Independent Progressive Thought

You know what else is maddeningly insane ? It is hard to understand why Americans don't understand the peace movement. Their media keeps feeding them all the claptrap about Palestinian terrorism which is in essence a violent means of trying to achieve a political end and they are completely shocked that violence is used to achieve political ends. Yet when their government uses violence to achieve a political goal it seems quite acceptable and all of a sudden, issues of higher morality and god's (lower case intentional) work cloud all logic and reason.

It is even more understanding when they don't understand simple humanistic and democratic concepts like civil disobedience. They never understand why getting arrested in some civil disobedience is acceptable. It is not only a privelege, but a duty to perform or support civil disobedience type actions since they are a strong form of non-violent dissent that is effective.

posted by Nashib @ 5:55 PM

Wow. It has been a mad 3 days of activism but well worth it and very satisfying indeed. Enough said in public I suppose. So now that the war is 'over' and the peacniks have 'lost', what next ?

Excellent articles on CommonDreams.org about the refocus of all the peace groups. Now that there is such mobilization, I am sure the 'end' of the war will result in somewhat changed priorities. The best thing that could come out of it would be to keep this mobilization going and turn it into mass awareness of social and political inequality in the world. Not just between different nations, but within most nations. This can only result in a moderation of the imperialist ambitions of the economic elite in most of the developed world. Some nations of course, are more guilty than others.

This article on CommonDreams.org highlights many interesting issues about the conflicts of interest in the current US position and puts the current invasion in context by providing some of Cheney's and Kagan's desires for American world domination.

Some interesting observations about the war are presented in Time for America to Pause - By Haroon Siddiqui, Toronto Star, Thursday, April 10, 2003. Interestingly, it alludes to the next step in the war planning for the Americans, i.e., this is just the tip of iceberg. Hopefully, we are all proved wrong about this. What really bothers me is the overt racism in many people that I know personally, not seeing anything wrong with the US dominating the Middle East, installing regimes it deems democratic. Democracy is not an overnight occurrence, but rather the result of political and cultural maturation. Most of these people also fail to see the racism in their view. They believe that just because they have a friend of a different ethnicity, they are not racist.

posted by Nashib @ 5:19 PM

Some very interesting numbers from The Shape of World War IV, By Number - by Vinay Menon, Toronto Star, Saturday, April 5, 2003 on CommonDreams.org. The article is really worth looking at just to see how staggering the numbers really are. Paragraph 4 reads as follows: Meanwhile, in Iraq, 91 million kilograms of explosives — more than were used in the entire first Gulf War — have already thundered from the heavens, erupting into a blur of fireballs and smoldering craters from Basra to Baghdad to Mosul.

Here are some assorted figures from the article.

• 320 metric tonnes: Amount of depleted uranium left in region after 1991 Gulf War.
  
• 200,000: Estimated number of U.S. soldiers said to be suffering from Gulf War Syndrome.
  
• 700%: Between 1991 and 94, percentage increase in cancer rates in Iraq.
  
• 1 in 6: Chance the U.S. bombed Iraq on any given day last year.
  
• 10%: Percentage of U.S. military spending that would provide global population with basic necessities.
  

That last item stunned me at the start and then as I reflected some more on it I realized we are talking about $35 billion !!! That could do some serious good and represents immense buying power, especially in the less industrialized parts of the world.

posted by Nashib @ 5:25 PM

U.S. Bombing Watch: When was the last time the U.S. Bombed Iraq?

These pictures are really disturbing. Of course the media ensures that these sorts of pictures never get to the average person in the street. What really tears me up is that is that there are so many Americans (33% or so) that are against this war. Pegging the popluation at roughly 270 million, that makes 90 million people. So to paint all Americans with the same brush would be just wrong. I think that if the other 180 million were shown some of these pictures, they would undoubtedly rethink their position.

posted by Nashib @ 2:12 PM

From an anonymous email received by Lilith:

"I came to the conclusion that all the values that made me admire the American people were beeing eroded by the covert operations of the CIA and kindred secret bodies...

Time after time the United States has generously aided other countries threatened by famine or disaster. The survival of this great tradition is of importance, not only to Americans, but also to all freedom loving people in the world. But in my view, the survival of this great is now being gravely threatened by the covert criminal actions of the Central Intelligence Agency and its associated services. If the United States is to be protected from this grave danger, it is essential that the activities of this secret agency should be fully exposed to the people of the United States. ...

I am a fierce believer in the democratic system of governments. Among the democracies, the constitution of the United States can be, and has proved to be,
a bastion of civil liberty. However, democracy and the rule of law could not survive side by side with a state agency that engages in covert operations ranging from assassinations to levying mercenary armies. Even if there is, now, an attempt beeing made by some to check the activities of the CIA and the other United States intelligence agencies, the whole concept of a secret government and army within a government is a menace to the democratic system."
(Sean MacBride, former Foreign Minister of Ireland, and 1974 Nobel Peace Prize recipient; died 1988)

posted by Nashib @ 5:38 PM

From Saharsha:

What do the Americans mean when they say "liberate". From the very early days of their country expansion was a key characteristic of American policy. For example the expansion to the west, Texas etc, were all a part of the promise of the government to the American citizens that they would always have markets that they can exploit. At no time did the welfare and the rights of the people who lived in those regions were a concern.

What we see today is nothing new. The Americans wish to "liberate" the Iraqis and bring "American values" to them. What these values? Note this paragraph: Garner's role will be to "introduce a capitalist system where there's been central-control socialism since the 1960s," said Ariel Cohen, a foreign-policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation.

They want to bring "capitalism" to the Iraqi's, where powerful US companies will be able to exploit the Iraqi oil. This means of course, the end of the nationalized oil company and go back to the good old era of the 1950's and 60s.

Of course some pittance will be given to the Iraqis. US companies with the help of corrupt Iraqi politicians who will beneficiaries of the new Iraq.

In another insulting development, US based faith groups, whose leaders have branded Islam evil wish to go on an evangelical joy ride in Iraq. This article on Al Jazeera provides more information.

posted by Nashib @ 3:00 PM

So it seems now that there is much more war to come. Colin Powell's comments to AIPAC about the Syrians providing arms to the Iraqis and Iranians working on a nuclear program seems to be all to fitting in the broader context of their desire to totally control what happens in that part of the world. Democracy is such a noble goal when some outsider forces it on you over the blood of the people you love.

As I mentioned earlier, more Americans are all too willing to eat this crow from the government. And of course the ones who are most for the war are also those who supposedly don't trust the government and therefore need the right to bear arms. In fact, I bet the pro-gun and very racist groups are the most rabid supporters of the war and the government in this case because all of a sudden instead of their bigotry generally being frowned upon, it is now seen as a legitimate love for their country. This is a thinly veiled hatred that stands not the slightest scrutiny but will over time become more accepted unless its opponents expose it for what it is.

posted by Nashib @ 10:58 PM

Now that victory in Iraq is all but assured, to the victor go the spoils as the old adage goes. Check out this article from the Observer UK on CommonDreams.org. Not that this is news to too many people. However, what amazes me is that on what little I read of American TV, this topic has practically never been raised and when it is, it is blown off as a paranoid conspiracy theorist's ranting.

Reflecting on something Saharsha brought up today, it is quite believable that the social engineering efforts of successive administrations are finally paying off in give the incredibly conformity in both the media and the populace at large.

posted by Nashib @ 10:25 PM