topic by
John Calvin
12/9/2001 (14:12)

Obviously still feeling the pressure to produce convincing evidence that connects bin-Laden to 9/11 as a 'material accessory' U.S. intelligence officials now claim to possess a video-tape of the alleged 'mastermind' confessing that 'he-we' did it.

As far as I know the tape has not been released and if they did it would undoubtedly have C.I.A.-F.B.I subtitles. As evidence in a fairly conducted trial it probably would prove absolutely useless, something like the 'frown' O.J. wore to his child's school recital a day or so before the murder- proving to the bigoted fantasists of the American media that he had 'murder in his heart'.
Nor would such a tape- even if it was an direct, unequivocal confession, prove anything about the 'knowing complicity' of the Taliban, nor justify the thousands of non-Taliban Afghans who are dying, crushed and starved under the reign of American bombs.

And one more point. Even if this were a just war- somehow a necessary and inevitable defense of the American homeland- it would still be possible for 'patriotic' leaders to regret having been driven to such an expedient because, right or wrong, war is hell and everybody knows it. Have we heard one single word of such regret or recognition of the human disaster war really is? One reasonable attempt to negotiate a solution? This rouses my suspicion that, despite what they say, American leaders do not believe their own justifications for the war- that its purpose is nearly 100 % of a domestic, political nature.Thus they can't let once tiny bit of normal, human understanding and compasssion creep into their discourse- it would only serve to begin the destruction of their edifice of lies.