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

[Paul Bullock <paulbullock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jerry,

what BushBlair 'think/decide' will be a function of their role, as leaders
of imperialist states, what they 'believe' is pretty much secondary.. eg it
might be remembered that when Stalin and Roosevelt met at Yalta, S asked R
whether the US position would change if he was no longer President ( the
illness issue).. to which R replied , roughly,... that S shouldn't worry
(sic!), anyone in my role will do exactly the same.

Cheers
paul.
----- Original Message -----
From: "gerald_a_levy" <gerald_a_levy@xxxxxxx>
To: <OPE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2003 6:53 AM
Subject: (OPE-L) Re: Consequences of the War against Iraq


> 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
>