It has always amazed me the US uses the term so loosely against others when in fact it is the world's leading terrorist /interventionist state, as was the British empire in its time and which the US empire mimics.
From where I sit the word is part of America's very deliberate propaganda jargon to maintain the culture of fear and xenophobia, and in turn maintain the empire which requires a steady supply of cannon fodder and conflicts to feed the gods of war and the MICC.
Imperialist countries/empires are by definition terrorist and racist as they are predators, assuming self-righteous superiority and the right to steal and slaughter indiscriminately.
One thing I do have to say - wonderful to revisit writings that are older than 5 weeks 😎 as is a practice these days in our ahistorical present. Thank you!
Of course, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
What does the Global South propose to do about it? Pointing out the hypocrisy of Western leaders is as futile as quoting Bible verses to an armed robber.
South Africa is doing something about it. The only country with the courage to go to the International Court of Justice. Now we'll see where other nations stand. How I'd love to see Biden, Blinken, et al slapped with arrest warrants by the ICC for the crime of genocide.
In the early 2000's I used to have a refrigerator magnet that sums up the argument nicely, "War is terrorism with a bigger budget." Years ago the late great academic/French resistance fighter observed of the Vietnam War of which he was one of the first to predict it could not be won, "It takes all the technical proficiency our system can provide to make up for the woeful lack of popular support and political savvy most of the regimes the West has thus far sought to prop up..................." (1961)
OMG!! This man's a genius. Would it be that I could write so clearly and bluntly!
The one phrase that I have yet to see in these discussions... What's good for the goose is good for the gander. This brings us back to the bullshit "rules based international order". All my readers (no doubt, in the high two figures), should substitute for "rules based international order" "Calvin ball rules". For those of you who don't remember the missing wisdom of Calvin and Hobbs, Calvin Ball Rules were invoked (wherein you could change any rule etc that prevented Calvin from winning) to prevent Calvin from losing.
This is a very important essay - I shall forward a copy to my local Federal member (and a true disappointment - he never gave any evidence before his party's victory in May 2022 that he was bound to US "terrorist" policies) - a Minister in the current Australian ALP government - who sadly has become part of the "gun"(g) ho leadership - a billion $AU to Zelenskiy and some funds/equipment to Netanyahu. War criminals. He needs to distance himself from the direction his party is going - maybe the essay will help develop his moral courage.
I wish this prescient piece could be reprinted in every newspaper, periodical and political website out there. At the very minimum it should provoke a "light bulb" moment whenever the word "terrorist" is used.
It’s a fine article, and commentary. Twenty-three years later, where are we, and where is America? With regards to the writer’s final thought, whether terrorized into silence, or by the absence of men of good will, who can say, but it does not seem to have learnt a damn thing. Or, we can say it’s learnt the wrong thing.
Consider the absolute shit list of outrageous dirty deeds done over the past 20+ years (and the writer merely skimmed it), the amount of willful evil deemed “necessary”, but also sold as justifiable, and the apparently successful sublimation of it to the ruse of our new array of national security threats, China, Russia, Iran, DPRK, and just to be clear that America the beautiful is not yet finished killing Muslims, Hamas! It’d be astonishing except for its regularity, but even so, it’s apparently quite believable, the more so precisely because it’s so routine. “Whatever I say three times is true”. What’s worse is this be firmly entrenched in its Congress.
Much hopeful noise has been written about its decline, about the rise of multi-polarity, America ‘s hollowed out military, the increasing pace of de-dollarization, etc, and perhaps some of it is, or shall be so. Meanwhile, here and now, it’s not looking so good. Shameful times, and dangerous. America the beautiful.
Well now, Mr. Whitbeck describes terrorism in so many ways in his commentaries, but the word definition has been deliberately misused since the Bush/Cheney regime started using doublespeak language to fool and deceive the wilful ignorant in America for imperial warfare for the past 20 years.
"Terror" or "terrorism" is a tactic for achieving some sort of results which the perpetrators of the terrorist act hope to accomplish. So basically, "The War On Terror" is a war on a tactic or tactics used by the opposition. So the War On Terror moniker is as bogus as a three dollar bill.
Meanwhile the new "Holocaust" against the Palestinian people by the secret admirers of the German SS ethnic cleansers in the Third Reich era continues as expected and the worthless un-United Nations stands by, doing nothing to stop the murder of women and children and enough secretive money contributions given to our disgusting political officials in D.C. , whether in the DemoRAT or Repulsive Party, who literally condone the modern day incarnation of Adolph Hitler or maybe Himmler (Netanyahu) and the Likud Party's (neo-Nazi) murderous rampage, bringing so much misery and suffering to a nation's people. But when you control the money supply of a government and much of the mainstream media, propaganda works to your advantage.
Overall, the article is is fine, and I'm glad Patrick printed it for the readers to share and learn from
It has always amazed me the US uses the term so loosely against others when in fact it is the world's leading terrorist /interventionist state, as was the British empire in its time and which the US empire mimics.
From where I sit the word is part of America's very deliberate propaganda jargon to maintain the culture of fear and xenophobia, and in turn maintain the empire which requires a steady supply of cannon fodder and conflicts to feed the gods of war and the MICC.
Imperialist countries/empires are by definition terrorist and racist as they are predators, assuming self-righteous superiority and the right to steal and slaughter indiscriminately.
One thing I do have to say - wonderful to revisit writings that are older than 5 weeks 😎 as is a practice these days in our ahistorical present. Thank you!
Of course, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
What does the Global South propose to do about it? Pointing out the hypocrisy of Western leaders is as futile as quoting Bible verses to an armed robber.
South Africa is doing something about it. The only country with the courage to go to the International Court of Justice. Now we'll see where other nations stand. How I'd love to see Biden, Blinken, et al slapped with arrest warrants by the ICC for the crime of genocide.
Except nobody will dare enforce any such verdict or arrest warrant.
Look up the "Invade The Netherlands Act"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Service-Members%27_Protection_Act#:~:text=This%20authorization%20led%20to%20the,or%20rescue%20them%20from%20custody.
Maybe, but it is a beginning.
In the early 2000's I used to have a refrigerator magnet that sums up the argument nicely, "War is terrorism with a bigger budget." Years ago the late great academic/French resistance fighter observed of the Vietnam War of which he was one of the first to predict it could not be won, "It takes all the technical proficiency our system can provide to make up for the woeful lack of popular support and political savvy most of the regimes the West has thus far sought to prop up..................." (1961)
OMG!! This man's a genius. Would it be that I could write so clearly and bluntly!
The one phrase that I have yet to see in these discussions... What's good for the goose is good for the gander. This brings us back to the bullshit "rules based international order". All my readers (no doubt, in the high two figures), should substitute for "rules based international order" "Calvin ball rules". For those of you who don't remember the missing wisdom of Calvin and Hobbs, Calvin Ball Rules were invoked (wherein you could change any rule etc that prevented Calvin from winning) to prevent Calvin from losing.
That's the US
This is a very important essay - I shall forward a copy to my local Federal member (and a true disappointment - he never gave any evidence before his party's victory in May 2022 that he was bound to US "terrorist" policies) - a Minister in the current Australian ALP government - who sadly has become part of the "gun"(g) ho leadership - a billion $AU to Zelenskiy and some funds/equipment to Netanyahu. War criminals. He needs to distance himself from the direction his party is going - maybe the essay will help develop his moral courage.
How loud does the chorus of the sane need to be to curtail the actions of those less honorable?
If it still holds that “The pen is mightier than the sword” to whom do we send our missive that doesn’t result in a missile?
I wish this prescient piece could be reprinted in every newspaper, periodical and political website out there. At the very minimum it should provoke a "light bulb" moment whenever the word "terrorist" is used.
It’s a fine article, and commentary. Twenty-three years later, where are we, and where is America? With regards to the writer’s final thought, whether terrorized into silence, or by the absence of men of good will, who can say, but it does not seem to have learnt a damn thing. Or, we can say it’s learnt the wrong thing.
Consider the absolute shit list of outrageous dirty deeds done over the past 20+ years (and the writer merely skimmed it), the amount of willful evil deemed “necessary”, but also sold as justifiable, and the apparently successful sublimation of it to the ruse of our new array of national security threats, China, Russia, Iran, DPRK, and just to be clear that America the beautiful is not yet finished killing Muslims, Hamas! It’d be astonishing except for its regularity, but even so, it’s apparently quite believable, the more so precisely because it’s so routine. “Whatever I say three times is true”. What’s worse is this be firmly entrenched in its Congress.
Much hopeful noise has been written about its decline, about the rise of multi-polarity, America ‘s hollowed out military, the increasing pace of de-dollarization, etc, and perhaps some of it is, or shall be so. Meanwhile, here and now, it’s not looking so good. Shameful times, and dangerous. America the beautiful.
Well now, Mr. Whitbeck describes terrorism in so many ways in his commentaries, but the word definition has been deliberately misused since the Bush/Cheney regime started using doublespeak language to fool and deceive the wilful ignorant in America for imperial warfare for the past 20 years.
"Terror" or "terrorism" is a tactic for achieving some sort of results which the perpetrators of the terrorist act hope to accomplish. So basically, "The War On Terror" is a war on a tactic or tactics used by the opposition. So the War On Terror moniker is as bogus as a three dollar bill.
Meanwhile the new "Holocaust" against the Palestinian people by the secret admirers of the German SS ethnic cleansers in the Third Reich era continues as expected and the worthless un-United Nations stands by, doing nothing to stop the murder of women and children and enough secretive money contributions given to our disgusting political officials in D.C. , whether in the DemoRAT or Repulsive Party, who literally condone the modern day incarnation of Adolph Hitler or maybe Himmler (Netanyahu) and the Likud Party's (neo-Nazi) murderous rampage, bringing so much misery and suffering to a nation's people. But when you control the money supply of a government and much of the mainstream media, propaganda works to your advantage.
Overall, the article is is fine, and I'm glad Patrick printed it for the readers to share and learn from