Duck!

The US is actually helping to create the terrorists, or at least giving would-be terrorists a raison d’être, by their belligerence and bellicosity. Witness the recent revival of terrorist attacks allegedly at the hands of al Qaeda.

Most frightening is that all the above military activity took place while the United States was in a "defensive" posture, according to them. In reality, the United States has never been in a defensive posture. Its whole history has been one of expansionism; first through movement to the west coast, then economically in the rest of the Americas (where the profits can be derived without the overhead of actually running the places).

I read George W. Bush’s September 2002 document entitled "The National Security Strategy of the United States of America" with alarm late last year because the overwhelming message to the rest of the world is "look out, we’re coming". On the surface, it seems like a moderately thoughtful document and much of it could be readily defended by people of very differing persuasions. But a careful read discovers the threats he makes to the security of the planet and the fundamental misunderstandings he appears to have about how the world operates and how it ought to operate. In the second paragraph of the introduction, Bush says: “In keeping with our heritage and principles, we do not use our strength to press for unilateral advantage.” He couldn’t get even further than that before starting to dissemble: America’s entire history has been to press for unilateral advantage.

“For most of the twentieth century, the world was divided by a great struggle over ideas: destructive totalitarian visions versus freedom and equality. That great struggle is over.” Apparently Mr. Bush has forgotten that about one sixth of the world lives in a communist totalitarian country and that many of America’s allies are totalitarian dictatorships. Without going into a line-by-line analysis of this lengthy document, suffice it to say it is full of rhetoric that ignores the realities of history and the shape in which the world currently finds itself.

But the overwhelming message of this strategy initiative is that America now officially acknowledges what it has always been, the world’s biggest bully. To be sure, there are some positive initiatives and good ideas espoused in this strategy but even those will clearly provide benefit only to those who are willing to be subjugated.

To be fair, it is certainly in America’s best interest to secure itself and to protect its own citizens. But that isn’t really what most of this is about; it’s about extending American suzerainty to every reach of the globe.

Afghanistan was but the first of Bush’s targets; anyone who ever expected that the United States would withdraw from the threat of war against Iraq was sadly deluded. Is Iran next? Or North Korea?

The European press and the sometimes timid European politicos make clear that they are very disturbed by the posture that America will act alone whenever and wherever it chooses. The United States has declared, effectively, that international rules and international law doesn’t apply to them, just to everyone else. The strategy makes clear that the United States will not hesitate to take pre-emptive military action wherever it sees fit and most other countries are understandably worried about that. And the Europeans see much of this as arising from blind and fervent nationalism, the bad sides of which they know very well. The bloody experience of centuries of war has left them quite uncomfortable with unbridled nationalism.

Third World countries wonder what this all means for them but they presume, as usual, that they would be the likely targets of American aggression. Americans like to attack small and relatively defensive targets.

The United States may well be right in its self-assessment of its power; but it is dead wrong about its legitimacy. Unless Bush is absolutely unable to read, he must know how history has dealt with this kind of hubris in the past. If the United States is unwilling to be a partner with the rest of the world, even as the first among equals, and use the tremendous potential it has to bring about good, then it is starting down the steep divide that will bring about the demise of the American Empire.

My fear is that Americans and many of their allies, including Canada, will fail to see that this move to assume supreme control of the earth is exactly what the United States has groomed itself for during these past 227 years. They will erroneously believe because a group of thugs managed to penetrate into the heart of America and cause severe damage in September 2001, that there is just cause to go out and kill whatever’s moving or doesn’t look right. Americans who can rationally consider the swath their country has cut through the world and the even wider swath that is intended, cannot seriously ask the question "why do they hate us". It is obvious.

The United States holds countries like Cuba in the lowest regard because they are ruled by a ‘dictator’; a whole world ruled by a dictatorial nation is no different, just bigger.

It’s never been about how all that power and authority can be used for the betterment of everyone, including the United States; it’s always about how they can bully and cajole and, if necessary in their eyes, bomb whomever doesn’t bow and scrape low enough. There is no question that there are times when military aggression is a necessity; the United States, however, usually doesn’t have the patience to exhaust all the more peaceful forms of problem-solving before bringing out the big guns. That is symptomatic of a limited imagination and a lack of desire for the peace and security of all. It is symptomatic of the desire to see ‘the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air’ just because it feels good. So long as it’s someone else’s ‘air’.

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Paul Harris is self-employed as a consultant providing businesses with the tools and expertise to reintegrate their sick or injured employees into the workplace. Canadian businesses can reach him at paul@working-solutions.ca. He has traveled extensively in what is usually known as "the Third World" and has an abiding interest in history, social justice, morality and, well, just about everything. Paul is also a freelance writer and can be reached at paul@escritoire.ca. He lives in Canada.

Note: The National Security S... suzerainty paul@working-solutions.ca paul@escritoire.ca