George Orwell's Perpetual War - are we there yet?

[LVZ]

http://lasvalley.com/702/viewtopic.php?id=1389



George Orwell in his 1948 book "1984" warned us about a future dystopia that manipulated the public into constantly rewriting history and maintaining an extreme authoritarian environment of perpetual war.



In 1961 President Dwight Eisenhower warned us about the dangerous influence and corruption of an emerging "military-industrial" complex.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdrGKwkmxAU

Many view the long American-Soviet Union "cold war" as mostly a propaganda vehicle for both sides to maintain domestic political power, rationalize colonization, coups, assassination and interference in other nations, suppress domestic dissent, and generally support militarism and authoritarian rule.



a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWeZ5SKXvj8
b http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98L_E17PTsw
c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy9z5lGqXDI



Aren't we seeing the same thing with Bush's preemptive Iraq war - no end in sight, labeling anti-war citizens as unpatriotic or even traitors, no exit strategy or even planning for an end to war, etc.?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnUWcjXvdlo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaFE0mywaek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWc3-Mt6btk



When a messianic George W. Bush suggests that we could be in Iraq for 50 years, John McCain says "make it 100 years ... that's fine with me." Isn't that really just the same manipulative political strategy of fear that worked well for the militaristic Republicans during the Cold War?

Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-mccain5jan05,0,1958105.story?coll=la-home-center

"The United States military could stay in Iraq for "maybe a hundred years" and that "would be fine with me," John McCain told two hundred or so people at a town hall meeting in Derry, New Hampshire, on Jan 3. And U.S. troops could be in Iraq for "a thousand years" or "a million years," as far as he was concerned."

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/opinion/01brooks.html

He talks about the struggle with Islamic extremists as the transcendent foreign policy challenge of our time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFknKVjuyNk

Haven't we seen so many re-runs of this same fear/war-mongering movie now for decades?

[bryant69]

1. There are certainly elements of it.

On the other hand, there have been protests and opposition politicians are still around. So if they are trying to use war as a means of political control, they aren't quite succeeding yet.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[bigbrother05]

2. Would say this gave me chills, but saw it coming

in 2000. After living through W's reign in Texas, knew it was only a matter of time and opportunity. With the SCOTUS selection, the cards were already dealt. The only questions that remain are how bad is it really and how long will it take to return to the light?

[Birthmark]

3. Mind-boggling, isn't it?

Instead of reading 1984 as a cautionary tale, there appears to be a fair number of highly placed people who read it as an instruction manual.

[specimenfred1984]

4. Never heard of it, lol.

Your double plus good question will now be removed from history for all time.

[Innocent Smith]

5. Have we ever not been there?

And I'm not talking about the last 7 years, or last 50 years, but the last 3,500 years.

[LVZ]

6. Militarism, deception, monetary motivations, and "NewSpeak" are all tied together.

[SoCalDem]

7. We have always been "at war" with someone, somewhere

cold or hot..we are militaristic.