Libya’s tomorrow: Afghanistan’s today and Vietnam’s yesterday?
The
United States of America (USA) invaded Iraq with the noble objective of
keeping the world safe from ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)’. Leaving
aside the absurdity of the country that has built up the most formidable
array of WMDs strutting around like a 60s ‘flower child’ garlanding guns
and tanks instead of dismantling their own WMDs, the USA did not find a
single such device. Over a million Iraqis had to die and countless
others made to suffer all manner of deprivation for this adventure.
Then there was Afghanistan. The USA went in to capture an elusive
figure called Osama bin Laden. Death, displacement, dismemberment,
destruction and deprivation followed. One has to conclude that ‘Libya’
is nothing more nothing less than a new name and new location for the
powers that be in the USA to indulge in their favourite pastime (killing
and maiming brown coloured people) while giving a boost to the mainstay
of that economy, the weapons industry.
UN Security Council
The USA got the nod from the UN Security Council on the basis of a
vaguely worded document and promptly used the selfsame vagueness to do
its ‘usual’. Not a good reflection on the members of the UNSC of course,
but most of them have since backtracked and called for an end to US
aggression. ‘Reservations’ have been expressed. ‘Concern’ is another
nice word that’s been tossed into remarks.
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Muammar
Gaddafi |
Manmohan
Singh |
S M Krishna |
Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, in my opinion, put things in
proper perspective, insisting that the people of North Africa and the
Middle East ought to take their own decisions free of outside
interference. His Foreign Minister, S M Krishna called for an end to air
strikes in Libya, saying they would lead to more harm to “innocent
civilians, foreign nationals and diplomatic missions.” In the meantime,
trigger-happy as always, the czars of US foreign policy will continue to
hoodwink the taxpayers of that country (with the full backing of a
mildly critical but mostly supportive ‘free media’) into believing that
the guns, bullets and death-squads are actually doing the Libyan people
a favour. Just the other day, however, the commander of the rebels
opposed to Muammar Gaddafi was quoted saying that he admires Osama bin
Laden.
Libya’s tomorrow
Well, well! It made me remember that Osama was once a bosom buddy of
the Bush family. If at all, this latest bit of information (quite
possibly ‘planted’) might give justification for a longer engagement
than ‘envisaged’ (yes, it was, as usual, made out to be a quickie, a
fast and furious in-and-out). ‘Libya’ is far from over and even if
Gaddafi is taken out of the equation, that taking out will be a
beginning and not an end. It is not easy to predict things, but a decent
enough picture of Libya’s tomorrow can emerge if we consider some
pertinent facts from the aggressor’s past.
This morning I read an account authored by Daniel Bates and Mark
Duell. The title would have been horrifying if I didn’t already know
what is ‘normal’ for the USA when it comes to military operations.
‘Death Squad: full horror emerges of how rogue US brigade murdered and
mutilated innocent Afghan civilians and kept their body parts as
trophies.’ The authors got it wrong. The term ‘rogue’ is not one that
describes just one errant brigade; it is the defining term for the US
military in all operations in all countries.
There are some telling bullet points:
* Soldiers cut off 15-year-old boy’s finger and kept it as trophy,
even using it as a ‘gambling chip’ in a game of cards.
* Video captures US troops cheering as airstrike kills two Afghan
civilians
* New pictures show dead Afghan man’s head on a stick
* Soldier stabbed the body of a dead Afghan civilian
* Military tried to pull pictures out of circulation to avoid another
Abu Ghraib
* Army says photos are ‘in striking contrast’ to its standards and
values
Business as usual
The last is a lie. The photos and what they depict is ‘standard’.
There are no ‘values’. It’s all part of the game. Business as usual.
From the time of misnaming a continent, presuming that those who were
not white were either un-evolved or fit for slavery, the class that has
led that country (Obama belongs to that class, his skin-colour
notwithstanding or at least operates as its spokesperson) has not
changed its modus operandi by a hair’s breadth. Stuck to its script. Got
a hiding in the Bay of Pigs and a worse spanking in Vietnam but didn’t
learn any lessons. Part of the game. Business as usual. That’s the
United States of America.
There’s no reason to believe that Libya will be any different.
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