G
Gandalf Grey
Guest
Bush Regime Normalcy: Arrogant Lies
By Brian Cloughley
Created Apr 17 2008 - 2:16pm
Last month:
"an Egyptian citizen was killed when a [US] Navy-contracted ship fired
warning shots at approaching motorboats in the Suez Canal. The United States
Embassy in Cairo and the Navy initially maintained that, according to the
security team aboard the ship, there had been no casualties. But on
Wednesday, an embassy statement said it "appears that an Egyptian in the
boat was killed by one of the warning shots." - Associated Press, March 27.
That report wasn't carried by any major US newspaper or TV channel but
demonstrates the arrogance of Bush Washington which encourages knee-jerk
lying, reluctant retraction when it becomes obvious that a lie was told, and
making a grudging admission later. These are not just indications of
dishonesty and evil in the Bush-Cheney administration : they are evidence of
the deep and horrible malaise that has penetrated Washington's officialdom.
Who killed the man? We don't know. We will never know. Nobody will ever be
prosecuted for the slaughter of this Egyptian citizen. He is a non-person :
just another raghead who got in the way of the United States of America. The
lies about his murder by a "warning shot" didn't work, but who cares,
anyway?
It doesn't matter that some poor Egyptian, trying to make a few cents by
selling trinkets to people on passing ships in his country's Canal (a trade
that has existed for over 130 years), is murdered by trigger-happy
mercenaries. It's all part of the great con-trick, the idiot "war on
terror". And it shows that the Bush-Cheney mentality is alive and thriving
throughout the armed forces and intelligence agencies and among those
responsible for anonymous brutal attacks which take place in Africa, the
Middle East and, especially, Pakistan. Members of the special forces are
accountable to nobody for what they do. These people are exempt from
scrutiny of any sort, all in the sacred name of 'security', which is simply
a cover for official permission to murder whom and when they want. (In a TV
comedy series in the UK many years ago the actor playing a civil servant was
asked about the Official Secrets Act which forbids revelation of
uncomfortable facts. "The Official Secrets Act," he said, "is not there to
protect Secrets--it's there to protect OFFICIALS." Humor is sometimes more
ironic and accurate than intended.)
US forces in Afghanistan strike within Pakistan whenever they want, and
don't imagine that the newly-elected government in Islamabad will be able to
stop them. Of course Bush-Cheney Washington bawls its approval of democracy
round the world, but approval stops dead (sometimes literally) when a
democratic government disagrees with the Bush-Cheney line. The arrogance of
US military might is made clear by one of the many recent strikes inside
Pakistan:
"Pakistan lodged a protest with coalition forces in Afghanistan on
Thursday after two Pakistani women and two children were killed by US fire
from across the border . . . "They fired five rounds which landed in our
territory and in the process a house was destroyed, resulting in the deaths
of two women and two children," military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas
said, according to Reuters. "We have lodged a very strong protest with the
coalition forces across the border."
There is no doubt that the US strike killed Pakistani civilians but the
"coalition spokesman Major Chris Belcher" in Afghanistan said only that:
"We can confirm a precision-guided ammunition strike . . . 1.5 kilometres
across the border in Pakistan . . . I do not have any information on any
casualties that may have occurred . . . The information I have is that the
Government of Pakistan was notified immediately following the strike. It is
not the first time that [we] have had to respond to an imminent threat
across the border in Pakistan. Every time we do, we clear that with
Pakistani authorities."
Precision-guided? No doubt like the "precision-guided" Hellfire missile that
destroyed a US army vehicle in Baghdad on April 13.
So the United States of America "clears" the air bombardment or the
artillery strike or other savage mayhem on foreign soil AFTER the killing
has taken place. That's democracy, folks, Bush-style. Which is why America
is so detested all round the world.
Washington does not ask any country for permission to carry out strikes that
kill women and children who have nothing to do with the "target." It is
unthinkable for the American Reich to seek agreement from a sovereign nation
to blitz its territory. Last month, a week after Bush visited Africa on a
failed public relations excursion, "the US conducted an attack against a
known al-Qaida terrorist in southern Somalia," according to Pentagon
spokesman Bryan Whitman. But :
Dhoble resident Fatuma Abdullahi told the BBC they were woken up by "a loud
and big bang. When we came out we found our neighbour's house completely
obliterated as if no house existed here," he said. Another resident said:
"Right now - in full daylight - the planes keep flying over us. They are so
low that we're deafened by their engines. We are poor civilians living in a
simple town - what have we done to deserve this bombing?"
What have you done, you poor innocent citizen? You've done nothing, of
course. But the world's imperial power thought--just THOUGHT, mind you--that
there might be some people who should be killed. It was reported that
The US said on Tuesday that it was targeting Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a
Kenyan suspected in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa. Richard
Kolko, an FBI spokesman, said: "Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan is on the FBI's
'seeking information list' and is wanted by the FBI for questioning in
connection with the 2002 attacks at the Paradise Hotel and the unsuccessful
surface-to-air missile attack against an Israeli airliner in Kenya."
So if you are wanted for questioning by the FBI the easy way for the FBI to
do that is to have you killed by Tomahawk missiles, which were used in this
particular blitz by the US Navy.
Of course there was no question of asking the Somali authorities if the US
Navy could strike inside Somalia to kill someone. And the fact that it was
inevitable that Somali citizens would be killed in an attack just doesn't
matter. To the Pentagon they're only another sort of raghead, after all.
There will be no apology or even acknowledgement of this war crime, or of
any other murders committed with the fatuous rationale of engaging in "the
war on terror."
One of the major legacies of the Bush-Cheney administration in Washington is
clear : tell lies and lots of people will believe you. Another is
frightening : that even in this age of instant and accurate information
there will be enough people who believe lies to make it unnecessary to tell
the truth. Perhaps the worst legacy is the belief around the world that the
US, formerly regarded as a bastion of liberty and equality, has become an
arrogant bully caring for nothing but its own power.
_______
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
By Brian Cloughley
Created Apr 17 2008 - 2:16pm
Last month:
"an Egyptian citizen was killed when a [US] Navy-contracted ship fired
warning shots at approaching motorboats in the Suez Canal. The United States
Embassy in Cairo and the Navy initially maintained that, according to the
security team aboard the ship, there had been no casualties. But on
Wednesday, an embassy statement said it "appears that an Egyptian in the
boat was killed by one of the warning shots." - Associated Press, March 27.
That report wasn't carried by any major US newspaper or TV channel but
demonstrates the arrogance of Bush Washington which encourages knee-jerk
lying, reluctant retraction when it becomes obvious that a lie was told, and
making a grudging admission later. These are not just indications of
dishonesty and evil in the Bush-Cheney administration : they are evidence of
the deep and horrible malaise that has penetrated Washington's officialdom.
Who killed the man? We don't know. We will never know. Nobody will ever be
prosecuted for the slaughter of this Egyptian citizen. He is a non-person :
just another raghead who got in the way of the United States of America. The
lies about his murder by a "warning shot" didn't work, but who cares,
anyway?
It doesn't matter that some poor Egyptian, trying to make a few cents by
selling trinkets to people on passing ships in his country's Canal (a trade
that has existed for over 130 years), is murdered by trigger-happy
mercenaries. It's all part of the great con-trick, the idiot "war on
terror". And it shows that the Bush-Cheney mentality is alive and thriving
throughout the armed forces and intelligence agencies and among those
responsible for anonymous brutal attacks which take place in Africa, the
Middle East and, especially, Pakistan. Members of the special forces are
accountable to nobody for what they do. These people are exempt from
scrutiny of any sort, all in the sacred name of 'security', which is simply
a cover for official permission to murder whom and when they want. (In a TV
comedy series in the UK many years ago the actor playing a civil servant was
asked about the Official Secrets Act which forbids revelation of
uncomfortable facts. "The Official Secrets Act," he said, "is not there to
protect Secrets--it's there to protect OFFICIALS." Humor is sometimes more
ironic and accurate than intended.)
US forces in Afghanistan strike within Pakistan whenever they want, and
don't imagine that the newly-elected government in Islamabad will be able to
stop them. Of course Bush-Cheney Washington bawls its approval of democracy
round the world, but approval stops dead (sometimes literally) when a
democratic government disagrees with the Bush-Cheney line. The arrogance of
US military might is made clear by one of the many recent strikes inside
Pakistan:
"Pakistan lodged a protest with coalition forces in Afghanistan on
Thursday after two Pakistani women and two children were killed by US fire
from across the border . . . "They fired five rounds which landed in our
territory and in the process a house was destroyed, resulting in the deaths
of two women and two children," military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas
said, according to Reuters. "We have lodged a very strong protest with the
coalition forces across the border."
There is no doubt that the US strike killed Pakistani civilians but the
"coalition spokesman Major Chris Belcher" in Afghanistan said only that:
"We can confirm a precision-guided ammunition strike . . . 1.5 kilometres
across the border in Pakistan . . . I do not have any information on any
casualties that may have occurred . . . The information I have is that the
Government of Pakistan was notified immediately following the strike. It is
not the first time that [we] have had to respond to an imminent threat
across the border in Pakistan. Every time we do, we clear that with
Pakistani authorities."
Precision-guided? No doubt like the "precision-guided" Hellfire missile that
destroyed a US army vehicle in Baghdad on April 13.
So the United States of America "clears" the air bombardment or the
artillery strike or other savage mayhem on foreign soil AFTER the killing
has taken place. That's democracy, folks, Bush-style. Which is why America
is so detested all round the world.
Washington does not ask any country for permission to carry out strikes that
kill women and children who have nothing to do with the "target." It is
unthinkable for the American Reich to seek agreement from a sovereign nation
to blitz its territory. Last month, a week after Bush visited Africa on a
failed public relations excursion, "the US conducted an attack against a
known al-Qaida terrorist in southern Somalia," according to Pentagon
spokesman Bryan Whitman. But :
Dhoble resident Fatuma Abdullahi told the BBC they were woken up by "a loud
and big bang. When we came out we found our neighbour's house completely
obliterated as if no house existed here," he said. Another resident said:
"Right now - in full daylight - the planes keep flying over us. They are so
low that we're deafened by their engines. We are poor civilians living in a
simple town - what have we done to deserve this bombing?"
What have you done, you poor innocent citizen? You've done nothing, of
course. But the world's imperial power thought--just THOUGHT, mind you--that
there might be some people who should be killed. It was reported that
The US said on Tuesday that it was targeting Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a
Kenyan suspected in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa. Richard
Kolko, an FBI spokesman, said: "Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan is on the FBI's
'seeking information list' and is wanted by the FBI for questioning in
connection with the 2002 attacks at the Paradise Hotel and the unsuccessful
surface-to-air missile attack against an Israeli airliner in Kenya."
So if you are wanted for questioning by the FBI the easy way for the FBI to
do that is to have you killed by Tomahawk missiles, which were used in this
particular blitz by the US Navy.
Of course there was no question of asking the Somali authorities if the US
Navy could strike inside Somalia to kill someone. And the fact that it was
inevitable that Somali citizens would be killed in an attack just doesn't
matter. To the Pentagon they're only another sort of raghead, after all.
There will be no apology or even acknowledgement of this war crime, or of
any other murders committed with the fatuous rationale of engaging in "the
war on terror."
One of the major legacies of the Bush-Cheney administration in Washington is
clear : tell lies and lots of people will believe you. Another is
frightening : that even in this age of instant and accurate information
there will be enough people who believe lies to make it unnecessary to tell
the truth. Perhaps the worst legacy is the belief around the world that the
US, formerly regarded as a bastion of liberty and equality, has become an
arrogant bully caring for nothing but its own power.
_______
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson