(OPE-L) Re: Consequences of the War against Iraq

[gerald_a_levy <gerald_a_levy@xxxxxxx>]

Re Rakesh's post today:

> On the question of Israeli or Zionist hegemony, there is much discussion
> of anti-Jewish demonology in the Arab world--for example, the
> circulation of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the conspiracy
> theory that Ariel Sharon dictates US foreign policy and the myth that
> the State of Israel warned Jews to stay clear of the 9/11 attacks which
> Mossad orchestrated. This is all indeed laughable and indeed pernicious.

This has made it way into the mainstream media in the Middle East:
at the "Al Jazerrah" website ( http://www.aljazeerah.us ) if you scroll down
to the bottom of the page you will see "The Knighthood and the
PROTOCOLS."  If you click on this, you will read about an Egyptian
TV series "A Knight Without a Horse" which included elements of the
infamous "Protocols" (indeed, there is a summary of every episode in
the series and a link to the "Protocols").   I think this reflects the
increased  acceptance of right-wing  fundamentalist revisionist 'history'
and the lack of a credible left alternative mass movement.

> What is no less so are the political myths by which the Western
> political ruling class is gripped. Bush and Blair truly seem to  believe
> and to have convinced many others that their war was only against
> Saddam, not the Iraqi people whose interests Bush and Blair seem truly
> to believe are consonant with their own. Bush and Blair also seem to
> believe that widespread anti Americanism  has only been whipped up by
> those rogues and demagogues from whom they will liberate the eventually
> thankful masses--both Arab and Venezuelan.

It's unclear to me whether what Bush and Blair "seem to believe" is what
they actually believe.  It could be that they believe in their own
propaganda or it could be that they understand that it is disingenuous and
apologetic. There's no way to know unless we were the proverbial fly on the
wall (or if we listened to another 'White house tape' that recorded their
meetings).  If they do believe their own propaganda then they are more
dangerous and more disconnected from reality. If that is the case then
the recent 'success' in Iraq would encourage them to generalize the
experience by assaulting  and invading other countries.

In solidarity, Jerry