Just received this from an old high school friend who has been in the Marines for the last 10 years. He is very intelligent, but because of his military background he fell into that stereotypical conservative soldier crowd. Note that the links reference alternet.org, commondreams.org, tompaine.com, and newyorker.com. I was impressed...
You might be surprised to learn my viewpoint. Since I wasn't part of the invasion force, I've had nothing but time to read antiwar.com and yahoo, read the latest issues of American Conservative, and otherwise keep up on our latest Imperial expedition. You can trust that I'm well read on the hijacking of the ship of state by the "Neocons". Of course I was a fan of GWB back during the election, looking to get a bit of integrity back into the White House--but the more I read on the "road to war", the more I find out about things like:
The Neoconservative Connection
The Christian Right-Israel Connection
The Manipulation of intelligence to justify war.
The underestimation (fibs) of the cost of war and occupation to congress and the people prior to the campaign.
The role of the press in garnering support for the war ("embedded" indeed--more like "in bed with")
The weakness of congress in yet again failing to fulfill their constitional duty to declare war.
The tyranny of the USA PATRIOT act and opposition of the citizenry to this loss of their liberty.
The New Mccarthyism afoot in the War Party likening any and all opposition to the war treason.
The spooky DARPA "Total Information Awareness" project run by John Poindexter further threatening our liberties.
This annoying "mandatory" wearing of American flag lapel pins--so like the Russkies of the old USSR.
Well--I'm sure you are tracking all of this. Let me go out on a limb here. This is all Neo-Facism of the worst kind. So many of these trends can be seen in the old Third Reich that it is sickening. The propaganda machine, the cultural snobbery, the military-industrial linkage, the focus on "will" as opposed to proper use of authority in the White House, the hubris among Imperialists who think that an American hyper-power can actually dominate the world, the glory-seeking of the generals, the trading on the fear of the populace, etc.
It is clear that the imperialists will do and say anything to get their way. Well--they got it in Iraq. They are institutionalizing their thinking in strategic documents such as the National Security Strategy, the focus on Counter-Proliferation of WMD (i.e. let's take down all of the "axis of evil"), etc.
Where will this all lead? It was bad enough as the Global Policeman under Clinton, with Somalia and old Maddie Albright's project in Kosovo. But look at today's prospects-- endless war?
Amazing how the almost "phantom menace" is being used to remilitarize America. The military-industrial complex just couldn't live without an arch-villain at least as good as the Russian Bear.
I think Bin Laden knew exactly what would happen by bringing down the towers. This tactic of provoking an over-reaction goes way back. The anarchists and other revolutionaries were particularly adept at this. Just look at the Russian revolutionaries for plenty of examples. The cossacks were just so easy to provoke into a sabre charge on the peasantry or some sort of pogrom or other.
Instead of positive attempts from the well-off West to help the rest of the world or at least just get along with the rest of the world, you've got a zero-sum game par excellance that America will do anything to win. We'll see how this one turns out in the next 10 years.
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