Double O's legacy
Obama's legacy may be in the process of being forged. We might call it Shadow War Forever -- coupled with the noxious permanence of Guantanamo. The Pentagon for its part will never abandon its "full spectrum" dream of military hegemony, ideally controlling the future of the world in all those shades of grey zones between Russia and China, the lands of Islam and India, and Africa and Asia.
Were lessons learned? Of course not. Double O Bama may have hardly read Nick Turse's exceptional book, Kill Anything that Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam, where he painstakingly documents how the Pentagon produced "a veritable system of suffering." Similar analysis of the long war on Iraq might only be published by 2040.
Obama can afford to be self-confident because the Drone Empire is safe.[1] Most Americans seem to absent-mindedly endorse it -- as long as "the terrorists" are alien, not US citizens. And in the minor netherworlds of the global war on terror (GWOT), myriad profiteers gleefully dwell.
A former Navy SEAL and a former Green Beret have published a book this week, Benghazi: the Definitive Report, where they actually admit Benghazi was blowback for the shadow war conducted by John Brennan, later rewarded by Obama as the new head of the CIA.
The book claims that Petraeus was done in by an internal CIA coup, with senior officers forcing the FBI to launch an investigation of his affair with foxy biographer Paula Broadwell. The motive: these CIA insiders were furious because Petraeus turned the agency into a paramilitary force. Yet that's exactly what Brennan will keep on doing: Drone Empire, shadow wars, kill list -- it's all there. Petraeus-Brennan is also classic continuum.
Then there's Esquire milking for all it's worth the story of an anonymous former SEAL Team 6 member, the man who shot Geronimo, aka Osama bin Laden.[2] This is familiar territory, the hagiography of a Great American Killer, whose "three shots changed history," now abandoned by a couldn't-care-less government machinery but certainly not by those who can get profitable kicks from his saga way beyond the technically proficient torture-enabling flick -- and Oscar contender -- Zero Dark Thirty.
Meanwhile, this is what's happening in the real world. China has surpassed the US and is now the biggest trading nation in the world -- and counting.[3] This is just the first step towards the establishment of the yuan as a globally traded currency; then will come the yuan as the new global reserve currency, connected to the end of the primacy of the petrodollar... Well, we all know the drill.
So that would lead us to reflect on the real political role of the US in the Obama era. Defeated (by Iraqi nationalism) - and in retreat -- in Iraq. Defeated (by Pashtun nationalism) -- and in retreat -- in Afghanistan. Forever cozy with the medieval House of Saud -- "secret" drone bases included (something that was widely known as early as July 2011).[4] "Pivoting" to the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, and pivoting to a whole bunch of African latitudes; all that to try to "contain" China.
Thus the question Obama would never dare to ask in a SOTU address (much less in a SOTE -- State of the Empire -- address). Does the US remain a global imperial power? Or are the Pentagon's -- and the shadow CIA's -- armies nothing more than mercenaries of a global neoliberal system the US still entertains the illusion of controlling?
Notes:
1. Poll: 45% approve of Obama's handling of the economy , CBS News, February 12, 2013.
2. The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed , Esquire, February 11, 2013.
3. China Eclipses U.S. as Biggest Trading Nation , Bloomberg News, February 10, 2013.
4. Secret drone bases mark latest shift in US attacks on al-Qaeda , The Times, July 26, 2011.
Obama's legacy may be in the process of being forged. We might call it Shadow War Forever -- coupled with the noxious permanence of Guantanamo. The Pentagon for its part will never abandon its "full spectrum" dream of military hegemony, ideally controlling the future of the world in all those shades of grey zones between Russia and China, the lands of Islam and India, and Africa and Asia.
Were lessons learned? Of course not. Double O Bama may have hardly read Nick Turse's exceptional book, Kill Anything that Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam, where he painstakingly documents how the Pentagon produced "a veritable system of suffering." Similar analysis of the long war on Iraq might only be published by 2040.
Obama can afford to be self-confident because the Drone Empire is safe.[1] Most Americans seem to absent-mindedly endorse it -- as long as "the terrorists" are alien, not US citizens. And in the minor netherworlds of the global war on terror (GWOT), myriad profiteers gleefully dwell.
A former Navy SEAL and a former Green Beret have published a book this week, Benghazi: the Definitive Report, where they actually admit Benghazi was blowback for the shadow war conducted by John Brennan, later rewarded by Obama as the new head of the CIA.
Then there's Esquire milking for all it's worth the story of an anonymous former SEAL Team 6 member, the man who shot Geronimo, aka Osama bin Laden.[2] This is familiar territory, the hagiography of a Great American Killer, whose "three shots changed history," now abandoned by a couldn't-care-less government machinery but certainly not by those who can get profitable kicks from his saga way beyond the technically proficient torture-enabling flick -- and Oscar contender -- Zero Dark Thirty.
Meanwhile, this is what's happening in the real world. China has surpassed the US and is now the biggest trading nation in the world -- and counting.[3] This is just the first step towards the establishment of the yuan as a globally traded currency; then will come the yuan as the new global reserve currency, connected to the end of the primacy of the petrodollar... Well, we all know the drill.
So that would lead us to reflect on the real political role of the US in the Obama era. Defeated (by Iraqi nationalism) - and in retreat -- in Iraq. Defeated (by Pashtun nationalism) -- and in retreat -- in Afghanistan. Forever cozy with the medieval House of Saud -- "secret" drone bases included (something that was widely known as early as July 2011).[4] "Pivoting" to the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, and pivoting to a whole bunch of African latitudes; all that to try to "contain" China.
Thus the question Obama would never dare to ask in a SOTU address (much less in a SOTE -- State of the Empire -- address). Does the US remain a global imperial power? Or are the Pentagon's -- and the shadow CIA's -- armies nothing more than mercenaries of a global neoliberal system the US still entertains the illusion of controlling?
Notes:
1. Poll: 45% approve of Obama's handling of the economy , CBS News, February 12, 2013.
2. The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed , Esquire, February 11, 2013.
3. China Eclipses U.S. as Biggest Trading Nation , Bloomberg News, February 10, 2013.
4. Secret drone bases mark latest shift in US attacks on al-Qaeda , The Times, July 26, 2011.
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