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"The Capital of
Global Arrogance"
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MER - Washington - 27 November (Thanksgiving
Day):
It's
not the American self-image, that's for sure. But much of the rest of the
world, especially the most oppressed, sees contemporary America through
far different visions than today's modern-day Romans see themselves.
Even
in that bastion of American and Israeli influence, the New York Times,
Foreign Affairs writer Thomas Friedman recently warned of "Backlash":
"Do
you know what Iran calls America today? Not 'the Great Satan'. Iran
calls America 'the Capital of Global Arrogance'," Friedman writes.
"Unfortunately that's also what the French, the Malaysians, the Russians,
the Chinese, the Japanese and the Germans call Washington behind its back."
Actually
its far worse than Friedman and the NYTimes are willing to even consider
publishing...for this is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Hence,
the following MER Editorial which you'll never see on the pages of the
NYTimes or other American newspapers:
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MER EDITORIAL - 11/27/97:
AMERICA
THE BRUTAL, AMERICA THE UGLY
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Once again the
American Empire prepares for "battle." It does so against a puny
enemy; but one it vilifies and magnifies many times over endlessly "preparing"
public opinion for the Empire's next round of "enforcement" in
the name of "peace" and "order". It does so with technological
super weaponry unmatchable by the poor, the weak, the oppressed...other
than through what it terms "terrorism" that is.
This is the same
country that slaughtered millions of Vietnamese (plus less directly millions
of Cambodians and Laotians as well) after its President tricked its Congress
into the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. And then a generation later its top
warrior of the former day "apologized" for having made a "terrible
mistake" (noting primarily the 50,000 Americans killed).
This is the same
country that used the first nuclear weapons of mass destruction not on
military targets, but on civilian cities. And now today, along with ally
Israel, this is the same country that threatens to use them again in the
Middle East, thus fueling the very arms race it claims to be halting.
This is the same
country that sells more arms internationally than all others, yet insists
on sanctions against those who sell a few inferior weapons to "unapproved"
locales.
This is the same
country that single-handedly, against the opposition of all others, dismisses
U.N. Secretary-Generals; issues its "orders" far and wide; and
doesn't even pay its international obligations preferring threats and blackmail
to enforce its will come what may. Amazing indeed that the rest of
the world continues to allow this demeaning situation to continue; but
bribery and threats always have gone a long way when Rome thunders.
And, finally for
now, this is the same country that stands alone in the world championing
Israeli militancy, camouflaging Israeli ethnic-cleansing, covering-up blatant
Israeli attacks on U.N. safe-havens, constantly excusing gross Israeli
violations of human rights against those who simply ask to be accorded
the same rights that the Americans themselves constantly proclaim!
There are many
menaces loose in today's world. Among them is the American military-industrial
complex which dominates American society, manipulates its press, finances
its political parties, frightens its intellectuals -- the very tyranny
of power that none other than World War II hero turned President Dwight
Eisenhower used his last breathes to warn so eloquently about.
Ah to be a Roman
nearing the 21st Century! The Pro-consuls are now in the form of "client
regimes" proclaiming themselves Kings, Guardians, and even Presidents.
Centurion legions are now in the form of giant aircraft carriers and stealth
bombers roaming the planet at will, dropping their laser-guided smart-bombs
on digital command. With the ever-present ears of the National Security
Agency and eyes of the Central Intelligence Agency modern-day Rome tries
to bug, manipulate, and control everything and everyone even while constantly
proclaiming its own innocence, bravery and freedom.
Even the
giant American press institutions fan the flames of warfare and deception
is this brave new American order. Even its senior "journalists"
of late openly join the generals advocating the assassination of foreign
leaders and destruction of resisting societies. It's President and Secretary
of State seem completely oblivious to the genocidal misery they reap on
millions who will not bend to their will. And even most of its intellectuals
and academics are cowered into submission while government- supported institutes
and think-tanks, along with minions of masked agents of the empire, spread
deception and chicanery far and wide to justify what has already been,
and what is now to come.
The American-Israeli
road signs all proclaim "Peace Process" and "Democracy",
"Freedom" and "Progress". But this road actually
leads to more terrorism, more warfare, more armaments; more repression,
more duplicity, more hatred; more exploitation, more domination, and more
control.
The level of hypocrisy
and the self-enrichment motivations are so omni-present these days that
few within the Empire seem able to see clearly through their own society's
thick rhetorical and bureaucratic smoke screens.
Yet no wonder there
are so many around the rest of the world who now think so much about payback
time.
Mark
Bruzonsky*
* Mark Bruzonsky is Chairperson
of the Committee On the Middle East (COME) - J.D., New York University
School of Law (Root-Tilden Scholar); M.I.A., Princeton University, The
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Bruzonsky
has visited the Middle East region over 150 times and hosts the cable TV
program "Mid-East Realities" which shows weekly on all the major
cable systmes in the Washington, DC area.
__________________________________________________________________
MID-EAST REALITIES is published
at WWW.MiddleEast.org and the
MER-TV Program shows weekly
on Cable TV.
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M I D - E A S T R
E A L I T I E S - (c) Copyright 1997
MER may be freely distributed
by email and on the Internet so long as there is no editing of any kind.
For any print publication,
permission in writing is required.
MER - P.O. Box 18367 -
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 362-5266 / Fax (202)
362-6965 / Email: MER@MiddleEast.Org
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