Merchants of Death, The Politics of Perpetual Fear

[babylonsister]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_anthony__070605_merchants_of_death_2c_.htm

Merchants of Death, The Politics of Perpetual Fear

by Anthony Wade

June 5, 2007


snip//

A fearful populace doesn’t stop to think about the decline in education in this country. A fearful populace doesn’t stop to think about the disastrous state of healthcare in this country. We forget that this war was sold to us on lies. That the entire premise of the war is false. That hundreds of thousands of people are dead because of it. People who are afraid do not notice when the president decides to ignore over 800 laws as his party stands silent. They are too worried to notice when 9 out of 10 would be presidents think that the treasonous outing of a covert CIA operative is cause for a presidential pardon.

The gang of nine mocked the democrats for daring to suggest that the Iraq War needs to end now; the prevailing opinion of an overwhelming majority of Americans. You want to know all you need to know for the 2008 elections? While the democrats were talking about your needs as Americans, 90% of the republican candidates were talking about tactical nuclear strikes against Iran. That is what you are voting for next year. Do you embrace the future of this country or cower to the politics of perpetual fear?

For forty years we were told to fear the communists. We had air raid drills, where children had to hide under their desks, mimicking a nuclear attack on the country. Communists were evil and hated us because of our freedoms. Personal freedoms were curtailed, wars enflamed, and Americans died. They died all for the industrial war machine. Defense budgets skyrocketed and the deficit ballooned. Things like healthcare and education took a back seat to the primary ideological struggle of our time. It was such a good model that it lasted for forty years. Fear reigned supreme and the citizenry remained controlled. But a funny thing happened on the way through the Cold War; it ended. The Soviet Union collapsed under the weight of its own failed economic policies. That’s right, die hard repubs, Reagan had very little to do with the collapse of the USSR. He just happened to be there when the wheel came around.

The 1990’s were a wasteland for the old-school defense mongers. Their power was receding, their money was dwindling, and their relevance and very existence was threatened. Like a cornered animal, they fought back after 911. They realized they did not have to reinvent the wheel; they just needed to replace the communist, with the terrorist. It is the exact same model. You now need to be in continual fear of the terrorist. What is great about this version of the model is that there is no primary country to target. It has become a mobile model. It started in Afghanistan and when we wanted to blow Iraq up; we simply said that was the new front in this fictitious war. Never mind that Iraq under Saddam hated al Qaeda and vice-a-versa. Never mind that they had no connection to 911. All we have to do is invade the country and call anyone who is willing to fight for their country and insurgent, or a terrorist, and voila, Iraq is the new central front on the war on terror. It is a war that never has to end either. Once Iraq is spent, we can shift it over to Iran, maybe Syria. The truth doesn’t matter because the enemy has no face and no home. They are a generalized idea. They are a generic concept. They are of some Middle Eastern descent, or Islamic fundamentalist in nature, or hate our freedoms like the communists before them.

It is the perfect blueprint for election platforms too. Just mock anyone who claims the danger is not real. Scoff at the notion that maybe we can concentrate on THIS country for a change. Trump up any minor incident to be the impending end of life as we know it. You saw it tonight as the gang of nine repeatedly referred to the recent JFK and Fort Dix plots; what I like to call dumb and dumber. The facts surrounding these cases are eerily similar. Both deal with informants setting up the accused. Both are dealing with plans that are so far fetched there never was any danger to begin with and both were trumpeted from the rooftops as proof that there is a war on terror and that we are “winning.”

Never mind that winning is never clearly defined and when it is the goal posts simply get moved. Whether it was capturing Baghdad, capturing Saddam’s sons, capturing Saddam, electing a parliament, Iraqi’s with purple fingers voting, standing down as the Iraqis stand up, troop surge number one, or troop surge number two. It doesn’t matter because you can always change the benchmarks; you can always change what “winning” means. All nine tonight spoke eloquently about winning, but never had a clue what winning actually meant because the real concept of “winning” is the continuation of the war, not the ending of it. It is just fear on a repeating loop and tonight you met the merchants who would continue to sell you death.

I pray to God that you are no longer buying it.

[Atman]

1. K&R

:kick:

[SIMPLYB1980]

2. Great post!

:yourock:

[peacetalksforall]

3. Catch Democracy Now - with John Pilger. New film - but not being

shown in the U.S. If you're in NY - Amy interviews him live (tonight or tomorrow night?). All about the stories we are told.

[blueworld]

4. Great post

What I honestly don't understand is how a bunch of fat, filthy-rich white guys can harbor such fear that they can justify trying to destroy half the world to root it out. What the heck can they be that afraid of? Not one of them ever suffered anything remotely traumatic that I've ever heard about.

And the parents' generation had plenty to fear, and faced it with courage & integrity & sharing & hope. They resorted to war when they HAD TO, fought it intelligently and ended it as quickly as possible in a true coalition of countries.

It leads me to believe that all the neocons are really afraid of is losing their cushy lifestyle. They're bombing them there so they can exploit them there because the peon pickings are drying up here and you can't throw a party without caviar. :puke:

[ananda]

5. Politics of fear works!

It keeps people in line, or else dead
or incarcerated.

That's the way it is in America now.

[MasonJar]

6. Politics of fear is going down the drain along with its main perpetrators:

Bush/Cheney.

[Gregorian]

7. Shouting fire in a crowded theater?

I've been thinking a lot about this lately, with all of the fake terrorist plots. Isn't this kind of speech not covered by the First Amendment? Should it not be illegal to do?

I know that's nebulous. Who could ever predict a plot and tell us about it without breaking the law. But the concept is not different than shouting fire in a crowded theater. And we know it.