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Looking to the 2008 Election: Confusion, Anger, Hope
By Bernard Weiner, The Crisis Papers (about the author) Page 1 of 3 page(s)
For OpEdNews: Bernard Weiner - Writer
Let's construct a pair of binoculars out of two quotes. What we see may help us understand more clearly our current reality and where it could take us in November 2008.
Seen through the right ocular is this doozy by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger; ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world/americas/2521835.stm ) it's from another era (the early-1970s, to be exact), discussing the socialist government of Salvador Allende in Chile prior to the military coup that toppled his government:
"The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves...I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go Communist due to the irresponsibility of its people."
Seen through the the left ocular is a recent remark by liberal Democratic Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey from California, ( http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/woolsey-calls-for-attacks-on-colleagues-2007-09-12.htm ) speaking to a gathering of anti-war activists:
"You folks should go after the Democrats. . . . I'd hate to lose the majority, but I'm telling you, if we don't stand up to our responsibility, maybe that's the lesson to be learned."
So let's join the two together, adjust the binocular focus and see what's on the political horizon.
U.S. TRUSTS DEMOCRACY UNTIL...
Kissinger's recommendation for the U.S. to decide, and help arrange for, the "correct" rulers for other countries should not be surprising. (In case you've forgotten, Chile's President Allende was overthrown by rightist forces, with covert U.S. help.) That's what authoritarian ideologues do. Why? Because they are convinced they hold the patents on Truth and Righteousness and thus are permitted, nea required, to play God with other peoples' lives.
Bush carries it even further, claiming that God told him to invade Iraq. ( www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1007-03.htm )
And now, the supposedly "sovereign" government of Iraq is under firm orders from Bush to meet the "benchmarks" for stability, reconciliation, oil-revenue sharing, etc., or else. The "or else" is clear. If al-Maliki can't or won't do it, he will be replaced by a more malleable, U.S.-friendly leader.
"Yes, we made a thorough mess of the situation from the first moment we invaded and set up our occupation. Yes, your civilians are dying by the hundreds each week, sometimes each day, because we removed your dictator but without moving fast enough to establish law and order and police presence and governmental institutions. Yes, we disbanded your army and thus sent hundreds of thousands of young, armed men into the streets without jobs or compensation. Yes, several million of your best and brightest citizens have emigrated from the charnel house that is Iraq.
"And because we are responsible for a good share of all this misery and slaughter, we're going to stay another ten years until YOU get it right.
"Oh, by the way, we're considering arranging for the division of your country into three distinct parts -- Shia, Sunni, Kurds -- but you'll love it. No need to fret: It's for your own good."
BEWARE OF "TRUTH" ZEALOTS
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