Do You Know Why They Hate USA?
By Roshnisen Gupta
13 May, 2004
Countercurrents.orgDear Mr. President,
Congratulations, President Bush! What a wonderful president you have proved yourself to be! From the rigged Florida ballot to the nameless, faceless victims of sadism and perversion at the Abu Ghraib prison, your spectrum of achievements is unparalleled in the history of the world. You have succeeded in transforming America into a haven of shameful maniacs who cheer grotesque abuse of horrified cowering men at the hands of military monsters who claim to inherit disciplined, soldierly behavior, a hallmark of the American armed tradition. This, however, is the most recent in a long line of stupendous successes that cannot be counted on fingers. Let us begin to recount each, for it is time that the world acknowledged your contribution to peace and humanism.
First and foremost, you have, as if by one wave of the magic wand, redefined imperialism. It is no longer the quest of the white man to civilize the world. The Third World, a Western construct, today commands a place in the galaxy of nations, both big and small, in terms of decision-making, international finance and business. Most countries have opened their doors to American booty in the form of foreign direct investment. Multinational giants rule the markets almost everywhere. The world's oil reserves are under the pampered care of client dispensations like the House of Saud and a whole host of central Asian republics. What, then prompts America to go to war? Answer, Mr. President?
You started by carpet- bombing Afghanistan into meek submission. Civilian homes and vehicles were hit by 'misguided missiles'. Whatever happened to all the 'precision' that Don Rumsfeld keeps harping on. The Taliban suddenly turned into an ugly ogre governing a nation ensconced in a time-warp. Convenient short shrift was given to the fact that the talibs were America's blue-eyed boys not so long in history. Even though, your knowledge of history and facts that relate to it are public knowledge (sic), the Soviet invasion of the Afghan terrain is, along with being an open secret in the corridors of the Pentagon, is also part of folklore.
In furtherance of your policy of 'friendly regimes', Hamid Karzai a political nobody with UNOCAL (in fact he is an ex-employee of the petroleum giant) links was foisted atop a country so beleaguered that the people today often pray for the Taliban to come back. Your alibi for the unilateral, one-sided attack on Afghanistan- Enemy No.1 Osama bin Laden hid somewhere in the stately White Mountains of Hindukush. "I'll smoke him out!" you thundered as the world listened. "We'll get him, dead or alive!" has been your refrain for most of the last couple of years. Now, where exactly Mr.bin Laden would be, is anybody's guess. What everyone wants to know, however is whether the ex-CIA wonder agent is a real wise man or has American military might been thwarted against all expectations? Any answers, Mr. President?
Your preference for regime changes is well known and documented. The neo-conservative, nihilistic plan for the new American century bears your stamp of approval. The incriminating document titled 'Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces and Resources for a New Century' (Sunday Herald, 15 September 2002) was written even before you were elected, Mr. President for the think tank called the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) for Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Lewis Libby and your brother, Jeb. From Syria to Beijing, the world is truly your oyster, Mr. Bush. Iraq falls somewhere in between ruled until very recently by 'the man who tried to kill your father'. After Osama, it was Saddam. The enemy all at once had a different face. You led the white, Anglo-Saxon-Israeli cabal with distinction into the 'weapons of mass destruction' trap. Where, pray are the weapons? Just in case you know, Mr. President…?
Everyone has been thinking why exactly does Iraq occupy such a central and unique position as far as your designs are concerned. Perhaps the concrete facts are classified for your consumption only. Fair enough! What however troubles right minds is your delectable taste for Arab oil. The PNAC document is not the only one doing the rounds on American mainland (both public and classified). The National Energy Policy Report or the 'Cheney Report' released by the US administration in May 2001elaborately outlines the future US oil requirements and the lengths to which they should be prepared to go in order to ensure that the supply line does not fall short. A stranglehold over Arab oil therefore, is a nodal infrastructure necessity. Israeli think tank experts are in great demand for Pentagon jobs. Richard Perle would not be an isolated example. Israeli author, Uri Avnery has often emphasized that what the Bush administration envisions and encourages today is something that Ariel Sharon and his Likud Party have been advocating and putting into practice since the 1980s. Much of what you effect, Mr. President, therefore is a furtherance of Israeli policy. Great! So much for American claims of unilateral superiority.
The global war that you unleashed on the world and inaugurated with words that were supposed to shatter all myths about your intentions-"either you are with us or with the terrorists" have led to one bloody strike after another in countries that make up, what you call the 'coalition of the willing'. However, you would surely wish away any speck of resistance with a volley of well-crafted, thoroughly rehearsed words, a cowboy trait that you find so hard to resist. The Texan Hulk! America's Sweetheart! The war spans continents, the destination of most unfortunate men, young and old, who happen to fall in your path being either Guantanamo Bay or, more recently (and grotesquely) the notorious Abu Ghraib, which was termed 'torture chamber' by your very own policy experts. These demonic detention and torture centers along with the non-existent weapons (of mass destruction) that have not been found yet presented the perfect stage on which to enact the 'theatre war' for all to see. Moreover, perhaps, know what non-compliance could bring about.
As the world watched in horror, the naked and brutalized men of Abu Ghraib were played and replayed over and over again on television screens, a grim reminder of the might that you command over the less privileged around the globe. The human pyramid of silent bodies, a blow to your false idealism; the traumatized naked man, pushed to the wall by a mocking, grinning private, forced to masturbate against his wishes, a stinging rebuke to the 'glorious' history of American military successes abroad; the bloodied Iraqi, bitten by army dogs and left to bleed to inevitable death, the final nail in the coffin- the coffin of the Free World that you supposedly want to protect, Mr.Bush! It is all dead, buried. The tall claims, the grandiose statements, the reports that chronicled human rights abuses in countries other than the US, the school-master like reprimands meted out to any nation that dared to bare its fangs, the Holy Cow image have all fallen hard, so hard that America will need another century to regain its moral stature in the eyes of the world.
Do you now realize why Arabs hate America? If you still do not, take a look at the picture of your soldiers, well-muscled and armed tying four Iraqi detainees together in a bout of gut wrenching, disgusting sadism.
Best Wishes for the upcoming elections, President!
All those who stand for
human dignity and justice