As part of the drive to drive President Trump from the White House, some “never-Trumpers” are rehabilitating George W. Bush as a relative “moderate” and thus whitewashing his war crimes, notes Lawrence Davidson.
By Lawrence Davidson
There is an ongoing reality that is destroying hundreds of thousands of lives in the Middle East. And though most Americans are ignorant of the fact, and many of those who should be in the know would deny it, the suffering flows directly from decisions taken by Washington over the last 27 years.
President George W. Bush announcing the start of his invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003.
Some of the facts of the matter have just been presented by the first Global Conflict Medicine Congress held at the American University of Beirut (AUB) earlier this month (May 11-14, 2017). It has drawn attention to two dire consequences of the war policies Americans have carried on in the region: cancer-causing munition material and drug-resistant bacteria.
—Cancer-causing munition material: Materials such as tungsten and mercury are found in the casing of penetrating bombs used in the first and second Gulf wars. These have had long-term effects on survivors, especially those who have been wounded by these munitions. Iraqi-trained and Harvard-educated Dr. Omar Dewachi, a medical anthropologist at AUB fears that “the base line of cancers [appearing in those exposed to these materials] has become very aggressive. … When a young woman of 30, with no family history of cancer, has two different primary cancers – in the breast and in the oesophagus – you have to ask what is happening.” To this can be added that doctors are now “overwhelmed by the sheer number of [war] wounded patients in the Middle East.”
—Drug-resistant bacteria: According to Glasgow-trained Professor Ghassan Abu-Sittah, head of plastic and reconstructive surgery at AUB Medical Center, drug resistance was not a problem during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988. However, after the fiasco of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, things began to change. In the period after 1990, Iraq suffered under a vicious sanctions regime imposed by the United Nations at U.S. insistence. During the next 12 years “Iraqis were allowed to use only three antibiotics” and bacterial resistance quickly evolved. Those resistant bacteria spread throughout the region, particularly after the American invasion of the country in 2003.
Today, according to a Medecins Sans Frontieres analysis, “multidrug resistant [MDR] bacteria now accounts for most war wound infections across the Middle East, yet most medical facilities in the region do not even have the laboratory capacity to diagnose MDR, leading to significant delays and clinical mismanagement of festering wounds.”
Insofar as these developments go, it is not that there aren’t contributing factors stemming from local causes such as factional fighting. However, the major triggers for these horrors were set in motion in Washington. As far as I know, no American holding a senior official post has ever accepted any responsibility for this ongoing suffering.
Hiding Reality
As the cancers and untreatable infections grow in number in the Middle East, there is here in the United States a distressing effort to rehabilitate George W. Bush, the American president whose decisions and policies contributed mightily to this ongoing disaster. It is this Bush who launched the unjustified 2003 invasion of Iraq and thereby — to use the words of the Arab League — “opened the gates of hell.”
At the start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, President George W. Bush ordered the U.S. military to conduct a devastating aerial assault on Baghdad, known as “shock and awe.”
His rehabilitation effort began in ernest in April 2013, and coincided with the opening of his presidential library. In an interview given at that time, Bush set the stage for his second coming with an act of self-exoneration. He said he remained “comfortable with the decision making process” that led to the invasion of Iraq — the one that saw him fudging the intelligence when it did not tell him what he wanted to hear — and so also “comfortable” with the ultimate determination to launch the invasion.
“There’s no need to defend myself. I did what I did and ultimately history will judge,” he said.
The frivolous assertion that “history will judge” is often used by people of suspect character. “History” stands for a vague future time. Its alleged inevitable coming allows the protagonist to fantasize about achieving personal glory unchallenged by present, usually significant, ethical concerns.
Those seeking George W. Bush’s rehabilitation now like to contrast him to Donald Trump. One imagines they thereby hope to present him as a “moderate” Republican. They claim that Bush was and is really a very smart and analytical fellow rather than the simpleton most of us suspect him to be.
In other words, despite launching an unnecessary and subsequently catastrophic war, he was never as ignorant and dangerous as Trump. He and his supporters also depict him as a great defender of a free press, again in contrast to Donald Trump. However, when he was president, Bush described the media as an aider and abettor of the nation’s enemies. This certainly can be read as a position that parallels Trump’s description of the media as the “enemy of the American people.”
But all of this is part of a public relations campaign and speaks to the power of reputation remodeling — the creation of a facade that hides reality. In order to do this you have to “control the evidence” — in this case by ignoring it. In this endeavor George W. Bush and his boosters have the cooperation of much of the mainstream media. No sweat here: the press has done this before.
Except for the odd editorial the mainstream media also contributed to Richard Nixon’s rehabilitation back in the mid 1980s. These sorts of sleights-of-hand are only possible against the background of pervasive public ignorance.
Closed Information Environments
Local happenings are open to relatively close investigation. We usually have a more or less accurate understanding of the local context in which events play out, and this allows for the possibility of making a critical judgment. As we move further away, both in space and time, information becomes less reliable, if for no other reason than it comes to us through the auspices of others who may or may not know what they are talking about.
President George W. Bush in a flight suit after landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln to give his “Mission Accomplished” speech about the Iraq War on May 1, 2003.
As a society, we have little or no knowledge of the context for foreign events, and thus it is easy for those reporting on them to apply filters according to any number of criteria. What we are left with is news that is customized — stories designed to fit preexisting political or ideological biases. In this way millions upon millions of minds are restricted to closed information environments on subjects which often touch on, among other important topics, war and its consequences.
So what is likely to be more influential with the locally oriented American public: George W. Bush’s rehabilitated image reported on repeatedly in the nation’s mainstream media, or the foreign-based, horror-strewn consequences of his deeds reported upon infrequently?
This dilemma is not uniquely American, nor is it original to our time. But its dangerous consequences are a very good argument against the ubiquitous ignorance that allows political criminals to be rehabilitated even as their crimes condemn others to continuing suffering.
If reputation remodelers can do this for George W. Bush, then there is little doubt that someday it will be done for Donald Trump. Life, so full of suffering, is also full of such absurdities.
Lawrence Davidson is a history professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. He is the author of Foreign Policy Inc.: Privatizing America’s National Interest; America’s Palestine: Popular and Official Perceptions from Balfour to Israeli Statehood; and Islamic Fundamentalism. He blogs at www.tothepointanalyses.com.
THE BUSH CRIME FAMILY STARTING WITH PRESCOTT BUSH’S ATTEMPTED COUP D’ETAT OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT!
Guy holds the 21st-century record for killing innocents… no one else comes close.
And Ellen DeGeneres dances with him and kisses him.
Interesting that so much media energy is directed towards accusations of vague wrongs by Trump talking to Russians
And destruction of memorials based upon 100 plus year old claimed wrongs on the part of heroes of the Confederacy
Yet there is no mention of very recent and real war crimes
On the part of Bush, Chaney, Obama, Clinton, and now Trump
The Bush Crime Syndicate, headed by daddy Bush, who headed the CIA at the time of the Cuban missile crisis, was highly involved in the JFK assassination, and was next in line for President as the Vice President when there was an assassination attempt on Reagan.
The Bush family is one full of antisocials.
Let’s not create another facade of character simply because psychopaths are rarely diagnosed. Our government is full of them and the Bush family Freemasons have a LONG history of murder, going all the way back to JFK…
I get emails from my liberal friends upset that Trump pushed his way ahead for a photo op at Nato. But, they can’t name the seven countries we are currently bombing. And that Obama has bombed more and sold more weapons than even George W. did. When are we going to wake up that more than half our federal budget goes towards war and its aftermath. Millions of lives lost, societies destroyed, at enormous costs solely to enrich the “military/industrial, intelligence complex. 16 years and ongoing in Afghanistan, what have we accomplished besides tripling the poppy crop and enriching the coffers of the CIA?
Probably every president and Secretary of State (at least since WWII) belongs in a War Crimes Court. Of course, The USA has not signed on to any such courts. WAKE UP AMERICA.
the amazing pathological deniers. anything to honor their fascist ruling class bankers
The “Memory Hole.” Deeper and darker than ever in 2017.
We are still at the stage – “you have to ask” – & by the look of it – we will never dare to venture beyond this point – “we cannot be certain” – is another one – & thus we will die out – soon.
Hey – I get it – they have the GUNS & we do not – who is silly enough to argue with a GUN pointed at their head – Germany has a below replacement level of fertility – so does the USA – in fact the whole of planet earth has a below replacement level of fertility – there never will be a 9.000.000.000 population explosion – hell why not ? – the population has been steadily decreasing since the Industrial Revolution – over 200 years ago – but, but, but, – they lied & lied & lied to us – they knew & they lied ? – yep – soon there will be no more children of man.
We let them do this –
Crickey !
I majored in history and I was not surprised that most historians are to the left. This author fails to mention the anti-Bush candidates, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton voted in favor of the war. When the anti-war candidate Barack Obama took office in 2009, the war was expanded into Libya and Syria. Where are the charges of Obama being a “war criminal?” The response that, “well Bush started it” are old and cliche’.
In many ways, Cheney is more evil than Bush. It is Cheney who probably started Blackwater. Bush was the front man, coming from the dynasty, but Cheney was the prime mover. Bush almost seems like a patsy president. That photo printed here, the look in his eyes says disconnect or disbelief in what he is doing. Bill’s comment about his paintings is interesting, he might well feel some remorse although he would never admit it. So he goes on painting wounded vets and says his prayers at night.
The ronald wilson reagen 666 revolution continues—bush seemed to be competing for 2nd beast—his topping out ceremony for his library with undisclosed millions from the wealthy theives–this followed breaking 100 degree days in area and fires not to mention 2004 2005 hurricane seasons…and…but it’s his economic policy as well–all for rich…firm believer in david ricardo iron law of wages and against thorstein veblen who was opposed corporate monoploistic polices that the money goes to the barbaric chieftain antichrist pigs called ceo’s and not concerned welfare and happiness of the workers…to opposed to henry george taming of the land possession class wich trump would join and jared—trump wants ceo comcast to visit his towers along with rest antichrist ceo flock and he is going to give them all money to do so being how his playboy atlantic city gambing casino’s went bankrupt which he was bailed out but coming with a vengenance of that not succeeding to trump university and then jared with his 666 property on some street in new york wants torn down and bigger place built-has thousands of housing units–simply want america to rent from him–no program for regular humble houses for workers to own themselves—-you’d think adam and eve was back—adam taking place as second adam and eve chapt 17 the mother of prostitues—-just seems odd holy week and mother of bombs and trump switching to apple phone..and bombing syria while emergency fires in florida….and ginrich to vatican ambassador thru wife—he had affair while going after clinton and bragged about it—to taking adam smith–alot of his ecomic free trade was that england wanted mercantilism…and we were to ship raw supplies to england but not allowed to make our own products such as shoes clothing…where father of manufacturing was samuel slater–traitor to england in that he started textiles here by stealing design of process thru memorization…but bush and clinton wanted opposite in globilization–firing us worker and standard of living and next generation to instead help mexico and china make their own products–for their countries to make our products thru slave labor…my only main medal in service was defense medal—defense—but these have made starting wars and offense medals—-these enjoy wars, slaughtering the indians and live very rich while making programs to make others poor and love it–bush instead of helping the palestinians actually sides with untrue jews in jerusalem and started wars where isis is national guard sunni’s –that the sunni’s are to be wiped out while george w bush laughs and with his globalization program of owning main water supply of paraguay in buying 300,000 acres above main aquifier—cia seems to exspand globilization and plundering run now by a tea partier—original tea party had nothing to do opposition state or federa taxes but taxes going to england—no progressive tax party as there is no money for one – so bush laughing and agrees his appointees of images of reagen on supreme court of unlimited cash and hidden to turn america into satan plutocracy where these few live in sin such as go to present jewish synagogue the venitian where they sin and gamble and he throws his money at jerusalem right wing party to slave camp palestians and throw money right wing here in us to promote that vision and against union or workers but for ricardo iron law of wages….it’s all satanism with satan such as comcast news and go on abc cbs…they could give free time to candidates won’t won’t…so this has lead to reagen bush party vs reagen clinton party—oboma wanted the tpp trade agreement real bad to please citigroup…just as going against god allowing gays to marry–actually going into the chuches—it’s some antichrist country and against god—and god won’t be mocked—but all these say god will be mocked as george w bush laughs and laughs
meant to include giving ceo camcast tax breaks for company and his wage and rid net neutrality…to thomas malthus the population problem–these want over population…rid plan parent hood…reagen believed in abstinance and poor people shouldn;t have children to gerard piel the military industrial complex–these want that and corrupt lobbysts…and…and…
Since Bush the bad actor obviously knew 9/11 was happening before it did, he’s an accomplice to mass murder. Since he then hit Iraq with Shock and Awe based on fabricated lies, killing far more innocent people, he was a world-leading sponsor of state terrorism. The fact that he walks free and gets to spend his final years painting rather insipid pictures is no consolation prize.
Davidson has said something that those of us who read Consortium etc. probably know, but it is not said enough. Here is the quote (slightly abbreviated) that struck me: “As we move away (from local happenings)… information becomes less reliable … it comes through others who may or may not know know what they are talking about. ”
“As a society we have little or no knowledge of the context of foreign events.”
I believe this is a major problem – possibly THE major problem. I am constantly amazed and saddened by the total lack of knowledge of history the vast majority of people in the US have. And I’m also distressed by their total lack of caring. My heart sinks every time I hear someone say, “I don’t read the papers and I don’t watch the news; I just don’t want to know all that. I have enough to worry about in my own life.” or words to that effect. I used to wonder how they decided to vote and finally learned that they basically vote the way their parents or spouse voted – facts be damned.
It is incredibly easy to change the historical story of whatever conforms to the current ideological push, because people have no idea what truly happened in the first place, so any story makes sense. It reminds me of Orwell’s 1984 where the eternal war being fought changes villians and the official story does an about face, and nobody really notices; they just continue on as usual and accept the new version.
I’m also reminded of the Eloi from Well’s Time Machine – charming, naive, and totally ignorant of the world around them – that is the bulk of Americans today.
Some people are trying to wake up the others, and the younger generation seems to be getting the message. Those of us who remember WWII have a different perspective than the baby boomer generation and the subsequent “me” generation. We do remember history and we know that America has evolved into something very different over the past 40 years or so from what it once was. I think the largest change I’ve seen is the switch from a community (whether Dem or Republican) of people helping neighbors, to a “grab what you can while the getting’s good – it’s every man for himself” ideology.
Will those of us from WWII time get to see a return to the ideals Roosevelt put forth in the New Deal?
I feel for what you say ranney. But I don’t think people are going to recover a sense of real community before it is too late. I think it is too late already for the world some of us dream of. I still keep that dream alive in myself however, because I need it to go on, and I love it whether it ever happens or not. It definitely can happen in small situations and circles, and that is worth living for, whether the masses awaken or not.
Lawrence Davidson – “If reputation remodelers can do this for George W. Bush, then there is little doubt that someday it will be done for Donald Trump. Life, so full of suffering, is also full of such absurdities.”
Well, it’s already been done for Clinton and Obama, hasn’t it? Terrible atrocities have taken place under both their terms in office, and yet – crickets. It’s done for all of them. U.S. media and U.S. history is full of lies. If the lies were laid out for every President, both Republican and Democrat, spelled out to the American people in big bold blood, they’d then have a taste of what went on. But they don’t, and American exceptionalism lives to fight another day.
The media aren’t truth-tellers. They’re the propaganda arm of the Deep State. On with the show!
That George W. Bush and his many accomplices should not be held accountable for crimes similar to those prosecuted by the United States at Nuremberg should come as no surprise. Hypocrisy has been part of the American dialog ever since slave owners signed on to the Declaration of Independence that contained the iconic phrase, “[A]ll men are created with a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” at the same time they had no intention of releasing their slaves from bondage.
Bill – and I think people have to remember that the reason the eventual slaves ended up being black was only because they had immunity from the diseases that killed the first wave of slaves (the Native Americans) and then the second wave (poor whites stolen off the streets of England and Ireland, or prisoners).
The only reason they defaulted to the blacks was because of this immunity to Yellow Fever, Malaria, and a host of other diseases. Millions of whites and Native Americans lost their lives to the ravages of these diseases.
One legacy of George Bush that has been forgotten is the Blackwater. This mercenary group has been left behind in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to continue the fighting by stoking the sectarian fighting whenever necessary. The group has also found its way into Syria for the same purpose. I just returned from Pakistan and Iraq and spoke to several people. the general feeling by the average person in the street is that the US is there to stay and continue these endless wars. Blackwater is the instrument used to keep the wars going. The war on terrorism is a big ruse to build up an arsenal in the Middle East. The Saudis are the keepers of this arsenal and the target is Iran.
The moral cost of trying to impose our will on the entire world is conspicuously outrageous, yet we persist. There is no appealing to our humanity or logic. When I say “we” and “our,” of course I mean the ogres who control the wealth and might of our country. We probably owe it to the world to turn them out, but are afraid they will turn on us and destroy our families the way they have their foreign victims.
Happy Memorial Day. See you after the weekend.
Vote for a minor party and buy ethically.
His (Bush’s) rehabilitation effort began in ernest in April 2013, and coincided with the opening of his presidential library.
More recently he was given friendly receptions on NBC’s Today show and the silly Ellen DeGeneres show and, presumably, several others of which I am not aware. No doubt, there are countless other people who would be thrilled to have some association or a photograph with Bush.
He said he remained “comfortable with the decision making process” that led to the invasion of Iraq — the one that saw him fudging the intelligence when it did not tell him what he wanted to hear — and so also “comfortable” with the ultimate determination to launch the invasion.
I asked a psychiatrist shortly after the war on Iraq was underway if he thought George W. Bush was a psychopath. He answered in the negative. Perhaps, trained psychiatrists have their method for determining this disease, but there are countless laypersons who will vouch according to their understanding of the terms for designating Dubya and his accomplices as psychopaths and sociopaths.
Bill – I’d agree with the psychiatrist on George W. Bush. The guy has not been pointed in his life. Psychopaths are usually driven to get to the top, ruthless too, and I don’t see him that way. The guy was a heavy drinker earlier in his life and kind of goofed off. I think important people asked him about running for the President, and I think I’m right in what his response would have been – he would have started laughing and said, “Me? You must be kidding, I can’t even run my own life.”
George W. Bush strikes me as a funny man, good sense of humor, not afraid to act silly or stand there stunned when a door won’t open. He just laughs. Not a huge ego, anyway.
He’s also an artist. Artists usually don’t fall into the psychopath category. More sensitivity.
With the paintings he’s done re the soldiers in Iraq, this shows he has guilt, regret, remorse. He meets with the injured veterans, he bikes with them. I think deep down he probably feels very bad about what happened to these men and the ones who lost their lives. I would bet his drawings are a form of therapy.
Guilt, regret, remorse take reflection, feeling. Psychopaths don’t exhibit these characteristics, except to feign them.
I think he got roped into taking the job and was led around by the likes of Cheney and others who probably truly are psychopathic in nature.
And I don’t think he was a stupid man, just not a true politician. His interests and brilliance lie elsewhere.
You may be right, however contrast people with empathy and conscience don’t allow others to cow them into a mass false flag operation that was 9/11, nor into a war he KNEW was based on lies. That’s premeditation and it’s ruthless. There are MANY well known psychopaths that are talented..
Bush isn’t a psychopath but Cheney and his sidekick Abrams are—-the whole jewish zio neo cabal is 99% psychopaths —– Feith, Perle, Wolfowitz leading the pack. With the other huge cabal of the many pro Israel psychos of the press and media .
”On Sept. 20, forty neoconservatives sent an open letter to the White House instructing President Bush on how the war on terror must be conducted. Signed by Bennett, Podhoretz, Kirkpatrick, Perle, Kristol, and Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, the letter was an ultimatum. To retain the signers’ support, the president was told, he must target Hezbollah for destruction, retaliate against Syria and Iran if they refuse to sever ties to Hezbollah, and overthrow Saddam. Any failure to attack Iraq, the signers warned Bush, “will constitute an early and perhaps decisive surrender in the war on international terrorism.”
Here was a cabal of intellectuals telling the Commander-in-Chief, nine days after an attack on America, that if he did not follow their war plans, he would be charged with surrendering to terror. Yet, Hezbollah had nothing to do with 9/11. What had Hezbollah done? Hezbollah had humiliated Israel by driving its army out of Lebanon.
President Bush had been warned. He was to exploit the attack of 9/11 to launch a series of wars on Arab regimes, none of which had attacked us. All, however, were enemies of Israel. “Bibi” Netanyahu, the former Prime Minister of Israel, like some latter-day Citizen Genet, was ubiquitous on American television, calling for us to crush the “Empire of Terror.” The “Empire,” it turns out, consisted of Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, and “the Palestinian enclave.”
Nasty as some of these regimes and groups might be, what had they done to the United States?
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/whose-war/
George W. Bush is a perfect manifestation of the Evil American. He and others like him are a primary reason that Americans are hated around the world. We are indeed exceptional – exceptionally Evil. When Obama’s former pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright said, “God damn America” he made a good point. Obama went on to prove why Reverend Wright was correct in his assessment.
Why do myself and others here strongly criticize America? Because we love the America that some people represent, and the America that could come to exemplify our highest ideals. This blog is not to simply run America down; this inquiry is in the hope to make America truly great in the ethical and spiritual sense, not to conform to it in it’s present role as a world nemesis.
There is a single word to describe our elected deciders – cowards.
Tilsi Gabbard is an exception.
Anna – I agree with you, Tulsi Gabbard is very brave and I like her a lot. The only other thing I would say is she doesn’t have children. If she did, and the Deep State threatened her children, it might be a different story, and I wouldn’t put it past them to do exactly that. They look for your weaknesses, your vulnerable positions, and for most people that would be their children.
Perhaps I too am fearless in my writings. I have nothing to lose, no children, no assets; just my cat, my father and an aunt.
P
Don’t forget that folksy, “Christian” image of W, which plays to evangelical America. There’s that old Protestant hymn, “Onward, Christian Soldiers, Marching as to War”. It’s all image in sanitized, consumer America.
[Pictures of Children contaminated in Iraq with depleted uranium]
https://www.google.ca/search?q=pictures+of+Children+contaminated+in+Iraq+with+depleted+uranium&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=shqjU9LaOIT3oASM5oCIAg&ved=0CDUQ7Ak&biw=1263&bih=557
Thank you Mr Davidson for helping us to remember the truth. It is said, that time heals all wounds, but as your article stated, the wounds of America’s illegal invasions are deeper than time will allow for forgiveness. As an American I feel this chaos and pain was not necessary, and America could have, and still can offer the world much better aid over a much larger bombing run. The hardest part is for us average Americans to have enough of influence as to change this long overdue trend towards war, and reverse ourselves towards providing the world with positive solutions to mankinds everyday problems. A good place to start Mr Davidson would be to read articles such as you wrote here, and remember our warmongering leaders for what they are….at least it’s a start.
There is overwhelming evidence that numerous illegal wars were planned. Therefore, I believe we need present day Nuremberg Trials.
“The Nuremberg trials were a series of trials held between 1945 and 1949 in which the Allies prosecuted German military leaders, political officials, industrialists, and financiers for crimes they had committed during World War II.”
[read more at link below]
http://graysinfo.blogspot.ca/2015/05/do-we-need-present-day-nuremberg-trials.html
“—Cancer-causing munition material”
In the long term (if such a thing now exists) the tons of depleted Uranium spread around the world by the US (and Britain?) will cause far more cancer deaths than did the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Will any of the sincere missionaries who appear here and elsewhere every August ever address that? I sincerely doubt it. This was a major war crime which is still continuing, and also one nobody is talking about.
“—Drug-resistant bacteria”
In retrospect this is obvious, but that I read about it for the first time here isn’t surprising. Some topics the neocon rags like the NYT and WP just don’t touch. This problem has gotten to the point that whenever I get any scratch, cut, or abrasion I drop what I’m doing and make a dash to a washing facility with plenty of soap and water followed by a proper waterproof bandage. Notice how Holy Israel makes damned sure Gaza has virtually no clean water and very little in the way of medical supplies. More than one way for God’s Favorite People to kill towel-heads!
Excellent essay. GWB was a POS. But to be fair, white Clinton and black Obama were simply slicker variations of the same model. Trump has turned out to be a genuine buffoon, but he’ll have to work to match those three in the total and lasting damage done to the US.
Zachary Smith – “But to be fair, white Clinton and black Obama were simply slicker variations of the same model.”
Slick is exactly what they were. “Smooth” would be another descriptor. Smooth and polished in Obama’s case, and slick and wily in Clinton’s case.
Trump is like a bull in a China shop. Because he’s being told to say things he doesn’t believe in (or doesn’t know enough about), things get messy fairly quickly. He’s knocking over the statue of the Exceptional People and revealing what’s underneath. Which is a good thing.
Agreed. It has seemed to me the best thing to be said about Trump’s election and the follow-up is how it all reveals “knocking over the state of the Exceptional People and revealing what’s underneath.” The ordure is fully exposed and available to view–if America would only look and see it.
Sadly, we in the US are conditioned to think in very simple terms: black/white, good/bad. Anything more complex leads to mass confusion which makes it all the easier for even more mind control.
I don’t know what would wake up the populace–maybe it would take a total breakdown of our “civil” society.
Nancy – I think you are right, but I also think the people are slowly coming out of the fog of conditioning and propaganda. They are viewing the media and what they’re being told with suspicion. The last election was evidence of this. They know something is terribly wrong, so I think they are waking up, one by one.
The very fact that half the country consists of people who believe this Russia-gate nonsense and half don’t shows that there is a huge divide. Some of the progressives (at Berkeley and elsewhere) are rioting, breaking windows, pepper spraying people, and to date they’ve been getting away with it. The media is not really saying much about this.
But the other half of the country are noticing this, and if they ever get to the point where they’ve had enough, if something happens that finally pushes them over the edge, the half with the guns, then look out! And civil society will be no more.
Thanx for mentioning the spent uranium used in the gulf and nukes on Japan. The list of subsequent ongoing damages to health in any of the war zones is very long. Don’t forget all the bomblets left over in SE Asia that are still killing and maiming people.
The question is:
———————————————————————–
“Are There War Criminals Living In America, Canada, England, Germany, France and other NATO Countries? “
http://graysinfo.blogspot.ca/2016/08/are-there-war-criminals-living-in.html
Yes most of them former leaders of those countries
Long before WW11 ended the Allies began preparing to try the leaders of Germany and Japan for “War crimes and war against humanity.” The United States set the rules for this show event. After the trials the International laws were rewritten to expand the definition of war crimes. I have never understood why leaders of the deep state including the bankers and industrialist have not been called by courts to be tried for their crimes. They have the opinion that “The Empire can do no wrong.
I agree Sandpiper, and add Operation Paperclip where much of the intellectual war effort was rescued for technology’s sake. Please carefully read the link… Also the recruitment of the Gehlen Organization, I think was particularly damaging and remains so to this day…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhard_Gehlen
Thanks for the links, Bob. Once again, the Cold War raises its ugly head….I’m beginning to think that the ideology of the Cold War was cynically dreamt up to prey on primitive “fears” in order to gain acquiescence for terrible crimes committed in our name to benefit people who already had far more than they could handle in good conscience.
Sandpiper: Two points:
Long before WW11 ended the Allies began preparing to try the leaders of Germany and Japan for “War crimes and war against humanity.”
The first lists of charges to be laid against the Nazi leaders were written by lawyers unfamiliar with the fighting. Many of their listed charges were deleted because the Allies – U.S., U.K., France, and Russia – were equally guilty.
I have never understood why leaders of the deep state including the bankers and industrialist have not been called by courts to be tried for their crimes.
The Nuremberg and Japanese war crimes trials were exercises in victor’s justice. Something similar applies today. As you said, “The Empire can do no wrong.”
I think that those who decided that Hillary Clinton should be the Democratic nominee for the presidential election and still think there is a place for her in the “resistence” against Trump would be inconsistent if they did not attempt to rehabilitate George W. Bush’s crimes. Hillary Clinton supported all illegal military US aggression of the last decades and – together with Sarkozy and Cameron – bears a large part of the personal responsibility for the criminal aggression against Libya whose devastating consequences become more and more evident. Claiming that Hillary Clinton is qualified to be president because of her allegedly so great political record and experience, which implicitly means supporting devastating regime change wars, would be contradictory without also embracing George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. There is no big difference between their foreign policies. Of course, one option would be to admit that Hillary Clinton was unelectable and should rather go to a war crimes tribunal than become a candidate for the presidency of the United States. The media who are not ready to come to such a conclusion – which means almost all Western media – only have the choice either to be completely inconsistent or to pretend wars of aggression without the support of the UN security council (the no fly zone in Syria in no way covered the bombings by the US, France and the UK that caused the chaos and bloodshed in Libya) are something good in general, and then, it is normal to rehabilitate George W. Bush. There is no consistent ground for condemning George W. Bush without condemning Hillary Clinton, as well.
You are of the mind that there is but two points of view one republican and the other democrats to me thats voting for the same party with slightly different contributors. The US MSM spread of political ideals is as broad as the thickness the BS is printed on.
You are very much on point, IMO, with your conclusion, Adrian. The Cold War thinking that drives or, perhaps more correctly, gives cover to the mindless aggression of these two, still has its hold on this country. Hillary’s personality scares me even more than W’s, although I never would have considered that possible before her days as Scretary of State for the reasons you mention plus helping to enable the Coup in Honduras. W had the good grace to back away from public life – I wanted to believe that he had regrets although he denies that…..
Hillary got my attention towards the end of the Miami Democratic primary debate when she red baited Bernie for having dared, as Mayor of Burlington (video was played for the Miami audience) and again in Miami, to question the use of the Monroe Doctrine to overturn Central and South American countries.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OqgTFA1HnUM
Starting at time 1:43:40. ending at 1:50:00 that Burlington video is played to grill Bernie and Hillary uses time from her next question to go back to question Bernie’s “unacceptable” views on his last question.
I bed to say that France did not support the war on Iraq. remember the great speech of our then Foreign Affaires Minister Mr De Villepi at the United Nations. That was back in 2003. One of the few moments when I felt proud of my country
Long ago Indian philosopher sages determined that ignorance was the basic cause of many of mankind’s problems and sufferings. They defined ignorance as “taking the unreal to be real, and taking the real to be unreal.” That describes exactly the situation of our propagandized, falsely informed, ignorant population. Unfortunately to become truly informed requires a lot of time and effort, and the willingness to go against popular culture and it’s falsehoods. Not too many of us are willing to pay the price of real knowledge.
When Gurdjieff was asked just prior to the outbreak of world war one what was going to happen, he responded, ‘Several million sleeping people are going to kill several million other sleeping people.” And of course this is what transpired. Needless to say, it is still happening.
Forgive my racist view but indians do try very hard to make their unreal view real.