[Marxism] American Racism and the Iraqi Debacle

["M. Junaid Alam" <junaidalam@xxxxxxxxxx>]

[Raul Mahajan has been blogging from Iraq for a couple weeks now;
http://empirenotes.org/]

April 20, 10:30 am EST. Baghdad, Iraq -- Here's a message, reproduced
verbatim, from a recent admirer:

    I am writing regarding your coverage of the Falluja fighting
against the iraqi terrorists. First of all, from your name one can tell
you are a Hindu. I hope you are not a fucking paki. So remember that
these same terrorists killed tens of thousands of people in India to
convert them to islam, that filthy religion. You need to learn about
your own history first, before defending these savage fucking arabs.

    Anyway, about Falluja: low-lives like you make me sick. To suggest
that the US forces are committing atrocities against these savage
animals is beyond the pale of reason. Worst is your hypocracy: you enjoy
all the comforts of the West, and even use the social benefit system
shamelessly, then you travel to Iraq and "report" on the "mujahedeen".
Do even know what that word means? These are terrorists who hate the
West because the main values represented by the US and Europe are that
of Reason, and Civilization, and Beauty. Of course, savages oppose that.
And thus, forgo any value that one would allot to their lives.

    If you like the "mujahedeen" so much, why don't you live with them,
instead of catching the next flight to London, or New York, and coming
back "home", after you have done your "reporting". The US and British
are evil, but you don't mind that welfare cheque, and free health care,
and a civilized nation do you? Get a life you fucking paki!

In addition to his ignorance about everything else, our friend is
obviously not exactly aware of the functioning of the famed American
welfare state. I couldn't get a welfare check if I tried, and, as for
"free health care," I know of one occasion on which I've been the
recipient. A doctor in Fallujah bandaged my ankle. No waiting, no
request to take off your clothes and lie around freezing, and no charge.
He did look a little bemused; he'd been working four days with virtually
no sleep treating burns, shrapnel, and gunshot wounds.

This message is actually highly instructive. It indicates something of
tremendous importance that is easy to miss if you concern yourself only
with the nuanced rhetoric of official and semi-official communiques. I
saw another example of it just now, speaking as a guest on a typical
commercial radio show in a typical American town. It shows up again in
the attitude of the Marines in the field right now. And it comes out
also in a British officer's recent criticism of the attitudes of
American soldiers.

So what is it that I'm building up to? Well, the Bush administration can
talk about their "forward strategy for freedom," democratizing the
Middle East, liberating Iraqis from Saddam Hussein, and people like me
can tear it down and refute it. But we should remember that that
rhetoric is all for a small group of people.

For lots of Americans, it's very simple: "they" are the enemy. Arab
savages attacked us on 9/11, so we need to teach the bastards a lesson.
No other analysis is needed; no other information will be allowed into
the picture. When I spoke just now on radio about U.S. war crimes, I was
told by a retired military man that "many" of the Iraqis are just
animals who need to be beaten down or exterminated (and, of course, that
I am "unamerican") -- he also says he is reading the Koran, on the "know
your enemy" principle. Another man, a Vietnam veteran, asked me why I
was "wasting time" talking about the crimes committed by his and my
government.

Some of the British officer's words:

    They don't see the Iraqi people the way we see them. They view them
as untermenschen. They are not concerned about the Iraqi loss of life in
the way the British are. Their attitude towards the Iraqis is tragic,
it's awful.

    The US troops view things in very simplistic terms. It seems hard
for them to reconcile subtleties between who supports what and who
doesn't in Iraq. It's easier for their soldiers to group all Iraqis as
the bad guys. As far as they are concerned Iraq is bandit country and
everybody is out to kill them."

It remains only to be said that, judging by the reactions of so many
civilians back home, the troops come here with that attitude; it gets
hardened by their experiences here, but it exists beforehand.

It's amazing that these are the same people who talk about "liberating"
Iraq. They may believe their own propaganda, they may hold these two
mutually conflicting beliefs -- that anything the United States does is
justified because "they" are the enemy and that the United States is
liberating Iraq -- but how can they possibly believe anyone in the
Middle East will believe it?


_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism