Whose reign of terror

Catholic New Times, June 6, 2004 by John McMurtry

Civilized Americans are outraged at the torture of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. occupying forces, but not by what started it all--the illegal war of aggression by the U.S. invasion of Iraq last year, "the supreme crime" under international law. Yet there is something reassuring about the corporate media finally broadcasting crimes against humanity instead of ignoring them.

A question now arises. Will the public relations onslaught by the Bush-led White House spark American war fever again? Will the group-mind slogans of "The Free World" versus "the Terrorists" fool the public once more? "America at War" has always worked. At the height of the latest "damage to America's image"--note the focus of concern--the patriot card is being played round the clock.

For most Americans, the fact that the Red Cross has reported that 70-90 per cent of the torture victims were picked up at random, and tortured for nothing they did, does not diminish cries for "the terrorists'" blood. That the official Taguba Investigation was not permitted to question anyone above the rank of part-time reserve-army officer, a woman, who was kept out of the interrogation room by U.S. Defense Intelligence, does not register as evidence of top-down control. That far worse crimes of continuously maiming and killing defenseless Iraqi women and children by U.S. and allied bombing are not connected or followed up indicates that the murderous blind eye is still closed.

Denial and finger-pointing is invariably the Administration's strategy to divert attention. In fact, documented reports of criminal abuse of prisoners by U.S. forces have been coming in to the high command since the invasion of Afghanistan with no decision to stop it. The public record shows that the Bush Jr. cabinet long ago made the illegal decision to place itself above the Geneva Convention at will, and attacked anyone who objected. The deep pattern is that this regime obeys no international law it if that law protects the life of others.

Yet as they now deny all involvement in what they presided over from the beginning, no one calls them liars in the mass media. The tortures in Iraq had been documented by the Pentagon since last December, but were ignored by the men-in-charge until the pictures--the one thing the media public can understand--made plausible denial no longer possible. Yet the latest big lie continues to be lost in disconnected pieces.

Denial and projection

The campaign of war criminal behaviour, denials of all wrongdoing, and hymns to America's love of freedom haven't lost a beat since the war crimes began to be put into motion after 9-11. The September 11 attacks have since justified every violation of international and constitutional law as deemed necessary for "the war on terrorism"--the same justification used by the Nazi state to invade other countries at will. It would be foolish to forget the strange 9-11 facts; for example, that the standard routine of plane interception, normally under 10 minutes, did not occur for over 70 minutes on that fateful day. The reaction to the rogue planes occurred only after all the target buildings were hit. The "state of war" which then went into motion showed signs of long planning.

Everyone in charge of these inexplicable lapses of command is warmly congratulated by the commander-in-chief for doing a "superb job." No-one connects the phenomena to see what "superb job" is being done. Even as Americans are killed in rising numbers, and innocent non-Americans are terrorized across entire countries, "the terrorists" are always perceived to be someone else--usually former allies of the Bush Jr. gang.

Few notice that a master strategy continues to be pursued with impunity --to seize control of the routes and sources of the vast and publicly-owned oil resources of Central Asia by illegal armed invasions. And not just oil is involved. Everything else is expropriated at the same time--publicly-controlled banks, industrial infrastructures, electricity and water supplies, food production and delivery systems. It is all done in Iraq by the U.S. Comprehensive Privatization Plan, another history-turning document not reported in the media.

So far, there is no limit to the double "take" that is in motion--first from American taxpayers to pay for the over $1-billion-a-day armed forces which are used to privatize other societies' wealth by force. And secondly, at a much higher rate, the "take" from poor Iraqi and Central Asian peoples whose natural and built resources are privatized for U.S. and "friendly" foreign corporations. Behind the scenes in Iraq, all that can be profited from is seized as an endless pork barrel for the war crimes. It is sold as "freedom for the Iraqi people," and many still believe it.

When the pictures of hands-on torture emerge at the endpoint of the criminal occupation, the denial continues. "We didn't know What was going on," now issues from the top of the war hierarchy itself. The Bush Jr. war gang remains confident that the presidential bully pulpit, endless hundreds of millions of financial funding for attack ads, and a choral corporate press will let them go on looting U.S. tax wealth and other peoples' resources as long as the president is believed.