Socialist Action /October 2002
Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: The Hunger for War
Mumia recorded a tape of the following essay, which was played at
antiwar rallies nationwide on Oct. 6.
"There never was a good war, or a bad peace." - Ben Franklin
One is always somewhat bemused when one hears the voices of those Americans
(and others) who call on TV call-in shows, spouting their opinions, on issues
large and small: "Whacha need ta do, see, is go in 'ere, and just nuke
the hell outta 'em there!"
"That guy Saddam (pronounced 'SOD-om,' as in the Biblical city of
sin) is a same thing as Hitler, and we need to take him out for what he
did for-er, with the Twin Towers, up in New York. What are we waitin' for?"
From such uninformed opinions as these comes the rising swells of public
opinion polls, the false gusts lifting the hopes of politicians into the
winds of war. But, in truth, there is really nothing new about this "New"
War on Terrorism that is claimed by the Bush administration and the economic
elite behind it.
For as Lebanese political scientist, As'ad Abu-Khalil notes, in his recent
book, "Bin Laden, Islam and America's New 'War on Terrorism'"
(Seven Stories/Open Media, 2002): From a historical perspective, America's
new war against terrorism is not new at all. Didn't the U.S. bomb Libya
in 1986 under the pretext of fighting terrorism?
Didn't the CIA plant a car bomb in the southern suburbs of Beirut in
1985 to assassinate a Shi'ite religious leader? (They missed their target-Shaykh
Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah-but they hit 285 other people, innocent civilians,
85 of whom died.)
Didn't the Reagan administration bomb Lebanon in the 1980s in its fight
against terrorism? Weren't Nicaraguan harbors mined in the 1980s because
Nicaragua was engaged in terrorism? Hasn't American support for Israel been
in order to defend that country from terrorism? And finally, weren't fundamentalist
fanatics in Pakistan and Afghanistan armed and financed by the CIA because
their common enemy was exporting terrorism? [p. 83]
What makes this "new," however, is the scope that is sought
by the American presidency: "regime change." One wonders, why
there was never a call for "regime change" when the brutes of
Afrikanerdom in apartheid South Africa were, quite literally, shooting down
unarmed Black children for demonstrating against the racist excesses of
the minority government?
When the Pinochet regime in Chile was executing thousands of people in
football stadiums, and sending its minions to execute people on the streets
of Washington, D.C., there was no call for "regime change," was
there?
In the new colonialism of today "regime change" is news-speak
for a coup; removal of any leader the U.S. deems somehow "unworthy"
of true sovereignty.
But who will dare call for "regime change" in Washington, D.C.?
Given the underhanded and strongarm tactics of polling officials and state
troopers in the controversial 2000 U.S. presidential election, where the
Supreme Court interceded and imposed its will on the nation, it is indeed
probable, or at least arguable, that Saddam Hussein's election may have
been demonstrably fairer than George Bush's. (I think we can safely say
that no candidate in Iraq scored over 500,000 more votes than Saddam did-and
still lost!)
Yet, even in the face of the UN-directed arms inspections, the rumblings
and saber-rattling of war continues. We will see if these arms inspections
make any difference. This writer thinks not. For political ambition is at
the root of this hunger for war.
As Bush adviser and Hawk, Richard Perle, recently told The New York Times:
"The failure to take on Saddam after what the President said would
produce such a collapse of confidence in the President that it would set
back the war on terrorism."
What he means, of course, is it will hurt his re-election chances! War
for money is one thing, but ambition? The hunger grows.
© Copyright 2002 MAJ
To communicate directly with Mumia, please write to him at:
Mumia Abu-Jamal, AM 8335, SCI-Greene,175 Progress Drive, Waynesburg,
PA 15370.
Socialist Action /October 2002 |