The U.S. is repeating the history of ancient Rome.
Military success/necessity is converting democracy
to tyranny.
Le Monde diplomatique
-----------------------------------------------------
January 2002
BACKGROUND TO WASHINGTON'S WAR ON TERROR
American Caesar
_______________________________________________________
Foreign adventures have helped the Bush administration
buttress its vulnerable domestic base. Post-September
national security has justified an increase in executive
power, even in areas unrelated to military operations.
Executive power over law and enforcement has grown quickly,
worrying those Americans who still believe in the separation
of powers.
by PHILIP S GOLUB
_______________________________________________________
Since the end of the Vietnam war, the American right has
dreamed of restoring the country's imperial might. In
addition to implementing neo-liberal economic and social
policies, the conservative [counter] revolution of the
1980s sought to revitalise wounded patriotism, restore
United States military glory and reinstate the executive
branch's autonomy, which had been mostly ceded to the
legislature and judiciary after the fall of Saigon and
Watergate. The US, with its relatively weak federal
government, is paradoxical: when vociferous critics of
government get power, they try to entrench governmental
prerogatives, most notably the right to wage war.
During his two terms in office (1980-88), Ronald Reagan,
that famous champion of smaller government, presided over
the largest peacetime military expansion in US history
and a resurgence in clandestine CIA operations (1).
Reagan's successor, George Bush (1989-93), although
skilled on the global stage, was a sorry figure at home.
Bush pursued Reagan's path, remobilising US national
security in the aftermath of the cold war. Yet both
Reagan and Bush failed to see policies through to their
logical conclusion.
Once thought to be fated to political mediocrity and
political impotence, George Bush Jnr seeks vastly
expanded executive power, centred on US national
security; this goal is fast becoming a reality. In the
light of the events of 11 September and the war in
Afghanistan the US's third hi-tech military victory in 10
years the former Texas governor now styles himself as an
American Caesar, which neither Reagan nor Bush Snr
accomplished. The Washington Post wrote that the 11
September attacks and the war in Afghanistan had
considerably accelerated the dynamic of reinforced
presidential powers sought by the Bush administration;
the president now enjoyed a status of domination
outstripping that of all post-Watergate presidents, even
rivalling that of Franklin D Roosevelt (2).
"Domination" is a fitting term. Indeed, every war has
both a foreign and a domestic agenda; Aristotle reminds
us that a tyrant declares war "to deny his subjects
leisure and to impose on them the constant need for a
leader" (3).
George Bush Jnr is no tyrant, merely the fluky winner of
a bitterly contested election. He did not initiate the
present military hostilities. But the war against
terrorism, which Bush has described as an "enduring" one,
has enabled him to reassert American might and
consolidate his personal political power. Bush is
displaying US military and technological supremacy abroad
while underscoring as his father and Bill Clinton did in
Iraq the lasting value of force in the post-cold war
period. As a result, strategic equations are being
rewritten globally.
Domestically, the war has prompted the revival of the
National Security State (4), permitting Bush to reassert
his authority and justify the marginalisation of the
legislature and judiciary. To demolish the
semi-authoritarian state, Bush is building a strong
executive, presenting a unified front while showing
interventionist and go-it-alone tendencies.
A parallel judicial system
In a spirit of wilful submissiveness, the US Senate
(controlled by the Democrats) and House of
Representatives passed the USA Patriot Act in late
September, relinquishing considerable control (5). The
act grants the executive branch extraordinary powers,
including the secret and indefinite detention of "aliens"
(non-citizens) whose status is deemed "irregular". An
executive order on 13 November created exceptional
military tribunals. More than 1,200 people arrested after
11 September were still in custody in December, yet no
one knows who they are or what crimes they are accused of
(6).
The detainees and their families have no access to the
evidence that will be used against them. Instituted
without input from either Congress or the Supreme Court,
the exceptional military tribunals have the authority to
impose prison sentences, pass judgment and execute those
found guilty. "Terrorists" and "war criminals" will be
identified as such by executive power alone, based on
secret testimony and evidence. Secrecy will also apply to
the meeting places, proceedings, charges, deliberations,
judgments and composition. Unlike regular military
tribunals, these defendants enjoy no right of appeal,
even when they face death.
According to the New York Times, such outrageous assaults
on the US rule of law, which in theory applies equally to
all those within its jurisdiction, are tantamount to
"creating a parallel judicial system" (7). US citizens,
including terrorists such as Timothy McVeigh, the
perpetrator of the 1996 Oklahoma City bombing, will
continue to appear before the regular civil courts. The
exceptional military tribunals are reserved for foreign
nationals, whether resident in the US or not. The
executive is establishing a paralegal institution with
wide-ranging powers of investigation and intervention,
operating within the existing US legal framework but
exempt from the rule of law. The Pentagon will be
prosecuting the war, assigning guilt and dispensing
justice.
The executive is substantially expanding its intervention
in US public life, too. By eliminating the Supreme
Court's function as final arbiter and relegating Congress
to political impotence, Bush is questioning the
separation of powers, a cornerstone of US democracy.
This authoritarian shift is virtually unprecedented in
recent US history. Even at the depths of the cold war,
the US executive did not stoop to such sweeping measures,
although it did resort to witch-hunts, censorship and
blacklists. The civil rights movement suffered violent
repression against governmental secrecy and mendacity;
the FBI's power grew enormously; and illegal operations,
both foreign and domestic, were undertaken. But the
conflicts in Korea and Vietnam "limited wars" never gave
rise to the creation of a parallel judicial system
controlled by the president and national security.
According to the right-wing libertarian editorialist
William Safire usually an enthusiastic Republican
supporter these recent actions amount to "a seizure of
dictatorial power" (8). The essayist and researcher
Chalmers Johnson has reached a similar conclusion: we are
in the midst of "a latent military coup d'�tat, perhaps
an irreversible one, which, like the former GDR [German
Democratic Republic] will transform the country into a
nation of informers in which only white Mormons will be
safe" (9).
The Pearl Harbor of the 21st century
Although Johnson may overstate the case, it does seem
evident that Bush's maximum-security state is in conflict
with US political traditions; it will only achieve
institutional status if the war drags on. That is the
implicit meaning of the unvarying message relayed by
Bush's imperial presidency, according to which the events
of 11 September constituted the Pearl Harbor of the 21st
century, the beginning of global warfare. Bush's
worldwide fight against terrorism is thus unencumbered by
geography or time constraints.
War unencumbered by geography: once the military campaign
in Afghanistan is over, the war's "second phase" may
commence. This phase has been in the offing since late
September and may focus initially on clandestine
terrorist networks in the Philippines, Nepal and Colombia
(see article by Janette Habel). US special agents are
already at work in the Philippines, where they draw on
their anti-insurrectional expertise; they will soon
arrive in Somalia. A Somali-US agreement granting the US
access to the port of Berbera (on the Gulf of Aden) is
due to be signed soon. The third phase will involve
operations against an even more dangerous foe, Iraq.
War unencumbered by time constraints: the US
administration has continuously reiterated that the fight
will be long perhaps endless. Once Osama bin Laden has
been eliminated, the focus will shift to al-Qaida's
worldwide networks. But since treating symptoms alone has
never cured an illness, al-Qaida's members will
eventually be replaced by new recruits. If some scenarios
prove correct, the war could drag on for 50 years, or
"well beyond our lifetimes", in the words of
Vice-President Dick Cheney, since 11 September in a
secret bunker near Washington DC. As was the case during
the 40-year cold war, all the resources of governmental
power will be brought to bear.
This coherent and unvarying message is designed more for
the ears of the US public than for world opinion. The
goal is to bring about and legitimise a permanent
mobilisation of the people behind their president. For
now, Bush's leadership is uncontested; once the visible
war in Afghanistan is over, he may have to face unhappy
voters dealing with worsening economic circumstances.
Governmental intervention in the economy which certain
na�ve observers have seen as "a return to politics",
finally freed from globalisation's constraints have so
far exclusively benefited large corporations and the
military-industrial complex, the two traditional pillars
of Republican presidencies. The US government has spent
tens of billions of dollars on direct and indirect aid:
$15bn in direct aid for the airlines, $25bn in indirect
aid for businesses, which have been granted retroactive
tax relief, and $20bn in direct transfers to the
Pentagon, whose budget now stands at $329bn.
But no relief has been offered to working people or the
growing numbers of the unemployed, who currently
represent 5.6% of the working population. According to
Dick Armey, the Republican House majority leader,
payments to the unemployed "would not be in keeping with
the American spirit". Given the effects of the recession,
many Americans will be joining the ranks of the jobless
in the run-up to the 2002 Congressional elections and the
2004 presidential election.
Without a state of constant mobilisation, which only fear
can sustain, Bush will have difficulty staying the
course. Perhaps he won the war in Afghanistan too
quickly. The US could soon grow weary of Bush's new
imperial presidency.
____________________________________________________
(1) Under Reagan, the US Defence Department's share of
the federal budget rose from 23.5% to 27%, its 1975
level. In addition, the CIA undertook the two largest
clandestine operations in the post-Vietnam war period, in
Afghanistan and Nicaragua.
(2) Dana Milbank, International Herald Tribune, 21
November 2001.
(3) Aristotle, Politique, Hermann, Paris, 1996.
(4) See Philip S Golub, "America's imperial longings", Le
Monde diplomatique English edition, July 2001.
(5) See Michael Ratner, "US: no longer the land of the
free", Le Monde diplomatique English edition, November
2001.
(6) With the exception of French national Zacarias
Moussaoui, accused on 11 December in a US civil court of
having taken part in the preparation for the 11 September
attacks.
(7) Editorial, New York Times, 2 December 2001.
(8) William Safire, "Seizing Dictatorial Power", New York
Times, 15 November 2001.
(9) Quoted in an interview with the author.
Translated by Luke Sandford
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED � 1997-2001 Le Monde diplomatique
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Bob Olsen adds that the collapse of the Roman Empire was followed
by the Dark Ages. This time the lights may go out permanently.
............................................
Bob Olsen Toronto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
The most important office in a democracy is
the office of citizen.
--Justice Louis Brandeis
............................................
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