[News] David Gilbert: Abu Ghraib and the Logic of Conquest
News at freedomarchives.org
News at freedomarchives.org
Mon Jul 26 12:10:52 EDT 2004
Abu Ghraib and the Logic of Conquest
The lies to justify the war on Iraq couldnt be more threadbare: there are
no weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein did not collaborate with
al-Quaeda on the 9/11 attacks (in fact there was considerable hostility
because of Osama-bin Ladens efforts to topple secular Arab regimes like
Husseins), the Bush teams pre-9/11/01 political agenda to attack Iraq can
be easily documented. The revelations have eroded Bushs popularity
somewhat but havent resulted in the total discrediting and disgrace he
deserves. Between corporate media, cowardly Democrats, and a still too
somnolent antiwar movement, we havent seen the mass outrage and uproar
that is needed.
The scandal about the disgusting abuse and torture at Abu Ghraib has been
revealing, and it doesnt look like Bush et, al, will get away with their
few bad apples line. There is at least some attention to, even if not
nearly enough focus on, the policy decisions that led to these widespread
practices. But I dont see anything in the mainstream media about the
underlying reality: such brutality is the inherent logic and outgrowth of
conquest and occupation. We hear so little about the estimated 10,000
Iraqis that have been killed so far. Nor any acknowledgement that torture
and massacres were common in Vietnam, even without the same post-9/11
interrogation exigencies. Nor any discussion of all the Latin American
torturers trained, over decades, at the US school of the Americas. While US
neocons disdain history, the Iraqis certainly havent forgotten that early
in th elast century the British colonialists claimed to be liberating
Iraq, or that the League of Nations provided the legal cover for British
and French colonial mandates in the Middle East. (See, Rashid Khalidi,
Resurrecting Empire.) To see the full implications of conquest and
occupation, how abuse and humiliation become daily realities, just look at
the protracted horror of Israels occupation of Palestine.
It may feel harder, compared to the 1960s, to rally around the demand US
Out! in an era when much of the most militant resistance is itself
reactionary and repressive. Please remember, though, that the US not only
led in crushing progressive opposition in the region but also very
consciously fostered both bin-Laden and Hussein. Such a formative force in
creating the problems can in no way now coerce a positive solution. The
basic demand of self-determination is as urgent and relevant as ever. Lets
also not be fooled by high-flown talk about democracy from a US
government that has just overthrown one democratically-elected president,
in Haiti, and has been waging a systematic destabilization campaign against
another, in Venezuela. (The US has violently intervened against democracy
multiple times, as documented in William Blums, Killing Hope.)
The peoples of Iraq, Palestine, Haiti and Venezuela deserve our staunch
support against our governments attacks on their integrity and well-being.
It may feel overwhelming to address all 4 theaters of struggle. But there
is a way in which together they create a fuller and more coherent whole, by
exposing Bushs big lie that hes fighting this war for democracy. We who
truly support democracy need to stress that conquests, occupations, coups,
and destabilization campaigns are the antitheses of the very first
democratic right under international law: self-determination. The urgency
and value of challenging the whole pattern underscores why we so badly need
to build an anti-imperialist movement today.
David Gilbert, 7/16/04
The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20040726/c5aa77f7/attachment.htm>
More information about the News
mailing list