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Posted April 22, 2003
Regarding "The New Leninism" by Chad Nagle:
get a life. what bilge. concentrate on bush's corporate state, without blaming Lenin for fascism and nazism. What crap. leave your lunatic ideology at the gate and discuss the issues of american imperialism without a neurotic worldview. and persue commondreams.org. it discusses issues and realities, not leftover intellectual garbage from the likes of neo-cons or anit-communist liberals or psedoanarchists with no plan to go.
Chad Nagle replies:
One rather gets the feeling from the tone of your message that your primary beef is not with me but with Antiwar.com. I never mentioned neo-cons or anit-communist liberals [sic] or psedoanarchists [sic], and I am not sure what “lunatic ideology” you think I represent. But Lenin was a role model of political organization for both Hitler and Mussolini (Il Duce even admitted as much), and you can deduce from that what you like.
As for the “corporate state,” it is not “bush’s.” The US was a corporate state under Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and LBJ as well, and has attempted to export corporatism under every administration since FDR. If you’re going to throw the term “corporate state” around like a good lefty, why not define it? Why not discuss the effect on countries that have embraced the “corporate democracy” model in the last decade, if you can?
I often peruse commondreams.org (although perhaps you meant “pursue”?), a fine website, even if I don’t see any sort of “plan to go” in it. In fact, I recently read an interesting essay from the site called “Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History” by Thom Hartmann, a useful analogy between fascism and corporatism in many ways. However, the piece does have a couple of flaws in it.
First, comparing the spoon-fed George W. Bush with Hitler is a little far-fetched. Whatever one says about Hitler, he was a self-made man who slept in homeless shelters in his young adulthood, whereas Bush is not a “man” at all in any meaningful sense – more “Little Caesar” than “Fuhrer.” Secondly, the end of the piece glorifying FDR is misguided as it pertains to corporatism. Corporatism triumphed in American politics with the failure of the Republican Sen. Robert Taft to rise to the top in 1948 and 1952, not with the presidency of George W. Bush or other right-wing American politicians.
Lastly, I do in fact have a “plan to go.” Now that Baghdad has been conquered, Liberation Square can be renamed Victory Square, and public hangings of people who write in all lower-case letters can become regular events.
Regarding "Don't Mention the W**" by Joseph Stromberg:
Excellent article but there is one correction needed:
It's "animal food trough WIPERS," not whoppers. ...
~ Will Blalock, Brazoria, Texas
Joseph Stromberg replies:
Ah, good point. I see, "waaper": it was part of the "outrajjous French acCENT."
Regarding "Fickle Victory" Justin Raimondo:
Despite my usual appreciation of your articles on Antiwar.com, describing President Roosevelt as a 'vindictive old cripple' is too extreme. I don't see the relevance in his physical condition when discussing the Morgenthau plan regarding Germany.
If you had added that Churchill was described as 'whisky soaked' and Stalin was a heavy drinker – then 'two drunks and a cripple' might have balanced out the story !
Chinese Embassy II
During the US attack on Yugoslavia, the Chinese embassy was obliterated by 3 “smart” bombs homing in from 3 different directions, someone out there wanted to make sure the kill. 3 embassy staffs perished in that “tragic accident”. Knowing that Uncle Sham is quite capable of a repeat performance and then announce with a straight face (or is that a smirk?) that “oops another mix-up sorry about that”, China handed over the coordinates of his Iraqi embassy to the Yanks and made sure they acknowledged receipt. Nevertheless, the Chinese got hit again, 3 waves of heavily armed “rioters” homed in to the Chinese embassy seemingly guided by a certain mysterious force field. The embassy was stripped bare, some rioters appeared to be computer buffs who went straight for the PCs and then they are off. Repeated frantic appeals to the authority (er, the Marine commandant) got a short shrift: our men are stretched thin and we have orders to give priority to only VIP – very important properties.
One would have thought that an embassy should automatically qualify as a VIP, but then to those who a country’s sovereignty (except their own that is) means nothing, what is an embassy, let alone one which is not “with us”? At least this time the Chinese embassy was not wiped out like in Yugo, maybe China has gotten off lightly for defying the royal decree again....
Proof Prediction
Within 10 days, the US Army will prove that Iraq does have weapons of mass destruction.
Here are 10 easy ways to do it.
1. of the many 2000 plus pounds dropped by US aircraft, deliberate defuse one or two,
2. arrest the Iraqi generals/scientists and make them confess that they have,
3. see what we have in our arsenals that meet the specification,
4. find one or two of the mobile chemical units either inside or outside Iraq, if find outside Iraq, must be those countries as second or third target after Iraq.
5. blow up a chemical factory, then dose it with toxic material,
6. find some missiles with over 150 km range, but make sure they are not made in US.
7. find small aircraft that sprays,
8. find formulae for toxic/chemical/nuclear production, or download from Internet but printed on sheepskin,
9. make an early protest that all evidence has been looted and lost,
10. if you cannot find, fabricate.
What Next?
As the war in Iraq draws to a close – such as it is – much of the enthusiasm has gone out of those who had hoped to make a difference, and didn’t. Of course, we did make some difference. We got the attention fellow human beings around the world. We found out how many people are against war as a solution, and we found out that the press will do anything it must to distort the facts. The question I hear from all quarters is: What do we do now?
May I suggest that none other than Norman Schwartzkopf has given us the answer: “Let them march all they want – so long as they pay their taxes.” That’s right friends. As long as we give them the money with which to build the war machine, the ruling class will laugh all the way to the bank. They know we don’t have the guts to do what has to be done. They know we really don’t want to rock the boat and make ourselves uncomfortable. And they know that we think there is actually a political way to turn the juggernaut around, that we think voting for somebody will make a difference. This is a very serious mistake. What we won’t face up to is the fact that the ruling class is dead serious in it’s quest for power. Here’s the scenario.
I say stop the money right now. Go to your employer and tell them to stop withholding. Depending on whom you work for, they may be very reluctant to do this. If you work for the government in some capacity already, you may have your work cut out for you. If you work for yourself, no problem – and I mean that.
Now if a million of us stop sending them blood money, they will then know we mean business. In the past this move might have caused the government to alter its policies and bend to public pressure. It’s my opinion that this is a thing of the past. The government now will retaliate with another version of 911 and seize it as an excuse to curtail more Constitutional rights. If you think this is far-fetched, you have been watching too much television. Government and CIA footprints are all over the events of 911. Are you ready for a real confrontation, because that’s what you’re in for if you really get serious and stop paying for your enslavement. If you’re not ready to for this, please pick up your peace button and go home. The government will take care of the middle class, rest assured of that. It will range the world in search of raw materials to satisfy your desires – as long as you don’t ask questions or talk about the Constitution anymore. As long as you remain consumers, keep popping pills, and send your kids to government schools where they will learn a cleansed version of history.
You have to understand this: you have been asleep at the wheel for the past 50 years or more. You have allowed this country, with the help of covert groups like the CIA, to stomp on the faces of peoples around the world, while you have been nice and comfortable in your very expensive homes and luxurious cars. Face it. You are ignorant, self-indulgent fakes. Hey, nothing personal, you understand. You simper about starving children in other countries, pray for their souls, send some money, and go on with your own life, totally free of guilt. And, sorry, Valium won’t help. ...
So what’s the answer? It’s decision time, folks, real decision time. And you thought your life was going to be boring. You have a world to save. Literally. You’re going to have to start serious networking with other people. You need to work out a plan for a new society based on an extreme regard for each other, not the play-make believe fakery that you’re living now. You have to walk the walk. When you really know – in your gut – that those kids in El Salvador and Iraq and Africa are really your kids, then you will have it. When you live in such a way that says human beings are worth more than absolutely anything, then you will have it.
You will eventually confront the oligarchy head on. You must stop giving credence to any utterances from the government. You are being manipulated all the time. Turn off the TV and study numerous other sources of information. You have been led to distrust the Internet, and the reason for that is that’s it is the peoples’ newspaper, the peoples' network, totally uncensored – unlike the mass media. Yes it can be a jumble, but that’s why you have to research and not let the government do it for you. Dan Rather confessed to the BBC in May of 2002 that he’s afraid to tell the truth on the air because, as he said, “in South Africa they used to put flaming tires around the necks of dissenters.” And he’s afraid he’d suffer a similar fate! I predict that there will be many suicides among journalists as their own mendacity becomes too much for their consciences to bear.
Regarding Kenneth Smith's letter posted April 18, 2003
Both Kenneth and I admire Justin, but we must lovingly insist that the more the US commits aggression, the more it comes to emulate the enemy. Kenneth reminds us it was that way in the imperialist US World War II. Not only was Doolittle proud to become a suicide bomber, if necessary, the US actually celebrated its own suicide bombers in the first week of the war, and then throughout the war as well, as I found to my astonishment while researching my book.
This all started with a "bang" during Pearl Harbor week when the very first hero of the war, Colin Kelly, was celebrated nationwide. His and his family's pictures were splashed all over the front pages of newspapers that week, and President Roosevelt handed out special honor to him and his son in that December 1941. Why? Because the legend of Colin Kelly had it that he suicide bombed a Japanese battleship in the Philippines during Pearl Harbor week.
The apparently mythical legend boasted that Kelly's bomber had been hit by flak, so he ordered his crew to bail out, and the only thing left that he could do to punish the enemy was to crash his crippled bomber into the Haruna. His crewmates said he could have bailed out too, but he chose the all American hero's death by becoming a suicide bomber.
So revered was the suicide bomber Colin Kelly, that boys born during World War II were named Colin in droves. Secretary of State General Colin Powell proudly recalls in his autobiography how he too was named after the very first hero of World War II. The great US suicide bomber is an apt namesake for our warmonger diplomat.
The US revered its suicide bombers in newspaper stories, and in innumerable Hollywood war movies produced during World War II itself. Go back and look at those movies and see how the US can glorify its own Kamikazes once it gets its blood up into total war. We may not be quite like the mad Mideast yet, Justin, but just give this war a chance. The more we commit aggression, the more we emulate all those homicidal/suicidal aggressors over there.
Regarding "My Bloody 1040" by Matthew Barganier:
Thanks for the great article! What happens if the Neo-cons get their way with Syria? How many more Ali's will Fox News hide? How many more Ali's will it take before we can throw the whole Bush Administration in prison for "Crimes against humanity?"
The plan to go after Syria and Iran was on the agenda long before Bush became President. I'm waiting to hear Bush's speech on why we need to now invade Syria, this will be good. He's going to tell the American people that Syria is simply the New Saddam Hussein's Iraq, "Having WMDs, evil dictators, harboring terrorists."
This is all so predictable, just like predicting the willful ignorance and gullible attitudes of Bush supporters, who will embrace this garbage presented by Bush as their new bible, "Believe it without question."
As long as we fight this Proxy war for Israel, the overwhelming stupidity of our population allows it. We almost cannot blame Israel when America is generally this misinformed. Let's just say, "The Americans who support Bush"
Regarding "Americans Like War, Huh?" by Sascha Matuszak:
CCTV has always been accused as the official outlets of the Chinese Communist Party outside of China, while CNN, like most other US media, has always prided itself as the media without bias, which always report the truth. In Mr. Matuszak's 'compliment' for the CCTV-9 for having the 'authority of CNN', I didn't quite get it whether he was congratulating CCTV for finally broadcasting what was really happening in the Iraq or condemning CNN for sinking as low as CCTV? While watching 'War in Iraq' on CNN, I have not yet seen any sides presented by the Iraqi civilians who have lost members of their families, thanks to the bombings of the 'liberators'. If CNN showed how the little Ali lost both of his arms and the rest of his family, then I have missed. Isn't it sad that an American media, not just CNN, FOX Networks is worse, has sank so low that I would rather watch CCTV-4 (English language for North America) for an update on the situations in Iraq? In reality, I actually watch the Canadian CBC and read on the Internet to get a complete picture. Of course if I wanted a Pentagon perspective on the war, I would tune to CNN or FOX.
With Mr.
Matuszak's remark on Chinese police harassing the few protesters, I was
also saddened, but expected, when I first heard of it. This did not seem
to be the only behavior of the Chinese police as the US police arrested
more than a dozen protesters, including two Noble Prize winners, during
the beginning of the war by using the lame excuse that they didn't have
proper demonstration permit! If Mr. Matuszak had watched any speech made
by Mr. Bush, Mr. Rumsfeld, Mr. Perle and
other US officials on the reasons why Iraq should be invaded, he would
have laughed at the child's play that Guangdong provincial government
put on when reporting wide spread of SARS in that province.
Mr. Matuszak, all in all, I do believe the Chinese people are better informed about the real war in Iraq than most American people who mostly get their news feed from CNN, FOX, and the likes. This is to say how misled the American people are!
Thanks
Your website is god-sent especially as it furnishes us info from all perspectives as it tells us what is really happening on the ground in war zones like Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. I am having difficulty accessing some of your news (such as the second headline that talks about hundreds of thousands of Iraqis resisting US occupation) as well as Al Jazeera. The message is that either too many people are accessing the net or that there is a broken server in between. If the latter is true, please might you want to fix it as soon as possible?
Thanks, long live Antiwar.com!
Managing Editor Eric Garris replies:
Some ISPs are having trouble reaching al-Jazeera, but you should keep trying.
Thank you very much for your kind words.