From Jack A. Smith’s “‘Peace’ president’s war record”
Excerpt, editing
By Carolyn Bennett
GWBushBama Global War on Terror
Home and abroad
U.S. President Barack Obama’s foreign/military policy is a virtual
continuation of George W. Bush’s Global War on Terrorism under a different
name, Jack Smith writes. The Nobel laureate “has extended Bush’s wars to Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia,
Libya and elsewhere while ─
Greatly expanding the war in
Afghanistan
Hiking the military budget
Encouraging the growth of
militarism in U.S. society
Tightening the military
encirclement of China
Laureate undone
An indicator of the Bush-Obama 11-year Afghan folly is the
recent two thousandth death of a U.S. soldier ─ not at the hands of Taliban,
but by a supposed ally, a U.S.-trained Afghan police officer.
Contrary to popular opinion in the United States, Afghan public
opinion “has always overwhelmingly opposed the invasion,” Smith writes.
Other indicators of a
Nobel laureate undone are these:
Middle
East and Far East in turmoil, experiencing troubled relations with Washington
Israel
threatens attack Iran, an act that would transform turmoil into catastrophe.
Syria’s
government refuses to fall, much to Washington’s chagrin.
Egypt’s
new government declares partial independence from Washington domination.
Palestinians’
conditions worsen in the Obama era.
Relations
with China and Russia are in decline
Halloween ghost stories
Default position: Lies stoking fear
 |
| Only one nation used nuclear weapons of mass destruction against civilians of another nation: the United States of America |
The president’s election declarations occasionally exaggerate
increasing threats and hazards confronting the American people, a situation only
he can manage. Overstating the threats confronting the United States is a constant
practice for Democratic and Republican presidents and political candidates.
Former president George W. Bush at times sounded as if he
were reciting Halloween ghost stories to gullible children. He excelled in
bringing the mendacious practice of exaggerating threats to the United States to
its zenith.
Referencing historian and academic Andrew J. Bacevich, Jack
A. Smith recalls:
The
national-security state derives its raison d’être from ─ and vigorously
promotes a belief in ─ the existence of looming national peril….
What
worked during the Cold War [fear of the ‘Communist menace’ and nuclear war]
still works today: to get Americans on board with your military policy ─ scare
the hell out of them.
Today this practice is intended to frighten the public into
uncomplainingly investing tax money into the largest military/national security
budget in the world — about $1.4 trillion this year (up to $700 billion for the
Pentagon and an equal amount for national security).
Scaring the public into submission Smith says serves an elite
ruling class that determines the course of empire:
It
sustains the most powerful military apparatus in history [and]
It
ensures a huge annual infusion of government cash (a stimulus?) into the
economy via the military-industrial complex ─ without the ‘stigma’ of being called
a welfare-like plan to create jobs or benefit the people.
Sources and notes
“‘Peace’ president’s war record: how Obama melted down his
Nobel Prize to make bullets” (Jack A. Smith, Counterpunch, October 16, 2012, at
Stop the War –UK, http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/usa-war-on-terror/1954-the-peace-presidents-war-record-how-obama-melted-down-his-nobel-prize-to-make-bullets
Jack A. Smith is the editor of the Activist Newsletter and
is former editor of the (U.S.) Guardian Newsweekly. http://activistnewsletter.blogspot.com/
or jacdon@earthlink.net or
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/16/obamas-war-record/
_________________________________
Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy
_________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment