The Chaos Theory in Action/ATimes (must read)--New World Media Watch

[Gloria]

Full excerpts, links up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com



WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR APRIL 7, 2004

1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--SPEAKING FREELY: THE CHAOS THEORY IN ACTION(If Iraq is sliding toward chaos, this is exactly where most Iraqis believe the US wants them to be. A prominent Iraqi psychiatrist who has worked with the CPA and US military explained to me that "there is no way the United States can be this incompetent. The chaos here has to be at least partly deliberate." The main question on most people's minds is not if his assertion is true, but why. In this context, the sending of foreign contractors into Falluja in late-model SUVs with armed escorts - down a street clogged with traffic where they would literally be sitting ducks - only feeds suspicion that the US is deliberately instigating more violence as a pretext for "punishment" and further chaos courtesy of the US military. …Colgate University professor Nancy Ries describes the chaos in Iraq as "sponsored chaos", which fits into the broad definition of chaos theory as an ordered system or purpose underlying seemingly random events. That is, war and occupation are wonderful opportunities for corporations to make billions of dollars in profits, unchecked by the laws and regulations that hamper their profitability in peace time.)



2//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--NO PLANS TO SEND MORE TROOPS TO IRAQ: PM (The Prime Minister, John Howard, buoyed by polls that appear to support his opposition to withdrawing troops from Iraq, says that there are no plans to provide more forces in response to the mounting turmoil in the country…on reports that US military authorities were suggesting the need for an increased coalition contribution, Mr Howard said: "We don't have any plans to provide more.")

3//The Guardian, UK-- BLAIR: WE MUST HOLD FIRM IN IRAQ (The meeting with Hoshyar Zebari, who was appointed by the Iraqi interim governing council, was prearranged, but in a session with reporters Mr Blair and Mr Zebari insisted that "moderates will succeed" in Iraq.The brief meeting in Downing Street came as the Ministry of Defence announced fresh troop deployments to Iraq…Mr Zebari called for thousands more troops to deal with the spiralling violence…The US is considering sending more soldiers out after a fresh wave of violence. But the MoD was adamant that the latest British contingent did not constitute "extra" troops. "They are not additional," a spokesman said.)

4//The International Herald Tribune, France--SPANIARDS SAY WAR MAKES THEM A TARGET (Prime Minister-elect José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who is due to take office on April 16, has stuck by his campaign promise to pull Spain's 1,300 troops out of Iraq at the end of June unless the United Nations has taken control of the occupation by then. This pledge was made before 10 coordinated bombs ripped apart four commuter trains and killed 191 people on March 11. But now, many in Spain say they do not think about a UN mandate when they talk about the need to withdraw troops. They say they think about avoiding more terrorist attacks, leaving the new government's motive for a possible pullout uncomfortably out of line with views on the street… Thousands of people have taken to Madrid's streets over the past two days, protesting against terrorism and decrying Spain's involvement in Iraq. Many banners focused on the war, reading "Get the troops out of Iraq now" and "No more blood for oil.")



5//The Moscow Times, Russia--MIDDLE EAST STABILITY TOPS YEMENI TALKS (President Vladimir Putin pledged Russian help Tuesday in promoting stability in the Middle East, telling visiting Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh that Moscow was paying close attention to the troubled region… Both leaders also said they would discuss bilateral cooperation, particularly in expanding business ties. The Soviet Union and then Russia have delivered some $8 billion worth of military technology and arms to Yemen, Interfax reported, citing a defense industry source… Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul-Kader Bajammal said Sunday that Yemen -- the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden -- has dismantled 90 percent of his al-Qaida cells in the country, in part by payoffs to tribes that once sheltered them.)

[BadGimp]

1. if this is true....

Then we are seeing the absolute worst case scenario unfolding before our eyes.

IF

[Gloria]

2. Yes, it is downright scary...and with this crowd....believable.

I put nothing past them....

[yltlatl]

3. It's turning into a no-brainer

Last night I posted that everyone's going to take a little step back into the 20th century and start fighting proxy wars again. Hard to argue with this:

"President Vladimir Putin pledged Russian help Tuesday in promoting stability in the Middle East, telling visiting Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh that Moscow was paying close attention to the troubled region… Both leaders also said they would discuss bilateral cooperation, particularly in expanding business ties. The Soviet Union and then Russia have delivered some $8 billion worth of military technology and arms to Yemen, Interfax reported, citing a defense industry source…"

Wow, they get to increase "stability" and get rich off of arms sales at the same time!! Sounds like proxying to me. And all of this right on top of all that oil! What an amazing coincidence...

[fearnobush]

4. Yes.. Greg Palest makes a great arguement for this scenario

in his book, 'The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.' He details how the FTO et al, deliberately create chaos to "starve the Beast" (the people)of all social services, electricity, clean water etc. Once the beast is fully starved, it's much easier to pick up the pieces and socialize the populus after the decay has fully set in. I'm not too confident that it will work with people who choose to blow them selves up for God with out second guessing it.

[Dover]

5. Just do a search on PNAC /CHAOS - planned chaos is indeed part of

the equation.

...the plan is based on so many flawed assumptions that only the most naïve could judge the best-case scenario as even remotely plausible. Furthermore, it appears that many of the policy architects themselves recognize that the plan is a recipe for regional chaos and interminable bloodshed on a truly grotesque scale. However, the potential for disaster, rather than discouraging the neo-cons, actually emboldens them to support the plan, because by creating chaos they actually create the conditions that might make it appear necessary to occupy the region militarily.

Where Are They Taking Us?

An article by Joshua Marshall in the April issue of Washington Monthly titled “Practice to Deceive: Chaos in the Middle East is not the Bush hawks’ nightmare scenario—it’s their plan,” explicates the perverse logic that underpins the Bush administration’s twisted plans. With the intention of toppling one regime after another in the Middle East region, the administration may actually tacitly welcome an increase in terrorism during and after the Iraq war because this will be used to justify further U.S. involvement in the region and provide the neo-conservative hawks with cause belli to attack Syria, Iran and other regimes in the region. In a sort of inexorable pattern of macabre inertia, each new crisis will draw more U.S. forces into the region, leading to further problems by inspiring counterattacks that require still more troops to be committed in a Sisyphian cycle of ongoing violence. Within a decade, we could be facing the bizarre prospect of trying to maintain a permanent occupation force in multiple Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries and a perpetual war on terror that creates more enemies, further alienates our allies, drains our economy and leads to a regional bloodbath too catastrophic to contemplate.

http://peaceworks.missouri.org/monitor/2003/augsept/pnac.htm

________


Neo-conservatism and the politics of paranoia

Max Fraad Wolff

http://www.redpepper.org.uk/June2003/x-June2003-neocon.html

...Neo-conservatism has long struggled for the influence it now commands. It seeks to control mortal threats (real or imagined) before destruction is unleashed. The revolution in military affairs offered by Bush, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz was designed by Wohlstetter and friends at the Rand Institute in the 1970s; the neo-cons waited in the wings ever since. The two Gulf wars, Venezuela and Afghanistan have been the test phases of a ‘new’ strategic disposition. The UN, Nato, strategic alliances and military assets are being reshuffled to advance US power.

Why now? Globalisation, emerging rivals, economic weakness and multiculturalism menace. Alongside goods, services and wealth flow people, cultures and ideologies. This process has stretched inequalities – fuelling outrage, resistance and chaos. It also furnishes great fortunes and business opportunities. Neo-con anger feeds on the disorder, opposition, risk and danger that globalisation fosters. The flows of trade and wealth are embraced as civilising and positive. The proliferation of cultures and forms of resistance is hated and feared. Multilateral policy-making, perpetual compromise and tolerance of disorder and dysfunction are perceived to be lurking everywhere.

The neo-cons recommend impassioned reaction. They offer an alternative vision of globalisation in which the US takes control of a chaotic world. Opponents, rival ideas and rising powers are brought to heel.....cont'd