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" They Are a Force for Good: " Have You Read Your QDR?

By Paul Street

My fellow Americans, have you read your QDR?

" My QD what? " you say.

I am referring to the Pentagon's recently released Quadrennial Defense Review

Report (QDR). It's a 92-page document in which the United States (U.S.)

Department of " Defense's " (DOD's) " senior leadership sets out, " in Secretary of

Defense Donald Rumsfeld's words, " where the DOD currently is and the direction

we believe it needs to go in fulfilling our responsibilities to the American

people " (you can read it online at qdy/qdr2006.pdf).

It's not a riveting read, but you might want to give it a look. After all,

something like half of your federal tax dollars go to sustaining the federal

" defense " budget. That budget accounts for nearly half the world's military

spending and pays for more than 700 U.S. military bases located in nearly every

country on the planet.

The " Defense " Department's invasion of Iraq has cost many hundreds of

billions of dollars so far, an enormous sum that combines with overall military

spending to significantly disable our federal government's ability to meet basic

social needs within the significantly poverty-stricken U.S.

Sounds a little more like " offense " (or what Pentagon planners and " defense "

contractors like to call " forward global force projection " ) than " defense, "

but Or-, I mean oh, well.

Reading the QDR with a skeptical and yes George Orwell-inspired eye can give

you some new insight into why " rogue state America " is broadly feared and

loathed outside its borders.

Listen to the QDR's stark opening paragraph, replete with shrill Rumsfeldian

hyperbole:

" The United States is a nation engaged in what will be a long war. Since the

attacks of September 11, 2001, our Nation has fought a global war against

violent extremists who use terrorism as their weapon of choice, and who seek to

destroy our free way of life. Our enemies seek weapons of mass destruction

and, if they are successful, will likely attempt to use them in their conflict

with free people everywhere. Currently, the struggle is centered in Iraq and

Afghanistan, but we will need to be prepared and arranged to successfully

defend our Nation and its interests around the globe for many years to come. "

The authoritarian hypocrisy and related lack of clear definition of terms in

this passage are remarkable.

Technically speaking, terrorism is the use of violence and intimidation to

achieve political objectives. And nobody has practiced it on a larger and more

murderous scale than the U.S. since (and for that matter before) 9/11.

A conservative British medical- and social-scientific study published nearly

in October 2004 estimated that 100,000 Iraqis were killed by the American and

British invasion and occupation of their country between March 19, 2003 (the

first day of " Operation Iraqi Freedom " ) and the middle of September, 2004

(see BBC News, " Iraq Death Toll Soared Post War, " 29 October, 2004, available

online at _http://news_ (http://news/) . _bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle__

(http://bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_) east/ 3962969.stm).

" Liberated " Iraq's post-invasion body count is certainly much higher today.

It has been accumulated through large-scale deployment of " weapons of mass

destruction " (WMD) and " violent extremist " methods by the most lethal military

force known to human history: the United States Armed Forces. The WMDs " of

[u.S.] choice " include Blackhawk Helicopters, A-10 Warthogs, B-2 Stealth

Bombers, unmanned aerial drones, depleted uranium, cluster bombs, cruise

missiles,

M-16s, F-14s, napalm, and phosphorous.

Here are some of the the " violent extremist " methods employed in America's

state-terrorist " war on terror: " attacking hospitals, leveling

resistance-friendly (hence " terrorist " ) cities, bombing civilians (whose

consequent deaths

and maiming are written off as unintentional " collateral damage " - a " price

worth paying " for the advance of America's inherently noble objectives), and

torturing innocent civilians in places like Abu Ghraib, Bagram Air Force Base,

and Guantanamo Bay.

It's probably for some good reasons that the QDR gives no precise meaning to

the phrases " free people " and " our free way of life. " There's not a lot of

" free people " living under the Saudi Arabian state, the arch-repressive tyranny

with whom American policymakers have long maintained a crucial alliance

based on U.S. control over much of the kingdom's oil wealth. Another U.S. ally

in

the supposed conflict between the American-led forces of " freedom " and the

evil forces of " terrorism " includes Uzbekistan, where regime opponents are

sometimes boiled alive.

There are real questions, moreover, about the extent of human freedom within

the openly corporate-plutocratic U.S. The " best democracy that money can [and

did] buy " is home to the most unequal distribution of wealth and longest

working hours in the industrialized world. It possesses the highest

incarceration rate on earth. Alone among industrialized nations, it lacks a

socially

inclusive national health insurance program - this despite clear majority

support

for such a system among the American populace.

The majority of the American citizenry is so impressed by the grassroots

vibrancy of the nation's corporate-crafted " dollar democracy " that it refuses to

participate in the nation's " free " elections. A shockingly authoritarian U.S.

state pursues hard-right policy agendas that are opposed by most " free

people " within a sullen, depressed, and purposely depoliticized American

ex-citizenry (see Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson, Off Center: The Republican

Revolution and the Erosion of Democracy [Yale, 2005]).

How exactly has the provocative and monumentally illegal and immoral assault

on Iraq - the centerpiece of Rumsfeld et al.'s so-called " long war on terror "

- " defend[ed] our Nation and its interests around the globe? "

There are numerous reasons to think that this vast terrorist operation has

endangered the security, status and well-being of Americans at home and abroad.

 

And what precisely are " our [curiously capitalized] Nation's interests around

the globe " ? On pages 21 and 24 of the QDR, Rumsfeld and Co. denounce Islamic

" terrorists " for " opposing globalization and the freedom it brings. " They

cite " globalization's " " positive " aspects: " the free movement of capital,

goods, services, information, people, and technology. "

As should be obvious to anyone remotely familiar with the American class

structure and the specifically corporate-capitalist form of " globalization "

(globalization under the command of corporate capital) that has provoked so much

protest in recent decades, however, such " free movement " is hardly in the

self-evidently shared interest of all " free people " inside the American " Nation.

" Many working-class Americans are significantly victimized by hyper-mobile

capital, commodity, labor, and technology flows that create enormous profits

for fantastically wealthy " elites " within and beyond " the Nation. "

At the same time, the costs and benefits of the military empire that exists

precisely to expand and defend corporate globalization are not distributed in

an equal fashion across " the Nation. " The costs of empire are externalized

and spread across the entire society. The benefits fall disproportionately to a

privileged minority.

Contrary to Rumsfeld and Co.'s proto-fascistic determination to submerge

internal socioeconomic differences under the falsely solidaristic banner of the

blood-and-soil Nation State, neither " globalization " nor its partner Empire

are class-neutral expressions of a common " National interest. "

The rising number of dead Pashtuns and Arabs " sacrificed " for Empire during

the last four-and-a-half years offer ghostly backdrop for Rumsfeld and Co.'s

QDR claim that " much has been accomplished since that tragic day: September

11, 2001 " (QDR, p.v). There have been many " tragic days " in Southwest Asia

since 9/11, thanks to a U.S. assault that has created casualty tolls that make

the jetliner attacks seem minor by comparison.

How comforting it must be to the people of that region to know that the

Pentagon is " placing emphasis on the ability [of Rogue State America] to surge

quickly to trouble spots across the globe " in a noble U.S. commitment to

" shaping the future " (QDR, p.v) along the (undefined) principle of " freedom. "

And how reassuring it must to be proud Americans to know that Rummy et al.

will not let " enemy non-state actors " use " irregular warfare - including

terrorism, insurgency, or guerilla warfare - in an attempt to break our will

through protracted conflict " (QDR, p.19). To " break our will, " that is, to

follow

through on a monumentally illegal and brazenly imperialist occupation that

has been clearly carried out to deepen U.S. control over Middle Eastern oil. To

" break our will " to impose empire on people trying to defend their nation

and achieve independence through the same methods ( " irregular warfare -

including terrorism, insurgency, or guerilla warfare " in " a protracted

conflict " )

those " terrorist non-state actors " the American revolutionaries deployed

against the British Empire between 1775 and 1783!

One of my favorite parts in the QDR comes on page 28, where Rumsfeld and Co.

talk about " the threat of Islamist terrorist extremism " in Central Asia. " The

energy resources of the region, " the QDR explains, " offer both and

opportunity for economic development, as well as a danger that outside powers

may seek

to gain influence over those resources. "

" Good heavens, " as Rummy might say, but wouldn't it be terrible if " outside

powers " tried to " gain influence " over Asian " energy resources? "

As anyone with a moderately informed mind knows, the final clause of that

last quoted sentence from the QDR offers an excellent description of the Bush

administration's motivation in occupying Mesopotamia. This is perfectly obvious

to even the mildly attentive follower of modern and current history, no

matter how many times Bush and the Pentagon prattle about their desire to

" liberate the Iraqi people " (see the QDR, p. 10 for two such statements).

Another richly hypocritical QDR moment comes when Rumsfeld and his team rip

Iran's " pursuit of weapons of mass destruction " for being " a destabilizing

factor in the region " (QDR, p. 28).

Anybody interested in " destabilizing " forces in the Middle East might want to

examine the provocative mass deployment of WMD by Uncle Sam in the illegal

occupation of Iraq, a lethal operation that has made it clear to Iran's

leaders that they would be crazy not to try to develop nuclear weapons.

As predicted even by numerous conservative U.S. observers (George Bush

Senior's National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, for one), the U.S. invasion

has helped enflame the region, fueling a serious escalation of Middle Eastern

violence, political instability, and terrorism.

But my favorite part comes on page 9, where Donny Pentagon and his writers

remind us that world history's greatest institutionalized global killing

machine is both a trusty guarantor of " the Nation's interest and values " and a

marvelous instrument of human benevolence:

" On any given day, nearly 350,000 men and women of the U.S. armed Forces are

deployed or stationed in approximately 130 countries. They are

battle-hardened from operations over the past four years, fighting the enemies

of freedom

as part of this long war. They maintain the Nation's treaty obligations and

international commitments. They protect and advance U.S. interests and values.

They are often asked to be protectors of peace and providers of relief. They

are a force for good. "

Remember that, fellow Americans, the next time you hear some ungrateful Iraqi

complaining because a freedom-loving F-14 just wiped out his family or

because his son or daughter was tortured in a liberty-advancing U.S. prison.

Remember it also the next time you hear some bleeding heart, tofu-munching,

and latte-sipping ACLU-socialist- type bemoaning the fact that millions are

going hungry and hopeless within the U.S. while Uncle Sam pours trillions of

your tax dollars into what the QDR calls " modern warfighting. "

Do not let your patriotic guard down. Get behind your Nation's

freedom-fighters and never forget that all those imperial weapons, troops, and

prisons you

are paying for are " A FORCE FOR GOOD. "

Repeat that phrase enough times to yourself and you'll start to believe it in

your heart and soul....just like the thought-controlled masses in Orwell's

Nineteen Eighty Four, living under the magical spell of " Big Brother, " who

told them that:

War is Peace

Ignorance is Strength

Love is Hate

Freedom is Slavery

The " long war, " a phrase that recurs numerous times in the QDR, is also

all-too like something out of Orwell. It's the modern imperial U.S. version of

the " permanent war " that Big Brother's totalitarian state Oceania proclaimed in

order to justify endless military production and related societal repression.

 

ZNet.com

 

The Price of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance

Keep learning, teaching, writing and talking about US and world politics today.

Our nation is in trouble, and needs our efforts.

 

 

 

 

 

" When the power of love becomes stronger than the love of power, we will have

peace. "

Jimi Hendrix

 

http://www.lightmovie.com/thelight/TheLight.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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