Blowing Them Away Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry: Globalization Bush-style

[Echo In Light]

Philip K Dick meets George Bush


Blowing Them Away Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry
Globalization Bush-style
By Tom Engelhardt

17/03/08 "TomDispatch.com " -- Imagine, for a moment, that you live in a small town somewhere near the Southern California coast. You’re going about your daily life, trying to scrape by in hard times, when the missile hits. It might have come from the Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) — its pilot at a base on the outskirts of Tehran — that has had the village in its sights for the last six hours or from the Russian sub stationed just off the coast. In either case, it’s devastating.

In Moscow and Tehran, officials announce that, in a joint action, they have launched the missile as part of a carefully coordinated “surgical” operation to take out a “known terrorist,” a long-term danger to their national security. A Kremlin spokesman offers the following statement:

“As we have repeatedly said, we will continue to pursue terrorist activities and their operations wherever we may find them. We share common goals with respect to fighting terrorism. We will continue to seek out, identify, capture and, if necessary, kill terrorists where they plan their activities, carry out their operations or seek safe harbor.”

A family in a ramshackle house just down the street from you — he’s a carpenter; she works at the local Dairy Queen — are killed along with their pets. Their son is seriously wounded, their home blown to smithereens. Neighbors passing by as the missile hits are also wounded.

As it happens, there are no terrorists in the vicinity. Outraged, you organize your neighbors and march angrily in protest through the town, shouting anti-Russian, anti-Iranian slogans. But, of course, there is nothing you can really do. Iran and Russia are far away, their weaponry powerful, your arms nonexistent. The state of California is incapable of protecting you. This is, in fact, at least the fourth time in recent months that a “terrorist” has been declared “taken out” from the air or by a ship-based cruise missile, when only innocent Californians have died.

As news of the “collateral damage” from the botched operation dribbles out, the Russian and Iranian media pay next to no attention. There are no outraged editorials. Official spokesmen see no need to comment further. No one is held responsible and no promises are made in either Tehran or Moscow that similar assassination strikes won’t be launched in the near future, based on “actionable intelligence,” possibly even on the same town. In fact, the next day, seeing UAVs once again soaring overhead, you load your pick-up and prepare to flee.

Swatting Flies in Somalia

Philip K. Dick meet George W. Bush. When it comes to such a thing happening in the United States, we are, of course, at the wildest frontiers of science fiction...

More:
http://tomdispatch.com/post/174906/philip_k_dick_meet_george_w_bush

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19554.htm

[Echo In Light]

1. He likewise recommends David Case's article, "The U.S. Military’s Assassination Problem."

Software like "Bugsplat" is supposed to keep decapitation attacks precise. So why do we keep blowing up Iraqi wedding parties?

http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2008/03/the-us-militarys-assassination-problem.html

[JohnyCanuck]

2. Remember, it's only terrorism when they do it to us

Relax everyone King George wants you to know that by definition our side is the one that wears the white hats, therefore we can't possibly be terrorists - no matter how many people our troops and CIA interrogators torture, or how many wedding parties and dirt poor Afghan farmers we bomb into oblivion.

[Echo In Light]

3. U.S. propaganda is highly projective: imputes to "enemies" that which it is most guilty of

You can hear it in most of the speeches, talking points, rhetoric, propaganda, etc ... when they rail against the "bad guys" and "terrorists," it's applicable to their own intentions and actions, everything they attribute to them, including the bullshit about "spreading democracy."

[Echo In Light]

4. Bump

[JohnyCanuck]

5. kick n/t