The Dangers of Insulation

Back in the '60s and '70s there was a revolutionary group in the U.S. called the Weather Underground. They had the idea that the revolution is imminent, and that with just a little help from them it would start and succeed. The group consisted in hardly more than 25 or so people, if that many. The problem was that they utterly believed that the masses were about to rise up and throw off their oppressors. Nothing could have been further from the truth. There was no "masses" that were chafing under the thumb of the government. But, in their closed circle of contact, they all believed the same. They fed off of each others' delusions until they really believed the revolution was here. The Weather Underground eventually went the way of the Symbionese Liberation Army and others. They mostly faded away. In fact, many years later some of those people were discovered living under assumed names in the most bourgeoise of circumstances. Some revolution!

Well, we are witnessing the same phenomenon today. Only this time it's been much more dangerous and costly. The leadership of the Bush Administration has become the same kind of insulated closed circle of contact that the Weather Underground was. How else can we explain the complete lack of preparation for the post-invasion of Iraq? They really believed that the Iraqis would dance with joy as the American army came to drive out Saddam, and establish the Neo-con version of democracy. Yes, by and large, the Iraqis were happy to be rid of Saddam and the Baathist Party, but they didn't want a new Saddam in his place. That was the mistake. The Neo-cons so strongly believed their own story, and deliberately chided anyone who had a different opinion, that they have committed the gravest of hubristic sins. They really thought that they had the answer. So, what do we do now?

We're in a country that was devastated by 12 years of sanctions, and was in no shape to fight. We have only made it worse by knocking out the electricity and water services which used to work under Saddam. We go around busting our way in wherever we want to go, and completely disregard the Iraqis own wishes. They might be glad that we got rid of Saddam, but there lives have only gotten worse since we showed up. Now, it's a daily or twice daily reality that cars explode in Baghdad, and many Iraqis are killed. Yes, Iraqis. Probably for every one American or coalition soldier killed there are twenties of Iraqis killed. After all, the most people killed and injured in the bombings are Iraqis. These Neo-cons are responsible along with the jingoistic media that pumped up the faux outrage. They should be held accountable at the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. But first, we need to figure out just what to do next. If we just up and leave, there's probably going to be civil war in Iraq. There might even be civil war in Saudi Arabia, although our presence in the region doesn't seem to be keeping that from happening anyway. If we stay, we just allow more killings of our own folks. We are so dependent on energy from that part of the world that we can't see the forest for the trees.

I'm with Kucinich, let's get the hell out of there, and make some real efforts at energy independence. That doesn't mean insuring the profits of the oil companies or any other company for that matter. We have the best science and technology in the world. We can achieve our own independence, but we've got to go cold turkey first, just like any addict. So, it's time for rehab. Quit this nonsense of ravaging the world for oil, and just learn to get along without it. It's much easier said than done, but if not today, when?





 








- posted by Marcos @ 2:11 PM (0) comments