The Globalization of State Terror

The Globalization of State Terror

B07788 / Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:38:22 / "War on Terror"
by Mike Whitney

"This is not an isolated criminal act we are dealing with; it is an extreme
and evil ideology whose roots lie in a perverted and poisonous
misinterpretation of the religion of Islam" Prime Minister Tony Blair

The "evil ideology" that underscores the war on terror is predicated on two
basic theories; preemption and enemy combatants. Both of these run counter
to fundamental principles of human rights and democratic governance. Both
must be met head-on and defeated. There is no wiggle-room for equivocating
or appeasement; this ideology is the greatest manifestation of fanaticism in
the world since the rise of Nazism in the 1930's and must be collectively
challenged. As Tony Blair says, "This is not an isolated criminal act" but
"an extreme and evil ideology" thrusting us towards global war and
ever-increasing human rights abuse.

The preemptive doctrine overturns the conclusions of the Nuremburg Tribunals
that "War is the Supreme Crime" from which all the lesser crimes naturally
flow. It elevates war to a viable form of foreign policy; an acceptable
means of establishing one state's superiority over another. In the case of
Iraq, where the theory was applied with the most appalling results; it has
been exposed as a cruel facsimile of unprovoked aggression against a
defenseless enemy. The horrific after-effects have been the destruction of
Iraqi society, the death of over 100,000 civilians and an enduring conflict
with no end in sight. These are the predictable consequences of a pernicious
theory that glorifies force above all else.

The principle at the heart of "enemy combatants" is no less sinister than
that of preemption. The theory presupposes that there is a category of men
that are intrinsically undeserving of any human rights whatsoever. "Enemy
combatants" is not intended to selectively deprive people of particular
rights; it is a blanket indictment of anyone the president arbitrarily
chooses to name; stripping them of their civil liberties without any legal
recourse. It overturns every meaningful precedent of International law and
American jurisprudence. Due process, habeas corpus and the presumption of
innocence are all rescinded by executive edict. "Enemy combatants" is the
language of tyrants; it represents the dénouement of the rule of law and the
birth of the imperial presidency.

We have no choice but to categorically reject both these theories as a
direct assault on the constitutional system, representative government and
the inalienable rights of man.

It is clear now that the neocons, in their rise to power, developed a
strategy to eliminate the obstacles in their path. They wisely narrowed
their focus to three main areas where they anticipated the most resistance;
civil liberties, congressional approval of war and the checks on
presidential power. The monikers of "enemy combatant" and preemption, minted
in neo-fascist think-tanks, have concealed the real objectives of their
creators behind modern-sounding jargon. The goals, however, remain the same;
declaration of a permanent state of war and the supremacy of the president.

That's where we are now; the world tilting further and further to the right
and the litany of horrors growing by the day. Torture and indefinite
detention have become staples of the new foreign policy regime; compromising
America's prestige in the world and eroding the nation's moral authority.
"Usable nukes" are now an integral part of the Pentagon's forward-defense
strategy making the Bush administration the first country to claim a
"first-strike" policy if US national interests are at stake. This makes the
US the most dangerous nation in the world; brandishing its high-tech
weaponry at third world countries and threatening to attack if they fail to
comply with Washington's directives.

The expression of Bush's maligned vision is now evident everywhere; from the
gun-towers over Guantanamo, to the concertina wire surrounding Falluja, to
the cement abutments enclosing the White House. The rising wave of
militarism has been accompanied by an equal and opposite retreat in civil
liberties and personal freedom. The full-force of the
economic-political-military establishment is bearing down on the
institutions that preserved the peace for the last 60 years. The old order
is crumbling and being replaced by a system that accepts no rule except the
absolute authority of the executive.

Ideas are the fuel that power the engine of history. The radical ideology
that animates the Bush regime is a force as real as the laser-guided
munitions that pummeled Baghdad. They may be obscured by the vile fictions
of the media, but their deadly meaning is not hard to grasp. They represent
the greatest danger the world has ever seen; the globalization of state
terror.





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