The Myth Of American Liberation

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Brad
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The Myth Of American Liberation

Post by Brad »

The following is off Matt Good's online blog. In it he responds to an e-mail he received regarding his political opinions.



Bob wrote:



You are purposely choosing to ignore all of the good that is going on

in Iraq. You are ignoring the fact that school's are being built and

updated, you are ignoring the fact that hospitals are being built and

modernized, you are ignoring the fact that Iraqi's are getting trained

to run their own country, being trained as police, as armies, etc. You

are ignoring the fact that women won't have to get beat just for

showing their ankles in public. You make zero mentioning of how the

Iraqi's don't have to live with a secret police hounding over their

shoulders at every corner or how the Iraqi's now have free press,

satelite tv, the internet, open and free businesses, etc.



At least with "American" democracy, you don't get killed for speaking

out, or at the very least, get your tongue cut off.



It's so easy to take little snippets of what goes on to fit your agenda

and then blow them up while ignoring many of the other GOOD things

going on in the country. But, why would you want to do that? It would

only hinder your disgust for the war. So let's just ignore these

things, right? You're a smart man, I love your music, and I respect

what you have to say, always. But you genuinly pissed me off this time

with that video.



I'm not going to say we are the most wonderful country in the world,

far from it, nor will I say that there aren't any bad seeds in the

army, because there are. But you, among so many other people

continually point the blame on us, The United States, for the mess in

the Middle East, but never point the fingers at other nations.



I will just leave you with this:



War sucks, but so does genocide and oppression.



Have a nice day



- Bob






Matt responds:



I found Bob?s e-mail to be an excellent example of the indoctrinated mindset. It displays, quite profoundly, an example of the refusal to entertain the notion of culpability based on an underlying patriotic indoctrination.



Even though it seems to be, it should be no secret that The United States is the most prolific terrorist state in the world. Since 1945 it has funded, developed, and employed terror tactics, as has every world power in their time. It has, for the better part of 50+ years, involved itself in the politics of the Middle East because of resource interests, and despite the reasons given the American public, has always considered those interests to be the only real priority. The deliverance of democracy is simply a cause fed public minds to help abolish any serious concern about the agenda of the government and those trans-corps that benefit.



In a world supposedly filled with nations that aid and fund terrorism, according to the current US administration especially, why was Iraq singled out? In the 1980?s the US supported the regime of Saddam Hussein, which was engaged in a war against Iran. During that period Hussein was responsible for atrocities, such as the gassing of the Kurds, but the United States did not, at that time, take any direct action or change their policy concerning Baghdad. In fact, they continued to support Iraq. Hussein was a useful tool, so the deaths of innocent people would be excused to help further the interests of the US. It?s nothing new in the American experience, that?s something that Americans have to come to terms with.



The US government has been running plays from the same book since the end of the Second World War. The terror tactics and political manipulation in Latin America especially are a prime example of their ability to wage terror-based wars with little interest being paid by the American people. They have also financially and militarily aided nations that have used oppressive tactics against their own populations. The Middle East, Latin America, Indo China, and so forth, all have been victimized by the American development and use of terror tactics. Millions of people have been killed over the decades and the people of the United States, probably some of the most compassionate people in the world, are generally oblivious to it.



Given that, it?s not hard to see why it?s extremely difficult for many of them to view their roll in Iraq as anything but ?just?.



Bob?s e-mail is an example of the frustration felt by many Americans that struggle to see their nation as anything but mostly decent and moral. To hear otherwise is, in a way, an attack on their comfortable understanding of American morality.



During the 90?s, US led UN sanctions devastated Iraq (education, heathcare, civics) and helped strengthen the regime of Saddam Hussein. Many people often accuse the Iraqis of being unable to rise against Hussein and remove him themselves. Again, it?s a difficult thing to accomplish when economic sanctions are devastating the population. At the conclusion of the Gulf War the Shiites in the south were ready rise against Hussein but were abandoned by the US. Following that they were then punished by having to endure extreme hardships due to the sanctions supported by the United States.



Before Bob cuddles up with the gifts that the US has brought Iraq, such as schools, let?s do a little light reading?



? Prior to the events of 1990 and 1991, (Resolution 661 of the UN Security Council on the trade and embargo restrictions against Iraq on occasion of the Gulf War), Iraqi children enjoyed a fairly good standard of living. Reports from UNICEF depict Iraq as having achieved high levels of growth in most sectors of social and economic development, placing them in the highest percentile among developing nations in the 1980's. However, it is apparent from more recent documentation submitted by various agencies connected with the United Nations, that the cumulative effects of war-related destruction as well as the restrictions imposed on the economy and trade of Iraq have dramatically altered the ability of Iraq to provide for the well-being of Iraqi children in the decade of the 90's.



As described by UNICEF, from the mid 1970's to 1990, the Government of Iraq made sizable investments in the education sector. By 1989, the combined primary and secondary enrollment rates stood at 75%. Illiteracy was reduced to 20%.



Since 1991, school enrollment for all ages has declined to 53%. In Central and Southern Iraq, 83% of school buildings have suffered serious damages and are in need of rehabilitation. UNICEF indicates that substantive programs in reducing adult and female illiteracy have ceased and either stopped altogether or have had serious cut- backs. The rising number of street children and children who work is related to the increasing rates of school drop-outs. More and more families are forced to rely on working children for household income. Figures from UNESCO indicate that dropouts in elementary schools have increased from 95 692 in 1990 to 131 658 in 1999.?
- UN Commission Of Human Rights.



Given those statistics, it would seem that prior to the first Gulf War, education in Iraq wasn?t in need of American assistance. In fact, the American agenda is responsible for the decimation of the Iraqi educational and medical systems in the 90?s if anything.



As for civil rights, there?s no question that Saddam Hussein was a brutal tyrant that used fear tactics to keep his people in line. Of course Hussein learned from the best, the United States, who have, as previously pointed out, been responsible for the deaths of millions over the last 50 years due to their use of fear and terror tactics outside of their own country. Since 9/11, some of those tactics have been used within the United States as well.



Recently, a 15-year-old boy in Washington was investigated by the Secret Service because he had drawn pictures of President Bush in which he depicted the President as the devil. His teacher reported him to school administrators who then reported it to the police. In a society that is supposed to be based on the freedom of thought, religion, and expression, how are such things explained or, better yet, tolerated? How can anyone claim to be securing civil liberties for others when scathing inconsistencies exist in their own system? If history is a relevant factor in the shaping of the future, then the United States is just as guilty as the now defunct Iraqi government of home grown atrocities, unless you happen to believe that a million American aboriginals simply vanished into thin air in the 19th century.



When it comes to such inconsistencies Neocons like to defer to versions of history that exonerate such behaviour, sighting it as a necessary part of national development and a common occurrence of the times, anything but admitting culpability. The same goes for the UN sanctions against Iraq. The tired argument is that the UN placed the sanctions on Iraq, as if the United States didn?t sit on the UN Security Council and support and promote the vote. It?s as if we suddenly forget that the UN is an organization governed by the whims of the Security Council and not some autonomous body that can tell self-serving and powerful nations to mind their manners.



It?s all part of a greater sickness, the inability to admit to being far worse than those we condemn. Even better, the fact that we create 99% of those we condemn as ?evil?.



Until people like Bob come to realization that the issue is much greater than a few PR positives that are constantly pointed out by the Defense Department to the media, the majority will languish under the illusion that military actions against nations such as Iraq are undertaken in the pursuit of insuring justice and liberty for the poor and misfortunate peoples of lesser realms, cultures, and religions.



So why was Iraq invaded? Why, immediately following 9/11, was President Bush pushing Tony Blair to support an invasion of Iraq? It has nothing to do with liberty, civil rights, or anything positive that is fed the public to make them feel better about it. It has to do with the fact that 9/11 presented the greatest opportunity in decades for nations to act unilaterally using the excuse of ?security? to get away with what they would have never be able to prior to 9/11. In the case of Iraq, the United States gets to instill a new ?democratic? regime in Baghdad, just as they did in Haiti and countless other places around the world. And with it comes lucrative contracts, from defense to construction to resources.



And to make people like Bob feel better about it, they line the kids up in their school uniforms, bought and paid for by the American taxpayer, and take a lovely picture.
Democracy. It rolls off the tongue nicely. Better than others. I can say it, spell it, define it, but can?t admit to ever believing it. So convoluted has it become that it has mesmerized generations into a comma of perfect sublimity. You dance to the music of your youth, identify with your own memory, become a time capsule of numb comfort. And there, mired in the exhaustion of a life in progress, you surrender your right to question for the luxury of not being bothered.



- Matt Good
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broken4ubyu
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Re: The Myth Of American Liberation

Post by broken4ubyu »

lol i lost a few brain cells reading that shiess fest. What a load.
"You know the one thing that's wrong with this country? Everyone gets a chance to have their fair say."

- Bill Clinton



"We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans"

- Bill Clinton



Thats liberals for ya



THE MOST INTELIGENT THING I'VE EVER HEARD:

"Democracy does not guarantee equality of conditions - it only guarantees equality of opportunity."

-Irving Kristol
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Re: The Myth Of American Liberation

Post by yoaliens3000 »

if only you had some form of cliff notes.
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Brad
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Re: The Myth Of American Liberation

Post by Brad »

Democracy. It rolls off the tongue nicely. Better than others. I can say it, spell it, define it, but can?t admit to ever believing it. So convoluted has it become that it has mesmerized generations into a comma of perfect sublimity. You dance to the music of your youth, identify with your own memory, become a time capsule of numb comfort. And there, mired in the exhaustion of a life in progress, you surrender your right to question for the luxury of not being bothered.



- Matt Good
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broken4ubyu
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Re: The Myth Of American Liberation

Post by broken4ubyu »

Easier to dismiss entirely than to present an argument, no?


No, just dont feel like arguing
"You know the one thing that's wrong with this country? Everyone gets a chance to have their fair say."

- Bill Clinton



"We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans"

- Bill Clinton



Thats liberals for ya



THE MOST INTELIGENT THING I'VE EVER HEARD:

"Democracy does not guarantee equality of conditions - it only guarantees equality of opportunity."

-Irving Kristol
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