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George Monbiot
If there is a characteristic which unites all human societies, past or present, it is surely an inordinate fondness for violence. Those who can force others to submit to their demands will do so until they meet a greater force. We tend, in the superficially peaceful communities of the rich world, to forget that violence is the underlying determinant of human relations, and that this violence, far from disappearing, has simply been distilled into a political system which both protects and threatens us. Though we may avert our eyes, our respect for the law rests upon our recognition of the state’s capacity to compel us to submit by force of arms.
George Monbiot
No task is more urgent than to expose the two astonishing lies contained in George Bush’s radio address on Saturday, namely that “the United States does not desire military conflict, because we know the awful nature of war” and “we hope that Iraq complies with the world’s demands.” Mr Bush appears to have done everything in his power to prevent Iraq from complying with the world’s demands, while ensuring that military conflict becomes inevitable.
Neil Mackay and Felicity Arbuthnot
Reports by the USA reveal that the successive administrations of Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr. sold materials including anthrax, VX nerve gas, West Nile fever germs and botulism to Iraq right up until March 1992, as well as germs similar to tuberculosis and pneumonia. Other bacteria sold included brucella melitensis, which damages major organs, and clostridium perfringens, which causes gas gangrene.
Rahul Mahajan
In the run-up to Gulf War I, government officials put forth a bewildering array of reasons for the war, culminating with James Baker’s fatuous claim that “it’s about jobs.” In this coming war, perhaps the earliest and most consistently telegraphed since Cato the Elder’s repeated calls for the destruction of Carthage, similar confusion reigns. The same reflexively secretive administration that didn’t want to disclose which companies it met with, and for how long, when formulating its energy policy, has released at least four different plans for achieving “regime change”. People are beginning to seriously wonder what’s going on.
David Barsamian
When the US marches to war, the media march with it. And within the media the generals generally are heavily armed with microphones. The din of collateral language is rising to cacophonous levels. The mobilization and ubiquity of present and past brass on the airwaves is an essential component of manufacturing consent for war. Perhaps we need no-air zones for them. That’s unlikely to happen when ABC/TV and NPR’s Cokie Roberts gushes, “I am, I will just confess to you, a total sucker for the guys who stand up with all the ribbons on and stuff and they say it’s true and I’m ready to believe it.”
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