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Progressive News & Views (since 1982)
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The government has to "sell" - make more "palatable" - the notion of war to
the citizenry by proffering "moral" and "altruistic" premises. The real
reasons are always mercenary and power-seeking.
"Making the world safe for democracy" is a theme (ruse) being repeated
today - expressed a tad differently: "Keeping the world safe from
'terrorism.'"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ha-Emet" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 9:56 AM
Subject: [pnews-news] Howard Zinn: Lessons of Iraq War Start With US History
> -----
> / o o \
> ====OO=====OO===
> http://pnews.org/
> Progressive News & Views (since 1982)
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>
>
> March 14, 2006
> The Progressive
> http://progressive.org
>
> Lessons of Iraq War Start With US History
>
> by
>
> Howard Zinn
>
> On the third anniversary of President Bush's Iraq debacle, it's important
> to
> consider why the administration so easily fooled so many people into
> supporting the war.
>
> I believe there are two reasons, which go deep into our national culture.
>
> One is an absence of historical perspective. The other is an inability to
> think outside the boundaries of nationalism.
>
> If we don't know history, then we are ready meat for carnivorous
> politicians
> and the intellectuals and journalists who supply the carving knives. But
> if
> we know some history, if we know how many times presidents have lied to
> us,
> we will not be fooled again.
>
> President Polk lied to the nation about the reason for going to war with
> Mexico in 1846. It wasn't that Mexico "shed American blood upon the
> American
> soil" but that Polk, and the slave-owning aristocracy, coveted half of
> Mexico.
>
> President McKinley lied in 1898 about the reason for invading Cuba, saying
> we wanted to liberate the Cubans from Spanish control, but the truth is
> that
> he really wanted Spain out of Cuba so that the island could be open to
> United Fruit and other American corporations. He also lied about the
> reasons
> for our war in the Philippines, claiming we only wanted to "civilize" the
> Filipinos, while the real reason was to own a valuable piece of real
> estate
> in the far Pacific, even if we had to kill hundreds of thousands of
> Filipinos to accomplish that.
>
> President Wilson lied about the reasons for entering the First World War,
> saying it was a war to "make the world safe for democracy," when it was
> really a war to make the world safe for the rising American power.
>
> President Truman lied when he said the atomic bomb was dropped on
> Hiroshima
> because it was "a military target."
>
> And everyone lied about Vietnam -- President Kennedy about the extent of
> our
> involvement, President Johnson about the Gulf of Tonkin and President
> Nixon
> about the secret bombing of Cambodia. They all claimed the war was to keep
> South Vietnam free of communism, but really wanted to keep South Vietnam
> as
> an American outpost at the edge of the Asian continent.
>
> President Reagan lied about the invasion of Grenada, claiming falsely that
> it was a threat to the United States.
>
> The elder Bush lied about the invasion of Panama, leading to the death of
> thousands of ordinary citizens in that country. And he lied again about
> the
> reason for attacking Iraq in 1991 -- hardly to defend the integrity of
> Kuwait, rather to assert U.S. power in the oil-rich Middle East.
>
> There is an even bigger lie: the arrogant idea that this country is the
> center of the universe, exceptionally virtuous, admirable, superior.
>
> If our starting point for evaluating the world around us is the firm
> belief
> that this nation is somehow endowed by Providence with unique qualities
> that
> make it morally superior to every other nation on Earth, then we are not
> likely to question the president when he says we are sending our troops
> here
> or there, or bombing this or that, in order to spread our values --
> democracy, liberty, and let's not forget free enterprise -- to some
> God-forsaken (literally) place in the world.
>
> But we must face some facts that disturb the idea of a uniquely virtuous
> nation.
>
> We must face our long history of ethnic cleansing, in which the U.S.
> government drove millions of Indians off their land by means of massacres
> and forced evacuations.
>
> We must face our long history, still not behind us, of slavery,
> segregation
> and racism.
>
> And we must face the lingering memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
>
> It is not a history of which we can be proud.
>
> Our leaders have taken it for granted, and planted the belief in the minds
> of many people that we are entitled, because of our moral superiority, to
> dominate the world. Both the Republican and Democratic Parties have
> embraced
> this notion.
>
> But what is the idea of our moral superiority based on?
>
> A more honest estimate of ourselves as a nation would prepare us all for
> the
> next barrage of lies that will accompany the next proposal to inflict our
> power on some other part of the world.
>
> It might also inspire us to create a different history for ourselves, by
> taking our country away from the liars who govern it, and by rejecting
> nationalist arrogance, so that we can join people around the world in the
> common cause of peace and justice.
>
> ===
>
> Howard Zinn, who served as a bombardier in the Air Force in World War II,
> is
> the author of A People's History of the United States [
> http://tinyurl.com/gqjvs ] (HarperCollins, 1995). He is also the
> co-author,
> with Anthony Arnove, of Voices of a People's History of the United States
> [
> http://tinyurl.com/gja83 ] (Seven Stories Press, 2004).
>
> =========
>
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