little known fact is that the United States has, with rare exceptions, been
b
ombing Iraq on a daily basis since the "crisis" of 1998.  These bombings
occur
usually as "retalliations" for "provocations" by the Iraqi regime against
the i
llegal "no-flight" zones that the U$ established over Iraq. (Note: words in
the
 quotation marks are used in their Orwellian sense --oposite of their
commonly
accepted meanings). This reign of terror is maintained by the United States
in
addition to the economic warfare, euphemistically termed sanctions, that has
al
ready killed more people than all of the weapons of mass destruction ever
used
in the 20th century combined (Foreign Affaris, May/June 1999). That is the
obje
ctive situation.

The mainstream media have been hard at work to promulgate the notion of the
com
plete and irredemable evil of the enemy, and to induce sufficient hysteria
in t
he populace so that any action, however heinous, taken by the self-appointed
le
ader of the Free World would seem as a noble act of "humanitarianism." The
rece
nt reports, completely and uttertly unsubstantiated, about the Iraqi program
of
 "weapons of mass destruction", simply serve those long established
purposes.
Barbara Crossette's article in the New York times is nothing but propaganda
of
the most absurd nature.  Claiming that Iraq is developing "new viral agents"
is
 intellectually equivalent to saying that Albania is developing a star wars
pro
gram. Unfortunatelly, standards of intellectual honesty and integrity do not
ap
ply to the newspaper of record that only prints "all the news that's fit to
pri
nt."  Certainly the truth is not "fit" to print, so falsehoods are
fabricated t
o fulfill the requirement of manufacturin!
 g consent.  The "swinish multitude" (E. Burke) must be kept ignorant of
sensel
ess suffering imposed by the government of "one nation under God" on the
godles
s people of Iraq.

Besides the perennial need to keep the masses hysterical as to prevent the
"dan
ger" of rational thought, the recent flurry of media reports on the "threat"
fr
om Iraq must be a consequence of the swelling domestic opposition to the
genoci
dal sanctions. In Ann Arbor (Michigan), last autumn, various civil and
religiou
s groups gathered at an organizing conference for the opposition of the
Empire'
s policy to Iraq. Since then, groups from all over the country (Kansas City
Ira
q Task Force included) have held numerous consciousness raising events to
infor
m the Empire's citizenry about the suffering of the Iraqi civilians.
President
Clinton has also recently made rhetorical gestures regarding "reducing the
suff
ering of the Iraqi people."  His statements are nothing but empty rhetoric
devo
id of moral or intellectual substance, as is the Empire's abominable policy
tow
ards this country.

Alex N. Dajkovic

----- Original Message -----
From: Tony Abdo <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, February 28, 2000 7:54 PM
Subject: [CHOMSKY] The US Great Satan


> Tresy writes about his great dissatisfaction with "leftie fora" who only
> see bad, bad,  bad.....
>
> <In fact, I could even go so far as to suggest that your quote
> illustrates the Chomsky model in reverse, that is, applied to leftie
> fora like this list. Here any accusation against the US Great Satan, no
> matter who ludicrous, is accepted uncritically by nearly everyone, while
> any whiff of a suggestion that our side is not self-evidently right is
> met with harrumphs and putdowns.>
>
> Tresy, you are absolutely right, a lot of us on this list do see the US
> as The Great Satan.     In fact, your derisive use of this term comes
> from the days of the overthrow of the Shah of Iran.     Were Iranians
> wrong also, in seeing the US as The Great Satan?
>
> What are all the things you love so much about the US?     You love the
> medical system,  "the safety net", and the "right-to-bomb" the living
> daylights out of people halfway around the globe.    Are there any other
> things that us "leftie fora" have done injustly to poor ol' Uncle Sam,
> in your humble opinion?      Besides our simple lack of appreciation for
> not realizing how good we have it, here at home?
>
> Please inform us if so, so that we can correct in advance our difficient
> love for the Patria.     And lack of respect, too.
>
> By God, somebody's got to come on these lists and straighten us
> uninformed people out.     Praise the Lord for your vision.
>
> Tony