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Rev. Luis Barrios commentaries appear weekly in el diario/La Prensa
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Making sense of Bush's ideologies While president George W.
Bush was giving his message to the world, I was thinking of the film, "The
Quiet American"... In that film the US government in order to impose
it's consensus for a war against North Vietnam, the CIA bombed a community
in Saigon, killing hundreds of Vietnamese civilians, in the process
declaring them "casualties of war". This says literally, "pardon me
but to benefit me I have to screw you". Pardon me again if the
translation is erroneous. This terrorist act served
many purposes, as firstly it was successful in blaming the communists
and serving as an excuse to invade Vietnam, well as, resulting in the
demonizing of the heroic revolutionary leader, Ho Chi Minh. In his message tried his
best - restricted by his intellect, his personality and his assessors, who
don't help much - to sell his product: that to better the social-economic
climate of the nation war against Iraq was unavoidable. His
demagogic speech was divided into two sections: local and international
concerns. His responses to local concerns about the economy were
based within a framework of future planning and highly hypothetical.
What he will do were based on his speculations that he has drawn up within
the national agenda: cut back on taxes, health reforms (Medicare and
Medicaid), funding to fight AIDS, just to name a few. I don't know
about you but it sounded as he was going to revitalize the economy by
making the wealthy wealthier and the poor
poorer. Nevertheless the
international concerns were based on concrete actions. Among the
things he mentioned was the plan to invade Iraq, the type of
government they will install, the way the oil was going to be distributed,
the mobilization of Special Forces, and the presence of special commandos
in Northern Iraq. In international concerns it seems to me that he
told us that Saddam Hussein was Satan and that he Bush was Jesus ready to
rescue us. That is why he told us that Iraq has massive weapons of
destruction; that Iraq violates human rights; that Iraq was going to use
chemical and biological weapons against us; that Iraq had ties with
Al-Qaeda; that the weapon inspectors from the UN don't know what they are
doing and that they would never find the weapons; that our intelligence
services knew where the weapons were hidden but were not able to announce
it for security purposes; that the only way of destroying the weapons was
by invading Iraq. What a mess! I have little doubt of the
absence in Bush's speech of moral values like: social justice; respect for
self-determination and collective participation of nations; the fair
distribution of wealth; the preservation of humanity; maintain the
interests of the masses above self interest; the identifying of
social-economic problems within the context of oppression and exclusion of
certain groups (Palestinian issue); that power has to be shared; that a
legitimization of our actions can only be achieved through our democratic
rights. In other words Bush's speech from the beginning to the end
was full of aberrations, stupidities, highly delirious and
incoherent. I must say that this time he did not do finger
pointing. I give him credit for this, but again his speech was
within a framework of arrogance and power madness. I recommend the Book,
"Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism", by Walter LaFeber, in
which he describes spectacularly the way in which international
corporations are pushing their corporate agendas on the world. I
mention this because the information given to the UN inspectors by Iraq
names the corporations, which sold them arms and military equipment.
Of course for the government in Washington it is not convenient for this
information to come to light for if it did it would reveal the money made
by these corporations. Let us fight for peace with justice. Demystifying the irrational faith of Collin Powell The Secretary of State of the United States, Colin Powell, came this past February 5th to the Security Council of the United Nations as though he was a prophet who was presenting to the world and the US in particular the message that Saddam Hussein lies, that he has weapons of mass destruction, and that he has affiliations with terrorist groups like Al-Quaeda who are planning terrorist attacks against the US. He brought photos, videos and telephone recordings to validate his point. In other words, he told us that it was necessary to carry out a holy war to destroy this son of Satan. What he was saying was, "God Bless America and the hell with the rest of the world'. During his presentation, Colin Powell develop a new theology on righteousness, in which he cynically redefined what is to be accepted on faith. To him faith is the belief in what I'm going to say, without questioning what I'm going to say, without verifying what I'm going to say, obeying what I'm going to say. Within the context of his opportunist and manipulator style Christianity - which is synonymous with practical atheism - this irrational faith is characterized by the falsification and the distortion needed to promote a war. This faith is supposed to mystify lies in a way as to permit control and domination of thought and opinion. Among other things, in an interesting way - although let's understand that for the ones who market war nothing is casual - at the very moment that Colin Powell was speaking before the Security Council at least two other exceptional events were occurring. One the one hand, the painting of that great master Picasso, "Guernica", which is a piece of art against the war and which is hung on the wall of the UN was covered with a blue cloth. There are those who claim to be knowledgeable of the meaning of symbols and images that this was done to better the lighting while they were filming Powell's presentation. My grandmother used to say, "the devil is never at home." On the other hand, on the same day and in the same place that Colin Powell was making an all out effort to present Saddam Hussein as a terrorist who has massacred his people, the United Nations represented by 85 countries were selecting 18 judges who will form the International Criminal Court. The court which will begin to function on the 11th of March in Hague, will be responsible for the following crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The definition of crimes against humanity include assassinations; genocide, slavery, deportations and forced relocation, imprisonment or confinement for beliefs, torture and persecution based on political beliefs, race, nationality, religion and cultural beliefs. It should be added that under the definition of war crimes the following among others also includes: torture, inhumane treatment, kidnapping and the use of biological weapons. This UN meeting which was not televised as it was not given coverage by the mass media, was specially ignored by the United States government, for it is against the set up of the court unless it is granted immunity for US citizens, particularly military personnel. In other words, the government of the United States, who appears before the Security Council to level charges against the government of Iraq - a government which may be tried in that court - because they know very well that there are concrete evidence to bring them to trial for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. I have no doubt that the revolutionary government of Cuba, as well as, the heroic people of Puerto Rico - which has survived 100 years of colonialism - can accuse, within the guidelines of the court, the government of the United States. I have to confess that what bothers me the most in this spectacle - more so than the hypocrisy of the United States government - is the servile, imbecile attitude of the countries which make up the Security Council who continue to take the posture of talking behind the back of the United States instead of telling them in public all they have to say. I understand that there are consequences - but there are also consequences for those who remain silent - for if we remain silent with such hypocrisy and servitude, when the hell, will truth and justice prevail? It must be said that behind the charade of Bush, Powell and the rest of the bloodthirsty gang who pursue war is the real reason: serving the interests of the ruling class which in essence means giving them access to increase their wealth. My grandmother always used to tell me, "my grandson if your house has a glass roof, don't throw stones at the neighbor's roof". This meant of course that the best way to criticize others is by one doing things correctly. Now, if what you are doing is wrong and it bothers you to see others doing the same wrong, then this is not justice, this is envy and hypocrisy. Within the context of the United States government this is manifested through it's imperialism, militarism, capitalism and expansionism. These are all sins that must be eradicated from our lives if we wish to create a better world. It was interesting to see at the heart of all this, the methodology used by the United States government in utilizing different symbols to promote a mystification of it's message of war. On the one hand we have the figure of Colin Powell, a black ex general in the moment when we are celebrating the Month of African Heritage, to promote an image around the world that our democracy is perfect. It should be clear that Collin Powell may be black on the outside - which is a beautiful color which I carry with much pride - but he thinks, acts and feels like all those that promote the white supremacy agenda in the United States. On the other hand, what was never mentioned in his war speech were the intentions of continued oppression and domination of the rest of the world, through the control of Iraqi oil. In light of all of this we need to continue to demystify the irrational faith of Collin Powell and demonstrate with our actions that it is possible to create a movement which can correct the political, social and economic disorder that currently exists. Say no to war and let us build a world of peace with justice. The repugnant school of assassins Last week I had the opportunity to participate, with my friend and brother Danilo LaChapel, in the demonstrations, which took place in Columbus, Georgia, to demand the closing of the School of the Americas - better known as the School of Assassins. This institution which is located in the military base in Fort Benning, is presented by the media with an air of gallantry and romanticism. In spite of this, the school should be viewed as setting a double standard against terrorism, and as such should be viewed as a scam. This scam was created by depraved people who use it to enrich themselves. They use it to hide a series of horrific crimes. The school has been renamed, The Western Hemispheric Institute fort Security Cooperation; as my grandma Doña Bárbara would say, "grandson, this is the same dog with a different collar." Since 1946, this school of assassins has trained more than 61 thousand military men in Latin America, training them in commando tactics, setting of mines, military intelligence and psychological warfare. The school has used millions of tax payer money to train military personnel. Personnel which have after returning to their respective country tortured - in some cases sexually violating women - assassinated, and caused the disappearance of thousands of Latin Americans, and in the process, forcing thousands to live in refugee camps or to live in exile. Let's relive some history so that we may see how repugnant this school has been. Let us remember that Byron Lima Estrada, the murderer of Archbishop Juan Giraldi, in Guatemala, in 1998, was a graduate of the School of the Americas. Let us remember that soldiers trained in this school were responsible for the massacre of more than 900 people in the town of El Mozote in El Salvador. We must add the assassination of Archbishop Arnulfo Romero as he was administering mass, and the assassination of the six Jesuit priest along with the housekeeper and her daughter. We must not forget Colombia, having the distinction of having the most graduates from this school; military graduates which have killed and have forced the fleeing of over two million civilians. Add to the list the name of Leopordo Daltieri who under his military life, in Argentina, murdered and caused the disappearance of more than 30 thousand people. Let us remember that the current war against the indigenous people of Mexico is led by former students of this institution. Let us not forget that this school gave birth to death squads, which have existed and still exist, in countries like Peru, Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay and others. The list is too long to continue; many other names can be added. Now, what interest does the US government have in converting this country into a machinery of death and human rights violation? The answer is simple but painful. It is in this school where the diabolical assassins learned to commit genocide to protect the interests of the large transnational corporations, the World Bank and the IMF. Let us not forget the double standard against terrorism of the US. When they are no longer needed they demonize people like Noriega and Milosevic, while converting into angels, among others, people like Somoza, Pinochet and Duvalier. This double standard of morality is not based on whether a people is being repressed but rather who benefits from the repression. In essence, if the massacre of people helps the interests of the repressive ruling class then the killing, the disappearances and kidnappings will be kept away from the media; this while the justice system is kept away. To these criminals, often special privileges and political immunities are given. It is of utmost importance at this time to reveal the whole thing and to identify the interrelationship and dependency of this school of assassins and the new Bush doctrine. We should realize that the doctrine is new in the sense that Bush has declared it but not new in the sense that it is really the "New World Order" doctrine established by Ronald Reagan. This new order is the same age old practice of the ruling class picking a ruling class government which will not only promote their interests but will also manage the repressive mechanism - such as the police and military - to guarantee order in a system which basically brings disorder. To the apparatus of repression must be added the justice system and the jails. If we take all of this within the context of US imperialism we realize why within this doctrine there is a need for preemptive strikes (against Iraq), the changes of government (Palestine and Iraq), as constantly alluded by George W. Bush. However, we should realize that the peace they envision is only a pretext to promote their imperialist agenda. When we unravel all the lies and exaggerations we discover that the US government only seeks through it's capitalist system to maintain it's imposed exploitation of Latin America. This exploitation is only guaranteed by the graduates of this school of assassins. What do you think of this scam? Now, let us follow the words of the popular Venezuelan philosopher, Ali Primera, "when the people rebel and when everything is changed, you will join me in saying that prayers were not enough." I recognize that we are in the second out in the bottom of the ninth inning, that is to say in a difficult situation. However, I also recognize that a people united will never be defeated. Peace with justice. The US escapes the thunder but not the lightning
"We respect democratic processes,
but there will be consequences". These were the shameful words of
George W. Bush, as he responded to statements made by Palestinian
authorities of upcoming elections during January of 2003. The
statement by Palestinian authorities of holding elections was not
important to Washington, as they sent a message threatening to punish them
if things weren't done as they - Wash. - saw fit. The Palestinian announcement of
elections in January was made while Bush in it's unconditional support of
Israel imposed a number of conditions as a prerequisite to Washington's
support of a Palestinian state. In this step backwards and with his
usual reactionary fervor Bush made the following demands on the
Palestinian government: a new constitution, "democratic elections",
an end to "terrorist acts", and a change in the handling of it's
economy. It is also important to note when the Palestinian
government called for elections in January, Washington screamed loudly
that should Arafat win the elections again there would be dire
consequences. In other words, we don't want Arafat, even if he wins
democratically. This whole slate of demands and
conditions, are made within the irrational melodrama that presents Israel
as a nation who has been victimized by Palestinian fanatics; a nation
which cannot exist with such a bloody neighbor. There is intent to
validate the whole affair by comparing it to the Nazi holocaust - a
shameful piece of history in which 6 million Jews were murdered.
This I condemn, as I have always done, but I ask, what does the Nazi
holocaust have to do with the political, military and economic realities
that are taking place in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Nothing,
except that it is a political spectacle which is being used as propaganda
by the press; a press which has handled the whole question of this
conflict immorally and shamefully; a press which has only favored
Washington and Israel and has portrayed the Jews as defenseless victims of
another holocaust, where Yasser Arafat is the problem.
This simplistic and myopic analysis
of the situation denies the reality of the situation, which is that,
Palestinians are the victims of a colonial process directed by Israel; a
colonization process on the part of the Zionists and Israeli government,
which has illegally taken their lands; and in which Palestinians have been
relocated to maintain Israeli occupied land. That is why we now have
a huge part of the Palestinian population living in refugee camps
surrounded by the Israeli military; camps which are often bombed by the
military. In other words, Palestine is a nation which has been
invaded, a nation which is being occupied by another, a nation where it's
population is being removed from their homes, a nation whose people are
being murdered, a nation whose political process is being compromised, a
nation whose economic infrastructure is being destroyed, whose inhabitants
are being discriminated against, whose culture is being rejected; and
whomever rebels are being murdered and incarcerated. To all of this one
must add the fanatic religious-political groups, which believe that a
Palestinian state should not exist. On the other hand, we must never
forget the expansionist and imperialistic designs of the US has on the oil
rich Middle East and it's military presence in that part of the world thru
Israel. That is the real crux of the problem of the conflict between
Palestine and Israel. One must also be aware of the massive billion
dollar investments in military equipment and material given to Israel year
after year by Washington. There is little doubt in my mind that
these are the main reasons Israel is so well protected by
Washington. In light of all that has been said, although terrorism
must be condemned, the terrorism on the part of Palestinian martyrs must
be analyzed within the context of colonial terrorism practiced by
Israel; further, one must also understand the realities of exploitation
and how it can lead to desperate measures. I must frankly state that I get
upset when my Jewish friends always talk about the holocaust but never
take a stance against the holocaust carried out by the US against the
native Indians and the Black communities. More than 100 million
people were murdered in the US during the occupation - so called
settlement - of lands and during slavery. But the Jewish community
only remembers their suffering. This selective amnesia and lack of
solidarity takes away from the process of justice. But as always
there are exceptions to the rule, as there are those within the Jewish
community, here and in Israel, who do not support the racist, genocidal
war against the Palestinians. Meanwhile, that the US supports and
respect democratic principles is pure nonsense. History has shown us
that the only things they respect are their particular interests; they
care very little who or how many die. Let us not forget that they
are still the biggest terrorists this world has seen. If they have
to destroy a democratic government, to preserve their interests, they will
do it without hesitation. You can appreciate the reality of their
meaning when they say, "there will be consequences". This mentality
is also evident in their dirty wars against Cuba and Venezuela, while at
the same time blessing and protecting countries like Pakistan and Israel -
just to mention two. Let us not forget the dirty war they waged
against Chile and the government of Salvador Allende; the dirty war
against the Dominican Republic and the government of Juan Bosch; the dirty
war against the in Nicaragua against the Sandinista government.
Because they don't believe in democratic processes and believe in
consequences and threats, they have in prison six Puerto Rican patriots
and five Cuban patriots who were fighting US terrorism in their
homelands. The democratic rights and due process of these prophets
of liberation were violated during their trials and as such our fight must
be to set them free. As the oppressors never sleep, and
the devil is never at home, our strategies and tactics of liberation and
true freedom must be defined as being more offensive in nature and less
defensive in nature. If we don't take this approach then we will end
up like the US finds itself at this very moment: where they escaped
the thunder but not the lightning. Peace with justice.
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