The proverbial line has been drawn in the sand and President George W Bush has told the world "either you're with us or you're against us." It's a catch-all sentiment that is taking hold. Which side are you on, ours or the terrorists?" "It's that simple", I've been told on the streets!
The mainstream view is that the forces of barbarism have declared war on the bastion of democracy. George Bush boldly declared: "They hate our freedom, our freedom of religion, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with one another", yet wonders not why, if this were so, the Statue of Liberty, the White House or the Lincoln memorial was not attacked on 11 September. Why the Pentagon and the WTC - one a symbol of America's global military reach, the other a symbol of US economic prowess? Of course there is much missing from Bush's assertion that Islamic terrorists are simply jealous as hell of the democratic freedoms "enjoyed" in the US. The simple truth is that throughout the Middle East, indeed the world, the US has, despite its alleged support for movements towards democracy and greater freedoms for all, generally hampered provisional steps in the direction of democratisation whilst it has increased its support for despotic regimes such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Morocco. Israel, for instance, gets 40 percent of all US overseas aid. Meanwhile Israel is in breach of six UN resolutions and continues oppressing people in Palestine. During Jordan's despotic and repressive rule in the 1970s and 80s, US aid for the Amman regime was enormous. Then when Jordan decided to oil the cogs of its political machine in the 1990s, that aid was vastly reduced and for a while suspended. Similarly, aid to Yemen was cut off within months of that unified country's first "democratic" election. In recent weeks, when it was discovered that Qatar's satellite channel Al-Jazeera was beginning to sound a little "pro-democracy", upsetting regional dictators, broadcasting images of the US bombings and airing bin Laden's now famous video, it was Colin Powell who demanded the channel be closed down, insisting it fostered "anti-Americanism". When it comes to Middle Eastern peace, the US's actions have ensured that the region is as unstable as ever, cocking a snook at UN Resolution 687 which calls for region-wide disarmament - which would also mean an end to Israel's nuclear capability � and at the same time selling $60 billion worth of arms to Middle Eastern country in 10 years (80 percent of all world arms exports to the Middle East). Israel, by the way, receives $3 billion in US military aid on the pretext that it is defending itself from its Arab neighbours � those same neighbours the US has armed to the teeth. Writing in the Guardian (29 September), Artundhati Roy goes a little further. "Could it be", she asks, "that the stygian anger that led to the attacks has its taproot not in American freedom and democracy, but in the US government's record of commitment and support of exactly the opposite things, to military and economic terrorism, insurgency, military dictatorships, religious bigotry and unimaginable genocides?" None of which surprises socialists. We are well attuned to the machinations of the elites of powerful countries as they seek to promote the interests of their corporate backers. Though it is no easy task for the uninitiated, we urge our fellow workers to be as vigilant as ever. To believe the arguments of the likes of Bush and Blair is to disarm yourself intellectually - for it is at times like the present, when the media is dancing to the tunes of governments, when the trumpets of jingoism, patriotism and reaction are sounding, that we need to be fighting the war of ideas. http://communities.msn.com/realworldsocialism __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Everything you'll ever need on one web page from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts http://uk.my.yahoo.com
