"[...] So I am told this is the Golden Age
And Gold is the reason for the wars we wage [...]"
- A song
A decade ago when the media all over the world screamed as to how some obscure "terrorist" Osama bin Laden had bombed the Twin Towers, little did we know that the world was heading towards a Third World War.
It might be recalled that a nondescript incident had triggered the First World War with the assassination of one Archduke Franz Ferdinand. It was a curious incident, completely irrelevant: No body saw the coming of the World War I with the assassination of the Austrian crown prince.
Ditto with 9/11. The only differentiating factor is the magnanimous quantum and reach of Media and Communication in our times. Our decision was ready-made for us: why the US should attack and bring to "justice" the very shabby looking, jehads who ruined the picture perfectness of the great American Dream. They won. We were sympathetic. So much so, we forgot the "eye for an eye" doctrine of retribution which Gandhi warned us about.
If there is a thing such as a United Nations or the International Court of Justice or some other fancy sounding International Community or Forum, with a spine, back-bone or even neck, the US would have been stopped from taking the matters in "his" own hands. Just a George-Orwell-like reminder of how much eye-wash everything really is, in this world of ours.
Three years after the 9/11 incident, there were hushed voices in the form of documentaries and articles which said that the destruction of Twin Towers and devastation of Pentagon were orchestrated by the US and bin Laden was only an excuse to enter West Asia and re-organisation of oil trade around the world. Our parents thought that conspiracy theories were getting too much attention and after all, America was beloved by all.
The great American Dream was, and unfortunately still is, lust-worthy: Engineers, Bankers, Lawyers, Accountants, Executives, Models, Actors, Astronauts, ... everyone wants a slice of that life.
No one cared to read or find out some ridiculous revelations- back in the US, in the aftermath of 9/11, bars were filled with youngsters craving for sympathy sex and one-night-stands. An excuse for a one-night-stand, are you serious??
The Bill Clinton administration relied on the "intelligence" of bin Laden and his "terrorist" aides for news from Afghanistan and Russia borders. The US then decided it was time to go after the big fish.
For a nation filled with the smartest cops and finest operatives and researchers in the world, finding a man or his outfit should have been a matter of days.
Now we read of war crimes committed by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prisoners (read civilians at the wrong place, wrong time) are stripped naked, and forced to masturbate in front of US officers, one of them being a woman (Lynddie England).
All of this is widely reported. The guy who leaked this news "Classified millitary intel", Bradley Manning, is awaiting a probable death penalty. Well known organisations such as WikiLeaks, and well renowned international newspapers like The Guardian have all carried in-depth, detailed reports as to the crimes that US has committed.
Prisoner Kasim Mehaddi Hilas testifies regarding his experiences at Abu Ghraib, telling investigators that Private Charles Graner had cuffed him to the bars of a cell window, after Hilas had asked Graner what time it was because he wanted to pray. Graner left him, feet dangling above the floor, for almost five hours. Hilas also detailed events he had witnessed of Graner and some of his fellow soldiers sodomizing and otherwise abusing other detainees. These events were also detailed by other prisoners including some of the victims themselves.
According to Hilas, Graner also "repeatedly threw the detainees' meals into the toilets and said, 'Eat it"
This is just a small account of US' supposed "War on Terror" It's official: the US is in the same league as Hitler, and probably much worse.
Petitions, letters and mass-movements have begun, even in the US, but what will be the outcome of that? A lot of reports have been written and published and read and sympathised with; investigative journalism has been carried out, but what will be the final outcome? Is there a court strong enough to try Donald Rumsfeld, Bush, Tony Blair and Obama?
Speaking of Obama.. Here's what he said when the US Press asked him to comment on Bradley Manning's detention during the trial for letting out "sensitive information" to WikiLeaks:
"... I have actually asked the Pentagon whether or not the procedures that have been taken in terms of his confinement are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards. They assured me that they are. I can't go into details about some of their concerns, but some of this has to do with Private Manning's safety as well."
Now that Osama is killed, the US is eying Pakistan. It's the new villain. Obviously, India is politically hurt. The US might want to "occupy" Pakistan, just as it occupied Iraq and Afghanistan, and "set things right." If that happens, Pakistan will become just another sorry place like Iraq. And considering some of the radical religious outfits are there in India as well, it will be a matter of time when US might want to step-in here and "set things right". India has always played the gracious, nervous host to the US (who doesn't?) and we might as well be seen as a country committed to fighting terrorism.
But will our Government be able to protect innocent civilians from becoming just another victims of US army boys and girls, who hunt and torture for pleasure?
And Gold is the reason for the wars we wage [...]"
- A song
A decade ago when the media all over the world screamed as to how some obscure "terrorist" Osama bin Laden had bombed the Twin Towers, little did we know that the world was heading towards a Third World War.
It might be recalled that a nondescript incident had triggered the First World War with the assassination of one Archduke Franz Ferdinand. It was a curious incident, completely irrelevant: No body saw the coming of the World War I with the assassination of the Austrian crown prince.
Ditto with 9/11. The only differentiating factor is the magnanimous quantum and reach of Media and Communication in our times. Our decision was ready-made for us: why the US should attack and bring to "justice" the very shabby looking, jehads who ruined the picture perfectness of the great American Dream. They won. We were sympathetic. So much so, we forgot the "eye for an eye" doctrine of retribution which Gandhi warned us about.
If there is a thing such as a United Nations or the International Court of Justice or some other fancy sounding International Community or Forum, with a spine, back-bone or even neck, the US would have been stopped from taking the matters in "his" own hands. Just a George-Orwell-like reminder of how much eye-wash everything really is, in this world of ours.
Three years after the 9/11 incident, there were hushed voices in the form of documentaries and articles which said that the destruction of Twin Towers and devastation of Pentagon were orchestrated by the US and bin Laden was only an excuse to enter West Asia and re-organisation of oil trade around the world. Our parents thought that conspiracy theories were getting too much attention and after all, America was beloved by all.
The great American Dream was, and unfortunately still is, lust-worthy: Engineers, Bankers, Lawyers, Accountants, Executives, Models, Actors, Astronauts, ... everyone wants a slice of that life.
No one cared to read or find out some ridiculous revelations- back in the US, in the aftermath of 9/11, bars were filled with youngsters craving for sympathy sex and one-night-stands. An excuse for a one-night-stand, are you serious??
The Bill Clinton administration relied on the "intelligence" of bin Laden and his "terrorist" aides for news from Afghanistan and Russia borders. The US then decided it was time to go after the big fish.
For a nation filled with the smartest cops and finest operatives and researchers in the world, finding a man or his outfit should have been a matter of days.
Now we read of war crimes committed by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prisoners (read civilians at the wrong place, wrong time) are stripped naked, and forced to masturbate in front of US officers, one of them being a woman (Lynddie England).
All of this is widely reported. The guy who leaked this news "Classified millitary intel", Bradley Manning, is awaiting a probable death penalty. Well known organisations such as WikiLeaks, and well renowned international newspapers like The Guardian have all carried in-depth, detailed reports as to the crimes that US has committed.
Prisoner Kasim Mehaddi Hilas testifies regarding his experiences at Abu Ghraib, telling investigators that Private Charles Graner had cuffed him to the bars of a cell window, after Hilas had asked Graner what time it was because he wanted to pray. Graner left him, feet dangling above the floor, for almost five hours. Hilas also detailed events he had witnessed of Graner and some of his fellow soldiers sodomizing and otherwise abusing other detainees. These events were also detailed by other prisoners including some of the victims themselves.
According to Hilas, Graner also "repeatedly threw the detainees' meals into the toilets and said, 'Eat it"
This is just a small account of US' supposed "War on Terror" It's official: the US is in the same league as Hitler, and probably much worse.
Petitions, letters and mass-movements have begun, even in the US, but what will be the outcome of that? A lot of reports have been written and published and read and sympathised with; investigative journalism has been carried out, but what will be the final outcome? Is there a court strong enough to try Donald Rumsfeld, Bush, Tony Blair and Obama?
Speaking of Obama.. Here's what he said when the US Press asked him to comment on Bradley Manning's detention during the trial for letting out "sensitive information" to WikiLeaks:
"... I have actually asked the Pentagon whether or not the procedures that have been taken in terms of his confinement are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards. They assured me that they are. I can't go into details about some of their concerns, but some of this has to do with Private Manning's safety as well."
Now that Osama is killed, the US is eying Pakistan. It's the new villain. Obviously, India is politically hurt. The US might want to "occupy" Pakistan, just as it occupied Iraq and Afghanistan, and "set things right." If that happens, Pakistan will become just another sorry place like Iraq. And considering some of the radical religious outfits are there in India as well, it will be a matter of time when US might want to step-in here and "set things right". India has always played the gracious, nervous host to the US (who doesn't?) and we might as well be seen as a country committed to fighting terrorism.
But will our Government be able to protect innocent civilians from becoming just another victims of US army boys and girls, who hunt and torture for pleasure?
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