| Subj: | Fw: The Most Important Date In History Since... |
| Date: | 9/24/01 1:05:38 PM Pacific Daylight Time |
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THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT IN HISTORY SINCE END
OF COLD WAR
"The Korean War was accompanied by the rise of McCarthyism. It is possible
that today's events may bring similar hysteria and
suppression of civil liberties. Not only would that further diminish the
civil liberties that are one of this country's proudest achievements, but
by so doing it would reduce the ability of the citizenry to ask the necessary
questions about the policies responsible for the hatred of the United States
expressed in this catastrophe."
MID-EAST REALITIES © - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington -
9/23:
William Mandel is 84. He was a commentator on Pacifica Radio for 37
years,
from its founding. He has a wealth of experience and insight which
made it
possible for him to write the following concise commentary immediately on
11
September 2001, the very day our world changed
forever.
THE DAY OUR
WORLD CHANGED
The attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center are the
most
important event in world history since the collapse of the Soviet
Union.
The disappearance of the USSR ended a half century in which two
powers
dominated the world. The casualties in New York, Washington, and in
the
skies made an end to the belief that the United States could continue
waging
wars costing us no blood, whether in no-fly zones over Iraq, in Kosovo,
or
anywhere else on any continent.
For fifty-six years Washington has successfully conducted mass murders
of
noncombatant civilians from the air with no fear of retaliation. In
1945,
when Japan could no longer strike back, there was Hiroshima, 75,000
killed.
Then Nagasaki, 40,000 killed. The Korean War cost that country, with
no
possible means of harming the United States, 4,000,000 dead
[Encyclopedia
Brittanica] versus 34,000 Americans, or more than 100 Koreans per
American.
Most of the Korean deaths were caused by American carpet bombing
(white
phosphorus, napalm, explosives)to break the will to resist, and
therefore
were predominantly civilian.
The numbers in the Vietnam War were of the same orders of
magnitude."Desert
Storm" has slaughtered 6,000 Iraqi children per month
since the end of the fighting, due to the embargo against
necessities.
Until now the vast majority of Americans have clucked their tongues
over
these things and gone about their business. No more. The deaths in
the
collapsed New York towers, the Pentagon, and the crashed airliner are
6,000
[number corrected post 9/11]. The super-expensive space and information
age
espionage technology of the National Security Agency, as well as the
more
conventional activities of the CIA and FBI are now the laughing stock of
the
world. As to the Defense Intelligence Agency in the Pentagon, I wonder if
it
was accidental that the plane striking that building hit exactly the
section
where that agency was housed.
There is simply nothing Washington can do to restore the situation
existing
before this morning. Even if it decides to blame Saddam Hussein, and
nukes
Baghdad off the face of the earth, it will accomplish nothing in a world
of
suicide bombers and underground organizations capable of working in
complete
secrecy and with perfect coordination.
Undoubtedly
U.S."intelligence"(?!)operations will be multiplied. That
guarantees
absolutely nothing.
The Korean War was accompanied by the rise of McCarthyism. It is
possible
that today's events may bring similar hysteria and suppression of
civil
liberties. Not only would that further diminish the civil liberties that
are
one of this country's proudest achievements, but by so doing it would
reduce
the ability of the citizenry to ask the necessary questions about
the
policies responsible for the hatred of the United States expressed in
this
catastrophe.
The time has come to realize that the motivation that brought about
our
Revolutionary War in 1776 is the strongest single force active in the
world
today. Peoples will be independent, no matter what Washington, Wall
Street,
and Silicon Valley want to do with and in their countries.
The United States must either adapt to that or suffer the fate of
ancient
Rome.
*The author can be reached c/o
MER@MiddleEast.Org
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