The Fake Thugism Of Cheney\Bush

Here is my biggest problem with the "War On Terror." We are losing. If you're going ignore the Geneva Conventions, if you're going to spy on Americans, if you're going to torture people and then pretend you didn't, if you're going to brand everyone who opposes you with the broad brush of evil, if you're going to unilaterally invade other countries and execute their leaders, then you can't--you absolutely can not--fail in any respect. What we have seen the past eight years is a group who've basically suspended all the rules and still can't win the game. This is exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about:

Almost eight years after al-Qaeda nearly sank the USS Cole with an explosives-stuffed motorboat, killing 17 sailors, all the defendants convicted in the attack have escaped from prison or been freed by Yemeni officials.

Aren't Republicans supposed to be the badasses? Here you have a group that plotted and killed American soldiers, and yet all of them are now walking free. In the words of Mobb Deep, Bush and Cheney are actresses, trying to play the thug role. These guys are like the dudes on the playground, contstantly mouthing off, and catching a beatdown whenever it actually comes to blows. I'm a flaming lefty and proud of it. I think the Iraq War was a conceptual disaster. I am against all of the tactics that I listed above. But I've also read Lawerence Wright's lovely opus, The Looming Tower, and I believe that there are people plotting against who are nuts and should be killed. I was happy when they got Zaraquawi. Here's my point, because I'm rambling and it's late. The biggest problem with Bush/Cheney is that they are incompetent. It sickens me that they actually captured the people who did the Cole bombing, and now--somehow--they're loose again. Man oh man. I feel for the families of those 17 sailors.

Comments

You might be interested to watch Somalia closely. We have just killed the top AQ operative in Somalia, and by doing so the US has been blamed for a huge number of other crimes in the region. For the small cost of supporting moderate Islam and taking a zero-tolerance against Al Qaeda, a large amount of baggage accrues.

[Kai of Rebelology]

I was with you up until this:
"I believe that there are people plotting against [us] who are nuts and should be killed."
People are not plotting against us (as in black people, or the american working class perse), they are plotting against US imperialism, and in some sense thats a rational decision.

Yes these people are generally crazy, and yes we may die in their attacks against US imperialism, and yes even killing them may be the only way to stop them; but we still ought to be clear about the 'we', 'them' and 'why' of this thing. Class is very important in these (and most) scenarios.

The bottom line is, killing political enemies, while the US continues on its course of brutal imperialism is not sustainable. Capitalism itself isn't sustainable, but I suppose thats a whole different discussion.

Class means everything. Well, not everything, but a whole hell of alot.

[Kai of Rebelology]

I was with you up until this:
"I believe that there are people plotting against [us] who are nuts and should be killed."
People are not plotting against us (as in black people, or the american working class perse), they are plotting against US imperialism, and in some sense thats a rational decision.

Yes these people are generally crazy, and yes we may die in their attacks against US imperialism, and yes even killing them may be the only way to stop them; but we still ought to be clear about the 'we', 'them' and 'why' of this thing. Class is very important in these (and most) scenarios.

The bottom line is, killing political enemies, while the US continues on its course of brutal imperialism is not sustainable. Capitalism itself isn't sustainable, but I suppose thats a whole different discussion.

Class means everything. Well, not everything, but a whole hell of alot.

[Ta-Nehisi Coates]

Check out James Wright's history of Al'Quaeda, The Looming Tower. They actually are plotting against you. It's not just U.S. imperialism that these guys object to, they also see the U.S. as a font of cultural decadence--meaning women who wear short skirts, the separation between church and state etc. I'm not down with Cheney/Bush. But these guys aren't the ANC. There's no honor on either side.

[Kai of Rebelology]

That argument is essentially the 'they hate us cause we're free' argument, and I have a hard time buying that is the main cause of the conflict. Yeah, these mofos are crazy and get into all of this cultural/religous hatred, but I'd say theres a primary goal of attacking US imperialism and all of that other religous/cultural shit is secondary. Alot easier to get a bunch of poor, uneducated, oppressed men to die fighting for Allah against infidels than it is to die fighting for some abstract geopolitical goal. The US does the same talking about evil-doers and freedom and other bullshit, and scarcely mentions oil, and vying for global dominance with the EU and China. Theres a reason they want to blow up the US and not, for example, Canada. Lots of short skirts up there too. lol. But we can certainly agree these mofos are crazy, and theres no honor on either side. They are 2 sides of the same coin.

[Ta-Nehisi Coates]

Nope, not the argument I'm making. Obviously our role overseas--particularly the placement of military bases in Saudia Arabia, the support of a brutal dictatorship in Egypt--is a big part of why folks are after us. But that's not it. It's also the openness of American culture, especially in regards to women. The reason they don't hit Canada, is because America is arguably the biggest international purveyor of pop culture values. Seriously, check out the Wright book. It really is a great read. But my main point is this isn't either/or. And we don't need for them to be honorable for Bush/Cheney to be evil and dishonorable. Sometimes, both sides are the villain.

[Kai]

"The reason they don't hit Canada, is because America is arguably the biggest international purveyor of pop culture values." True, AND Canada isn't propping up Israel, setting up military bases and controlling the gov't of nations like Saudi Arabia. I think we are more in agreement than anything. I will check the book though.

[Sam Hutcheson]

The stated goal of al-Quaeda, per their own press releases and mission statements, is to retake the former Caliphate in its entirity, including Spain, and to remove the west from the entirity of the territory. This then gives them a base to extend the Caliphate throughout the rest of the world.

Ta-Nehisi is right. You don't need to believe Bush/Cheney are good guys to realize al-Quaeda are truly, truly bad guys. They want to take over the world and implement the harshest, most medieval form of Islam available. There is no good side to them.