Thelma and Louise Imperialism

The Nation: Reckless Bush Putting U.S. On Edge Over Iran

(The Nation) 

And it took, of course, the Administration's ongoing catastrophe in Iraq, which drives everything before it, as well as Bush's pugnacious (if hopeless) "surge plan" reaction to rejection in the November midterm elections; it took the President's insistence on victory in a situation where loss was so obvious that you didn't need scads of dollars and the sixteen agencies of the US intelligence community to make the point in a National Intelligence Estimate; it took Vice President Cheney's insistence, in a duke-it-out interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, that the Administration's Iraq policy would be "an enormous success story."

And, of course, it took all those eerie parallels with the Administration's behavior in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, not to speak of the realization that this Administration, devoted to an unfettered commander-in-chief-style of presidential power, believed it already had authorization aplenty to attack Iran. All of this brought home the possibility that our leaders might one day actually take the house down with them, that they might gun the car and head directly for the cliff with something between sneers and smiles on their faces.

Over the Cliff?
An attack on Iran, if it were to happen, promises a special mixture of two fundamentalisms that will make up a single lethal brew. Though our President claims to be a Christian fundamentalist, neither of these Washington fundamentalisms are, in the normal sense, religious or particularly Christian.

The first — the bedrock faith of the Bush Administration and its neocon supporters since September 12, 2001 — is the religion of force. Our self-styled "wartime" Commander-in-Chief, and the Vice President head an Administration that has long been in love with the dazzling military possibilities that seemed open to them as leaders of the last standing superpower. Its high-tech destructive capabilities, they believed, gave them the power to go it alone in the world, shocking and awing a post-Cold War assemblage of lesser states into eternal submission.

Back in 2001-2003, they saw force as their own special Tao, their Way in the world; at their depths — now — reaching into their problem-solving quiver, they naturally find only the same arrow that's always been there; a belief system, a religion for all occasions.

In the case of a possible future assault on Iran, the larger fundamentalism of the Church of Force will surely combine with the only significant force the Pentagon has on hand — air power. The belief in air power's ability to fell regimes and bring whole peoples to their knees, is long-lasting and deep-seated. Since well before World War II, we've been living with a military belief system in which bombing others, including civilian populations, is a "strategic" thing to do; in which air power can, in relatively swift measure, break the "will" not just of the enemy, but of that enemy's society; and in which air power is the royal path to victory.

That this has not proven so; that it did not prove so in Afghanistan, in shock-and-awe Iraq, or in Israel's air assault last summer on Lebanon matters little. Faith in the efficacy of air power (as opposed to its barbarism) is fundamentalist in nature and so not disprovable by the facts on the rubble-strewn ground.

As a result, the strength of the belief that "it" — force, air power — will do the trick the next time, if only you have the nerve not to listen to the Nervous Nellies, if only you commit to it, should not be underestimated.

Do you remember that period before the invasion of Iraq when the neocons and their various admirers were proclaiming us the New Rome, hailing a Pax Americana globally (and a Pax Republicana domestically) that would last forever and a day? They were then intent on describing a jungle world of failed states at the global peripheries that needed an imperial power like...well, like us...for order. That was before the Bush Administration managed to bring a jungle world to Iraq and so to the heart of the global energy system — and they all fell imperially silent.

I've been wondering in their stead: What sort of empire are we? Empires are usually settled, ruled areas (except at their frontiers), not jungle worlds. So if, say, the Congo or Afghanistan or Somalia is a failed state, are we then, under George and Dick, simply a failed empire? Do we now rule (as opposed to threaten) anything? Are we an empire at all — even at home where a vast, ungainly government is being privatized into ever more expensive chaos and the federal budget is being driven over a military-industrial cliff — or are we Kong? Or are we a Three Stooges version of the imperial, or is it just that Dick and George, all four hands on the spinning wheel of state, are heading for that cliff intent on liberating us all?

In that over-the-top interview with CNN's Blitzer, Cheney accused him of, as the Washington Post put it, "embracing defeat."

What an apt phrase for Dick himself — and his presidential pal! Having long embraced a fantasy of victory, they now show every sign of wrapping their arms around their own Iraq defeat as if it were victory, and — with the enthusiasm of Thelma and Louise trapped by all those cop cars — taking the only path that seems open to them. As the alternatives grow ever more stark — surrender to those "Democrat" electees, to the critics, the cavilers, the ragtag insurgents, the alien Mullahs, even panicked Republicans in their own ranks — what's left but that liberating, exhilarating trip over the cliff?

Unlike the movies, where reviews can tell you the ending before you even enter the local multiplex, political life, even geopolitical life, is a remarkably unsettled, as well as unsettling thing.

Nothing assures us that some predetermined fate will actually drive us all over that cliff. But if, before November 2008, we do head in that direction, a small suggestion: Don't bother to buckle your seatbelt. It's not going to be that sort of a trip to the bottom.

[bm6005]

Bush II and Cheney...Dip and Stick!

[charlesdjohn]

Let me see if I understand all of this correctly!

Muslims simply love Christians! That is why Christianity is illegal in Saudi Arabia, with the exception of foreign military bases.

Muslim doctrine respects religious freedoms! That is why everyone who is a non-muslim must be converted or killed.

George W. Bush started the war and terrorists are simply trying to defend themselves and their Allah given rights from us American Infidels! Wake up and smell the coffee, this ***** has been going on for nearly 2000 years and it isn't going to stop any time soon because the muslims don't want it to. For them to stop the violence would go against their religious beliefs.

According to the Democrats we should outlaw all firearms in the U.S. so that we can live peacefully and safely! Hitler and the Nazi Party said the same ***** before taking over. It worked so well in Canada, a peace loving people before the gun ban, that violent crime went way up and the general populace can't defend themselves.

The war was started by rich people trying to get richer! These rich people must have been the very same people who planned and carried out the Twin Tower destruction. They are also responsible for the Iranian Hostages in the 70's, the bombing of the marine barracks in Beirut, etcetera. Now I remember! I also read about some rich war mongers in and around the middle east during the fall of Jerusalem and the Crusades from 1095 to 1291.

[perception5]

"In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people in and around the Administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same for Iran"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Does that mean that Clinton appointee George Tenet is coming back to tell our President like he did for Iraq.........that "Mr. President it's a slam dunk that IRAN has WMD's??????

Does everyone remember that slogan......?? maybe not because our corrupt liberal MSM wolfpack doesn't use that slogan........ they do still use the following slogans:
"Mission Accomplished"
"Stay the Course"
...... can any liberal Dems explain that for us all??????

[grumpas]

perception5: I realize that the Nation Magazine is hard for you foaming at the mouth mad dog conservative's to bear! Anyone who says what you don't want to hear is instantly labeled 'liberal' and 'Liberal hate'! Most of you have been spoon fed the right wing Republican propaganda coming out of Fox News for so long you have no clue what is going on in this country! The only thing people like you are able to digest is the hate that comes out of Rush Limbaugh's mouth! So, why don't you crawl back under your rock and pull it over you so us liberal's won't contaminate you! You will be doing everyone a favor!

[skyk-2009]

The Nation magazine......the most vile and Provada type magazine in America today.......... if you want to be "contaminated" with liberal lies and hate then read this magazine.......
Posted by perception5 at 07:43 AM : Feb 18, 2007


ROFLMAO Okay now all you non believers line up on your right for the Kool Aid! ROFLMAO It's hard to determine who's more nuts these days, the Dictator who is holding our Troops hostage against the Will of the People or those who continue to support his insanity! LMAO

[knyghtwolf]

I thought that Thelma & Louise was just a movie? There is a difference in reality here. The bush administration is anti-american & pro-corprate america totalitarianism. Next question, please.

[crater7]

perception5; If you would, please point out which part of this article is a lie.
The only difference between Thelma and Louise, and the current administration is, Thelma and Louise took out themselfs. This administration will take out this country, or sell out this country to the highest bidder.

[itchyb-2009]

perception5 - Just stick to FOX news. That's where it's all truth all the time...NOT Everytime O'Reily opens his mouth it spews out nothing but half-truths, at best, and outright lies, most of the time.

[perception5]

The Nation magazine......the most vile and Provada type magazine in America today.......... if you want to be "contaminated" with liberal lies and hate then read this magazine.......

[itchyb-2009]

"The message to the Iranian people is that your leaders are making decisions that are isolating you in the world, thereby denying you a brighter future." Bush press conference 2/15/07

You just need to change Iranian to American, George, and you might see the light.

[pchukar]

If Cheney and Bush move to attack Iran in any manner, there should be a standing order to remove them from their military posts of authority. Their military intentions will be proof their delusional states have made them unfit for office. They must be stopped BEFORE any preemptive attack by the U.S. occurs. Bush and Cheney have enough blood of innocent people on their hands and souls, no more!

[pchukar]

If Cheney and Bush move to attack Iran in any manner, there should be a standing order to remove them from their military posts of authority. Their military intentions will be proof their delusional states have made them unfit for office. They must be stopped BEFORE any preemptive attack by the U.S. occurs. Bush and Cheney have enough blood of innocent people on their hands and souls, no more!

[pchukar]

If Cheney and Bush move to attack Iran in any manner, there should be a standing order to remove them from their military posts of authority. Their military intentions will be proof their delusional states have made them unfit for office. They must be stopped BEFORE any preemptive attack by the U.S. occurs. Bush and Cheney have enough blood of innocent people on their hands and souls, no more!

[pchukar]

If Cheney and Bush move to attack Iran in any manner, there should be a standing order to remove them from their military posts of authority. Their military intentions will be proof their delusional states have made them unfit for office. They must be stopped BEFORE any preemptive attack by the U.S. occurs. Bush and Cheney have enough blood of innocent people on their hands and souls, no more!

[pchukar]

If Cheney and Bush move to attack Iran in any manner, there should be a standing order to remove them from their military posts of authority. Their military intentions will be proof their delusional states have made them unfit for office. They must be stopped BEFORE any preemptive attack by the U.S. occurs. Bush and Cheney have enough blood of innocent people on their hands and souls, no more!

[taddles-2009]

"Probably 7/8 of the LIBS will consider this the news of the day. Amazing as it seems you and most media have "embraced defeat".
Posted by The_Mirror at 03:36 PM : Feb 17, 2007"

Actually embracing de-feet requires you to drop trou, bend over and grab your ankles...oh wait that is what you meant.

[taddles-2009]

"It's anything but. Try Lucy & Ethel, Laverne & Shirley, Wally & the Beav, Mutt & Jeff, Laurel & Hardy, Fred & Barney. Nothing but slap-stick comedy, from George & Richard.

Posted by migrainegram at 04:17 PM : Feb 17, 2007"

You didn't just post this....how dare you compare our President and Vice President to Laurel and Hardy, to Fred and Barney. Have you no shame, have you no respect!?! We owe these people our deepest respect and admiration. It is the highest insult to compare these fine upstanding icons of our country to Shooter and the Shrub. ;o)

[traveler4too]

What ever happened to the good old days when a leader actually led his troops in battle? Perhaps if Georgie boy was walking the streets of Baghdad and his daughters were there, he might do things a little differently.

[goldesprit]

Six stars for this article.

We have Bush, Cheny, and each underling that still thinks loyalty to money will fix all--to restrain and punish for what are war crimes, even if it turns out to take years to persue them, after they have resigned or been thrown out of office.

It was mildly reported last year when Rumps-feld
sold his tammiflu stock for 5 MILLION DOLLARS --prior to some info coming out in the press that there might be a problem with it. The press lagrely let him slide--for the hell of it.

Cheny thinks Victory is when Halliburton (and hence himself) makes more war money...pertiod.
I suspect he say as much to his cronies in private--ask those talking about this Libby fellow!

Bush and Cheny say that they get "faulty information" from underlings at FBI and CIA and NSA and probably as they gaze into their self prepared--alphabet soup when they aren't feeling well which is most of the time.

The immediate underlings--(you know who you are!) need to get off board the sinking ship and be true patriots. Do it now.

The next ploy Bush will use is that he is sorry for choosing bad underlings (like previous scape goats)--and that is why we should support "Another Brand New Plan"...to escalate a dying war.

[fascistusa]

The Elite run America.

Do you even realize what is going on?

It's a BIG MONEY GRAB. Get it all while they can. Fire sale.

War is BIG MONEY. Corporations are BIG MONEY.

It's GRAB EVERYTHING WHILE YOU CAN TIME FOR THE ELITE WITH OUR COUNTRY!!!!!!