Paul Craig Roberts: The Real Failed States

http://www.counterpunch.com/roberts02052007.html

The US and Israel
The Real Failed States

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

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The past six years have seen the rise of dictatorial power in the executive and the collapse of the separation of powers mandated by the US Constitution. The president has declared himself to be "The Decider." The power to decide includes the meaning and intent of laws passed by Congress and whether the laws apply to the executive. President Bush has openly acknowledged that he disobeyed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and unlawfully spied on Americans without warrants. Bush and his Attorney General could not make it more clear that their position is that Bush is above the law.

It is also Bush's position that he is above the Constitution. Bush and his Attorney General maintain that as commander-in-chief in "the war on terror," the executive has the power to decide the applicability of civil liberties guaranteed in the Constitution. The US Department of Justice (sic) has taken the position that this decision is an executive decision alone beyond the authority of the judiciary and the legislature.

An enfeebled and eviscerated Congress has acquiesced in the growth of executive power, even legislating unconstitutional executive powers into law. The Decider has grabbed the power to arrest people on accusation alone and to detain them indefinitely without charges or evidence. He has obtained the right to torture those whom he arrests. The Geneva Conventions do not apply to the US president, declares the Regime. Bush has obtained the right to commit people to death in military tribunals on the basis of hearsay and secret evidence alone. The Bush Regime has succeeded in moving the American state off the basis on which the Founding Fathers set it.

The Bush Regime led the American people to war in Iraq based entirely on lies and deception. This is a known and undisputed fact. Congress has done nothing whatsoever about this monstrous crime and impeachable offense.

Under the Nuremberg standard, unprovoked aggression is a war crime. The US established this standard. Bush has violated it with impunity.

Bush and his Attorney General assert Bush's power to attack Iran independently of a Congressional declaration of war or any form of congressional approval. Bush claims that his power to attack Iran is merely an extension of his present power to conduct war in Iraq, a power seized on the basis of lies and deception. Congress has taken no action to disabuse Bush of his presumption.

lots more...

That should take care of everything.

whose administration paved the way (via the so-called 'War on Drugs') for this to happen. Without the groundwork legislation passed in the early years of the WoD, none of this would have been possible.

If only Mr. Roberts had been so vocal in the 80's. If only more politicians had stood up to Ray-Gun's power grab via the WoD, rather than enabling it. If only the media had asked hard questions back then, rather than cheer-leading and making up flashy graphics that represented nameless, faceless drug users who were a threat to our society.

Now we've got millions of disenfranchised, non-violent pot smokers either sitting in prison or unemployed because they've had their lives ruined (or worse) by this system that is supposedly trying to save society.

I was deeply disappointed that Clinton continued the WoD when he was elected. Again, there was a chance to give the government back to the people. Instead, he not only continued it, but escalated it.

Which leads us to the vicious younger brother that will surely bring about our downfall: the so-called War on Terror.

Fear is a short-term motivator. When you use a fear campaign, you must constantly ratchet up the strength of the 'enemy' in order to produce the same level of fear in the populace. Fear wained after a decade of the WoD. People reacted how all animals react to long-term fear: they become desensitized and indifferent -- fatalistic. It was necessary to up the ante using 'terrorists' who were (are) just outside the gate.

Incidentally, the underlying theme of 'The Adventures of Baron von Munchhausen' relates to this. All the while, behind the walls, people lived in a state of fear, in a state of 'war'. In the end, when the city gates were thrown open, the enemy was not there. The enemy was in their minds, projected, willingly, by the State, because it's easy to control people when they're afraid.

I wish that, just once, we would throw open the gates and realize that the enemy we're fighting is a shadow on the wall, a figment of our imagination, all enabled by a duplicitous State organ.