Siah
07-11-04, 11:27
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The Final Solution (Endlösung) for Fallujah and Ramadi
By Yamin Zakaria
Al-Jazeerah, November 7, 2004
“The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human” Aldous Huxley;
One can accept the direct loss of life in the course of battle. But when prisoners of war and the general civilian population are gratuitously subjected to torture, abuse and execution, this can only be classified as sheer barbarism, propelled by the innate racism and hatred rather than the heightened instinct of survival produced in battle. Even animals do not exhibit such behavior; they kill only in self-defense or for survival.
We take it for granted that human beings have an innate ability to exhibit higher standards of conduct than the animal kingdom. We often forget that when this ability is misused, human beings can act even lower than animals.
The killing of prisoners, women and children is driven primarily by a mindset that has been developed by the insidious political propaganda broadcasted through the modern day mass media. Indeed, propaganda always paves the way for a nation to commit mass murder. Demonisation of the enemy helps to lighten the guilt of the perpetrators that are conducting the slaughter. This process is essential as blood-stained hands can easily be cleansed but not the guilty minds. Culpability in turn generates fear; the fear of retribution. President Truman restrained from such thoughts when General Douglas MacArthur urged him to use nuclear weapons against North Korea and its ally China.
While modern propaganda techniques were developed by Adolf Hitler and his spin master Joseph Gobbels, it is now the likes of CNN, Fox TV and mainstream radio shows and newspaper editors that have perfected it. The torture techniques inherited from the Gestapo and is now ready to implement as the final solution (Endlösung) in Fallujah and Ramadi by killing everyone there that opposes US agenda.
The consequence of demonisation through the mass media propaganda is the accumulation of hatred. What happened in Abu-Ghraib and what we see in the short video clips of US soldiers killing defenseless Iraqi civilians are clear evidences of that mindset. This is manifested not just in the conduct of the US soldiers but the US authority as they permitted and at times encouraged the torture and murder of Iraqi prisoners. When soldiers failed, hired torturers (‘civilian’ contractors) were brought in to complete the job. And now they are ready for Fallujah and Ramadi.
Such cold blooded acts constitute real hatred, bigotry and fanaticism which are at the root of US fundamentalism. It is the Islamic world that has been the victim of US militancy and fanaticism not the other way around. Like most real fanatics, the US refuses to examine its conduct or engage in any kind of self-evaluation. Even when caught red-handed, such as in the case of the absent WMDs and Abu Ghraib, the mistake is either marginalized or justified rather than admitting to it and correcting it.
The US is full of hate and extremism towards nations that do not comply with its agenda and answers the questions why the US is hated. George Bush proclaimed he could not understand why the Islamic world cannot see the good side of the Americans. That becomes difficult when you are bombing and plundering their nations even in violation of your own lectured principles! Hypocrites intoxicated with imperial power have no shame. You can remove the fig leaf of pretexts.
It might be a good time to remember that the original goal was one of disarming Iraq of its mythical WMD’s. Their absence was ironically established by committing mass destruction in Iraq. Ugly murderous hypocrites have no shame so they moved the goal post to the removal of Saddam Hussein. Now that Saddam is in custody, what can possibly be the reason for maintaining the US presence there? Yes, good old colonialism. For the US to leave now would be to give up its real booty why it really went there in the first place; oil, regional control and cheap labor.
In contrast, the emotions expressed in the Islamic world are not one of hate but anger. There is a very important distinction. Hate has resulted from the US brainwashing their citizens by subjecting them to endless amounts of propaganda demonizing the Muslim community. From tabloids to mainstream press to Hollywood blockbusters, the portrayal of Muslims and Islam are simply racism. Muslims feel anger due to the circumstances imposed upon them by the US foreign policy.
The recent message of Osama Bin Laden was not one of hate like the Ku Klux Klan or like some rightwing media outlet. He has never uttered once “we hate all Americans and want to kill them” but this is the assumption in the minds of many Americans like they assume Iraq had somehow attacked the US or posed a significant threat to US security that have been carefully fun by the US government.
Osama Bin Laden’s central theme in his latest message is once of retribution. He was very precise when he referred to America’s insecurity arising not from its military weaknesses but its foreign policy. His message is not that of an irrational person who enjoys killing like the US soldiers apparently do with their high-tech weapons being detonated Hollywood styled like they are playing some video game. This made it difficult for the US administration to respond to other than with one line of meaningless rhetoric.
The motives of Al-Qaeda are pretty much a taboo subject for a dutiful US media that fears culpability; it is much easier to paint Bin Laden as an irrational man bent on killing all infidels. Such superficial views are easy for its superficial masses to swallow.
Meanwhile, the more liberal and intelligent Americans are still trying to figure out what happened on the 2nd of November. Unfortunately the train is moving out of the station and there is no more time to wait. Endlösung for Fallujah and Ramadi is about to be delivered and Americans are poised to simply turn their heads away.
Yamin Zakaria, London, UK
The Final Solution (Endlösung) for Fallujah and Ramadi
By Yamin Zakaria
Al-Jazeerah, November 7, 2004
“The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human” Aldous Huxley;
One can accept the direct loss of life in the course of battle. But when prisoners of war and the general civilian population are gratuitously subjected to torture, abuse and execution, this can only be classified as sheer barbarism, propelled by the innate racism and hatred rather than the heightened instinct of survival produced in battle. Even animals do not exhibit such behavior; they kill only in self-defense or for survival.
We take it for granted that human beings have an innate ability to exhibit higher standards of conduct than the animal kingdom. We often forget that when this ability is misused, human beings can act even lower than animals.
The killing of prisoners, women and children is driven primarily by a mindset that has been developed by the insidious political propaganda broadcasted through the modern day mass media. Indeed, propaganda always paves the way for a nation to commit mass murder. Demonisation of the enemy helps to lighten the guilt of the perpetrators that are conducting the slaughter. This process is essential as blood-stained hands can easily be cleansed but not the guilty minds. Culpability in turn generates fear; the fear of retribution. President Truman restrained from such thoughts when General Douglas MacArthur urged him to use nuclear weapons against North Korea and its ally China.
While modern propaganda techniques were developed by Adolf Hitler and his spin master Joseph Gobbels, it is now the likes of CNN, Fox TV and mainstream radio shows and newspaper editors that have perfected it. The torture techniques inherited from the Gestapo and is now ready to implement as the final solution (Endlösung) in Fallujah and Ramadi by killing everyone there that opposes US agenda.
The consequence of demonisation through the mass media propaganda is the accumulation of hatred. What happened in Abu-Ghraib and what we see in the short video clips of US soldiers killing defenseless Iraqi civilians are clear evidences of that mindset. This is manifested not just in the conduct of the US soldiers but the US authority as they permitted and at times encouraged the torture and murder of Iraqi prisoners. When soldiers failed, hired torturers (‘civilian’ contractors) were brought in to complete the job. And now they are ready for Fallujah and Ramadi.
Such cold blooded acts constitute real hatred, bigotry and fanaticism which are at the root of US fundamentalism. It is the Islamic world that has been the victim of US militancy and fanaticism not the other way around. Like most real fanatics, the US refuses to examine its conduct or engage in any kind of self-evaluation. Even when caught red-handed, such as in the case of the absent WMDs and Abu Ghraib, the mistake is either marginalized or justified rather than admitting to it and correcting it.
The US is full of hate and extremism towards nations that do not comply with its agenda and answers the questions why the US is hated. George Bush proclaimed he could not understand why the Islamic world cannot see the good side of the Americans. That becomes difficult when you are bombing and plundering their nations even in violation of your own lectured principles! Hypocrites intoxicated with imperial power have no shame. You can remove the fig leaf of pretexts.
It might be a good time to remember that the original goal was one of disarming Iraq of its mythical WMD’s. Their absence was ironically established by committing mass destruction in Iraq. Ugly murderous hypocrites have no shame so they moved the goal post to the removal of Saddam Hussein. Now that Saddam is in custody, what can possibly be the reason for maintaining the US presence there? Yes, good old colonialism. For the US to leave now would be to give up its real booty why it really went there in the first place; oil, regional control and cheap labor.
In contrast, the emotions expressed in the Islamic world are not one of hate but anger. There is a very important distinction. Hate has resulted from the US brainwashing their citizens by subjecting them to endless amounts of propaganda demonizing the Muslim community. From tabloids to mainstream press to Hollywood blockbusters, the portrayal of Muslims and Islam are simply racism. Muslims feel anger due to the circumstances imposed upon them by the US foreign policy.
The recent message of Osama Bin Laden was not one of hate like the Ku Klux Klan or like some rightwing media outlet. He has never uttered once “we hate all Americans and want to kill them” but this is the assumption in the minds of many Americans like they assume Iraq had somehow attacked the US or posed a significant threat to US security that have been carefully fun by the US government.
Osama Bin Laden’s central theme in his latest message is once of retribution. He was very precise when he referred to America’s insecurity arising not from its military weaknesses but its foreign policy. His message is not that of an irrational person who enjoys killing like the US soldiers apparently do with their high-tech weapons being detonated Hollywood styled like they are playing some video game. This made it difficult for the US administration to respond to other than with one line of meaningless rhetoric.
The motives of Al-Qaeda are pretty much a taboo subject for a dutiful US media that fears culpability; it is much easier to paint Bin Laden as an irrational man bent on killing all infidels. Such superficial views are easy for its superficial masses to swallow.
Meanwhile, the more liberal and intelligent Americans are still trying to figure out what happened on the 2nd of November. Unfortunately the train is moving out of the station and there is no more time to wait. Endlösung for Fallujah and Ramadi is about to be delivered and Americans are poised to simply turn their heads away.
Yamin Zakaria, London, UK