A weblog with random thoughts and reflections on society and ecology.
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Tuesday, April 01, 2003
Inevitability & True Cost of War
The Bush government officials are masters in the strategy of inevitability - attempting to make it appear as there is only one choice, and they are just acting on the one choice dictated by the situation. We saw the strategy following the 2000 presidential election (Bush acting as if he was president long before anything was resolved), and it has continued since. They used it for invading Iraq, and they will most likely use it to indefinitely occupy Iraq, install an US controlled government in Iraq, breaking international law when dealing with prisoners of war, and engaging in war with other "rouge" nations. The justification in all cases will be terrorism. They will make it look as if they have no choice but to engage in actions that further US military, cultural and economic world dominance, while systematically violating international law and human rights.
The strategy of inevitability has several strong allies: (a) An US media aligned with the views of the US government, (b) habituation (people getting used to it and unable to see alternatives), and (c) vicious cycles (they act in ways that fuel terrorism, which gives them an excuse to continue to act in those ways).
On a different but related topic, it seems that the true cost of war is not reflected in US media: (a) Massive suffering among civilians (killed, injured, loss of relatives and friends, disease, malnutrition etc). (b) Further instability in the Middle East. (c) Massive resentment towards the US among people in the Middle East and around the world. (d) Soldiers mentally traumatized for life (killing of civilians, not knowing who the enemy is, suicide attacks etc). (e) US tax money channeled to the military industry, away from vital services (schools, health care). (f) Skyrocketing US foreign debt.
13:51
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