One can safely say that many people from all parts of the world recognize that the Bush administration’s “war” on Iraq hasn’t gone well. Many even wonder whether the Iraqis, and Americans themselves, were safer before America invaded the Middle East under the pretense of finding weapons of mass destruction (which curiously were never found, much the same way the supposed WMDs that terrified millions were never manifest during the cold “war” with the USSR). Many have come to question whether American leaders invaded Iraq (a country that did not declare war on us) for oil and geopolitics rather than to disarm potential terrorists. But would this non-benevolent motive be out of place in the general sweep of American policy?
9/11 is only the latest and most obvious indictor of deep corruption and, for lack of a better word, “evil,” in the way our leaders think about reality and act in the world. The recent destruction inflicted on Iraqis (estimates are hard to establish, but many fear Americans have killed at least 100,000 civilians) is a living reminder of what Americans are willing and able to do in order to achieve their goals. The history of American imperialism (and I take that word in its most negative sense) began when Americans exploited the African slaves to build their new world, sometimes in the most cruel and unusual manner. The American nation was established by annihilating wonderful civilizations of Natives Americans. The historians David Stannard in the American Holocaust and Francis Jennings in The Founders of America argue Americans killed about 10 million natives; entire civilizations simply do not exist anymore because we were unwilling to share the bountiful American lands with them. Bush’s absurd non-compliance with Kyoto and G8 regulations on pollution makes prefect sense when one sees the historical trend of American’s disgusting lack of respect for life.
I grew up with the idea that America intervened in foreign lands to spread and sustain peace, but that is lie. We haven’t even made peace in our own land. Right after 9/11/2001 I asked myself “Why does the Arab world hate us?” Perhaps because we have shown them the hatred and violence we have exhibited in our inglorious history.
