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16 October 2009

{( Mama America )}

By. Latif Yahia

Daddy Bush watching the world

In a few short years we have seen our world change dramatically, irrevocably. We all have heard the reasons given for these changes, the new laws and the lessening of our human rights. I the age of Big Brother, when our bank accounts are scrutinised, telephone conversations monitored and our every movement tracked by CCTV in every street and shop or by following the little footsteps left behind by our mobile phones. How did we let this happen? Instantly, you will pinpoint September 11th 2001 as the day the world changed and indeed it did, but these changes to our lives were happening long before the fall of the twin towers. Technology is not at fault, it is, as it is used. It can have an extremely positive or negative effect dependant on the user. As much as technology can be used to contain and confuse us, to bring us "the official line", there are people out there, journalists, broadcasters and producers who want to show us reality, they show the live footage, the unedited very shocking truth. A truth that cannot be disparaged.
"We Love Iraq" Mr. Rumsfeld meets Saddam in 1983

With new mobile phone technology we are instantly transported, involved in the moment, anyone and everyone is the cameraman and the footage can be as shocking as the Asian Tsunami, or as disquieting as the shadowy underground figures of the London tube bomb survivors filing out of a smoke filled tunnel. It was once the case that everyone in the Mid-East would listen to Western Radio and Television if and when they could. For a long time in many countries it was illegal to do so and this in turn reinforced the belief that everything that was reported on these Western Stations was infallible, undoubtedly true and accurate. But now as I flip between western and mid-eastern channels, I find a disparity, they may be showing the same pictures but the words do not always fit. The mid-east now relies less on western media, it sees it for what it is, controlled and contrived just as our own channels were, giving the "official line" making sure we see it their way. Wars are not just fought on the battlefields; they are fought in your living room, at your breakfast table and on your way to work. There have always been "terrorists" in our midst, it just depended which side you were on and to whom you were speaking. One man's terrorist was another's freedom fighter. Let's look at the who? And moreover the why? Of this situation. Today the terrorists at the top of everyone's lists are Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. All terrorists need funding and although Bin Laden is independently wealthy, he was once trained, armed and supported by America.

The Family Made by the CIA

When the world had two Super-powers, America was only too happy to keep Bin Laden on their books, he was their boy as long as he kept fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. So he did and eventually he won, so why then should he turn against his partner in victory? Another American trainee was Saddam Hussein, again when it was deemed that the then Socialist President of Iraq was somehow a threat to Capitalism, Saddam was trained, armed and supported by America to remove this Socialist threat. Now there is no Socialist threat, the last bastion of Communism is on America's doorstep, Cuba; it is only a matter of time. There is no need to take Cuba by force, Mr. Castro is ageing and the clock is ticking until the gate is open and America will just walk in. This is the "New Empire", each civilisation has had their time in the spotlight and Mr. Bush is gonna make "darn sure" that this is his. Since the conception of America four hundred or so years ago it has needed an adversary. It began with the Native Americans whose presence on their own land was not to be tolerated and still to this day are quarantined on reservations. The next foe to America was Britain, (they have since made up and become rather good friends) and as the British Empire began America refused to be a part of it, after all, they had just fled Europe hadn't they? The Soviet Union was to be America's greatest Nemesis, it went against everything that America stood for and there was no room in this world for two "Super-powers". America fought against it any and everyway that it could, it created Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Mubarak to overthrow their communist leaders in the middle-east and the world was theirs. But now there is no adversary. Or is there? Islam is the new threat to the American way, after all it has communist principles doesn't it? Communal funds, interest free banking, the ideas of shared wealth and that high consumerism is bad for us, not just spiritually but environmentally. In the world of Islam the credo of Richard Greco "greed is good" does not stand. Islam is not perfect but it is the last belief system to have a strong and numerous following and is therefore dangerous. America needs business, capitalism is the life blood of the country. Americans are the highest consumers in the world, but they need us to consume too. We are needed to consume their products; we are invited to indulge in their way of life because there is none better. Buy more than you need, eat more than you hunger for, everything is an excess and it must stay that way because if we don't buy, their economy won't survive. But they also need war and conflict because even though we may buy their cars and their clothes and buy into the lifestyle, the big money is in weapons. Without conflict there is no market for weaponry, no testing ground for new ideas, tanks, and bombs. A famous example of this is during the Iran/Iraq war, America was selling Iran the weaponry and selling Iraq the satellite intelligence on where it was being transported to and stored by the Iranians. Today the Iraqi Army is reformed with American training, weaponry and uniforms; the same applies to the police force. Iraq is paid approximately six dollars a barrel for it's oil, which is shipped to the oil refineries in America, processed and sold back to Iraq at $60 a barrel. This is democracy? It is if the Iraqi government are in agreement. A government for the people, elected by the people. Well some of the people anyway. The "New Government" has managed to sequester more money in their short term than Saddam did during his thirty-five years reign. Saddam may have been a dictator, but each morning Iraq woke with a purpose, each had their job, their business and money in their pockets. Now there are no jobs, no prospects unless you want to work for America. Water is limited and electricity is available to your home for one hour each day. Saddam may have been a tyrant but to most of the Iraqi people now he is a prophet. As America and Britain celebrate a job well done in Iraq, bringing democracy to the Iraqi people wasn't easy. The New Government attend to the matters at hand, how to carve Iraq up; the two main proponents of this course of action are of course the Shia and the Kurds. The logic behind their move is that as both factions have oil in their perceived territories, that they should form federal republics one to the North in what they would hope to one day call "Kurdistan" and the other in the South, suggestions for the new name for this area are varied but all have a common theme, "Islamic Federal Republic of the South of Iraq". Another common theme in this lunacy is that both factions are only too willing to leave Central Iraq barren; there are no common economic policies, no shared governmental funds, and no Central government. It is a free for all, lands grab and all the oil and power that goes with it. The message from Messrs. Bush and Blair is coming loud and clear whether it has been delivered blatantly or subliminally, if you are not white, Christian or western return to your country of origin because it is not safe for you here in the west. Even as I am writing this new plans are being made to revoke the naturalisation/citizenship of British people who have been given a gift of citizenship by the Queen. The argument for the revocation is that when the Queen granted the citizenship she was unaware that they were or would be a threat to Britain and that the revokee's were in fact disrespectful to the Queen. Many of these people are facing death sentences in their country of Origin which was why they fled in the first instance. To return them is actually an act against Human Rights. When you read something about people being issued with death sentences, if you are not middle-eastern or have no experience of the regimes, whether they are kingdoms or republics, it is shocking.

To the Western person to receive a death sentence you must have committed a heinous crime and have been judged by a jury of your peers. This is not necessarily the case in the middle-east, yes there are the murderers, the rapist's etc but also to speak out against the King or the President or a member of government, even local government, can land you with a death sentence. What makes one Dictator different from another? Well, business. Business is the difference between being dragged kicking and screaming into the UN for offences against Human Rights and not. I am not inferring that all countries violate human rights, some have excellent records but there are countries that openly flout their contempt for their citizens or ethnic minorities that nothing is said about and why? Business. I am not talking about corner shops here; I am talking about big mutli-million if not billion dollar business. When countries are involved in big business it doesn't really matter what they are doing behind closed doors, torture, extreme poverty etc. While the business is going on nothing will be said and things can continue as they are, everyone concerned is aware of what is happening, they just choose to ignore it and if questioned on the subject will deny any knowledge. This happens time and time again. Anyone who can speak openly from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait can tell you that this is the situation in their countries, but not many are able to speak freely. Although America and Britain would have you believe that nothing of the sort goes on in these countries, that Saddam in Iraq was the only one, it is not true. As I described earlier when you do business you are a friend and are not held accountable. Further proof of this is the situation of the Kurdish peoples, for many years America, Israel and Britain supported the Iraqi Kurdish in their fight against Saddam Hussein but on the other side of the Iraqi Border with Turkey are 17.5 million Kurdish. These Turkish Kurdish are denied any and all rights to their heritage, language and culture. To acknowledge ones Kurdish origins in Turkey is illegal, many have been imprisoned without trial or hearing, tortured and murdered. {( New Iraq )}

The "Liberation" Dinar an hommage to Mr. Bush