Book: Hegemony or Survival: America's
Quest for Global Dominance.
Chapter 5 The Iraq Connection [p. 109
- 143]
What is the main idea of this chapter?
- the events of 9-11 provided the reactionary sectors of
the Republican administration with an opportunity to pursue
long-standing goals with greater intensity.
Structure of the chapter:
- The Script: International
- The Script: Domestic
- Insignificant Risks
- The Wild Men in the Wings
- Democracy and Human Rights
- Liberation From Tyranny: Constructive Solutions
The Script: International
- Angola: South Africa, with US support, was primarily
responsible for over 1.5 million dead in Angola and Mozambique.
- Afghanistan: this was largely a CIA-supported effort
to draw the Russians into invading Afghanistan. The goal
was to 'bleed the Russians and pillory the Soviets in world
opinion' [p. 111]. "The immediate result was a war that
devastated Afghanistan, with even worse consequences after
the Russians withdrew and Reagan's jihadis [the Taliban]
took over. The long-term result was two decades of terror
and civil war." [p. 111]
- India-Pakistan: the terrorist organizations
in Afghanistan then helped inflame the conflict between
Pakistan and India.
- Iraq: there was long-standing US support
for Saddam Hussein in the Iraq-Iran war.
- Philippines: Ferdinand Marcos was supported by the US
- Haiti: Duvalier was supported by the US
- Romania: Nicolae Ceausescu was supported by the US
- Indonesia: Suharto was supported by the US
- Panama: Noriega was supported by the US
- Uzbekistan: Islam Karimov is supported by the US
- Turkmenistan: Saparmurat Niyazov is supported by the
US
- Equitorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang is supported by the
US
- Algeria: supported by the US
All of the above are repressive regimes who regularly resort
to torture and terror to maintain control.
The Script: Domestic
- "The Reagan years saw a continuation of the relatively
poor economic performance of the 1970's. Growth overwhelmingly
benefited the very rich, unlike the 'golden age' of the
fifties and sixties, when it was evenly spread across the
population. During the Reagan-Bush years real wages stagnated
or declined with benefits; working hours increased; and
employers were given free rein to ignore protection for
labor organizing. ... It is not easy, under such conditions,
to maintain political power. Only one good method is known:
inspire fear." [p. 115]
- "Crime in the US is not very different from other industrial
countries. Fear of crime, however, is much higher. The
same is true of drugs. ... It is easy for political leaders
to use the media to whip up fear of these and other menaces.
... 'the mass media in America have an overwhelming tendency
to jump up and down and bark in concert whenever the White
House - any White House - snaps its fingers.' " [p. 117]
- By spending huge amounts on the military, and by also
offering tax cuts ("overwhelmingly benefiting the very
rich") the government created a large deficit, which then
became an argument for "fiscal discipline" which meant
cutting social programs such as Medicare and Social Security.
... "The problem is deepened by the serious financial crisis
of states and cities." [p. 119]
- "If working people depend on the stock market for their
pensions, health care, and other means of survival, they
have a stake in undrmining their own interests: opposing
wage increases, health and safety regulations, and other
measures that might cut into profits." [p. 120]
- "... the classic modern strategy of an endangered right-wing
oligarchy, which is to divert mass discontent into nationalism."
[p. 120]
Insignificant Risks
- "... though planners of course do not welcome the proliferation
of WMD and terrorism, they know that they can exploit such
developments for their own purposes, both global and domestic.
Even the fear they elicit throughout the world is quite
acceptable: they are not trying to be loved, but obeyed,
and if this is achieved by fear, that is fine..." [p. 125]
- "Maintaining a hold on political power and enhancing
US control of the world's primary energy sources are major
steps toward the twin goals that have been declared with
considerable clarity: to institutionalize a radical restructuring
of domestic society that will roll back the progressive
reforms of a century, and to establish an imperial grand
staraategy of permanent world domination." [p. 125]
The Wild Men in the Wings
- "There was little discussion of the possible effects
of war on the population of Iraq." [p. 125]
- "With the Iraqi people at the edge of survival after
a decade of destructive sanctions, international aid and
medical agencies warned that a war might lead to a serious
humanitarian catastrophe." [p. 126]
- "... the sanctions devastated the population while strengthening
Saddam Hussein and his clique, alos increasing the dependency
of the Iraqi people on the tyrant for their survival."
[p. 127]
- " 'Studied lack of interest' in the likely consequences
of war for the population of the country to be invaded
is conventional." [p. 128]
- "... it is the range of likely possibilities that determines
the evaluation of policy choices that are made, at least
for those capable of entertaining elementary moral standards."
[p. 129]
Democracy and Human Rights
- "... lofty rhetoric is the obligatory accompanyment of
virtually any resort to force and therefore carries no
information." [p. 129]
- "In the two major European countries, Germany and France,
the official government stands corresponded to the views
of the large majority of their populations, which unequivocally
opposed the war." [p. 131]
- "Turks despised Saddam Hussein but did not fear him.
They also strongly opposed the war. ... While popular opinion
apparently turned even more strongly against the war, the
government finally yielded to severe US economic and other
coercion, and agreed to comply with Washington's demands
over 'overwhelming' popular opposition. ... In the end,
the Turks proceeded to teach a lesson in democracy to the
West. Parliament finally refused to allow US troops to
be deployed fully in Turkey." [p. 134 - 135]
- In the US, "public opinion studies which reveal that
on the eve of the election, three-quarters of the population
regarded it as a game played by large contributors, party
leaders, and the PR industry, which crafted candidates
to say 'almost anything to get themselves elected' ...
"voters were directed to 'personal qualities', not 'issues'
" [p. 139]
- "What remains of democracy is largely the right to choose
among commodities. Business leaders have long explained
the need to impose on the population a 'philosophy of futility'
and 'lack of purpose in life', to 'concentrate human attention
on the more superficial things that comprise much of fashionable
consumption.' Deluged by such propaganda from infancy,
people may then accept their meaningless and subordinate
lives and forget ridiculous ideas about managing their
own affairs. They may aboandon their fate to corporate
managers and the PR industry and, in the political realm,
to the self-described 'intelligent minorities' who seve
and administer power." [p. 139]
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