Miller is a 39 year old sociopolitical
essayist with a degree in liberal arts and an extensive self-education
(derived from an insatiable appetite for reading). He is a member of Amnesty
International and an avid supporter of Oxfam International and Human Rights
Watch. He welcomes responses at willpowerful@hotmail.com or comments on
his blog, Thomas Paine's Corner, at http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/.
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