03.02.12
The natural evolution to Bombing Paupers
A couple quotes from a Guardian piece, in which a historian/pundit explains the evolution of our search for primary enemies. It evolved on the necessity of replacing the Soviet Union with someone allegedly scary enough to keep the war machine funded.
So the new enemies, mostly Islam, are anyone somewhere else as long as they’re desperate, poor and look troubling.
Likewise, five of the original six Republican candidates for US president recently called for war with Iran for “posing a threat to the American people”. What threat?
It led Washington lobbyists to protect defence spending, as Truman was advised, by “scaring the hell out of the American people”. Today, a similar self-delusion leads Washington and London to claim the right to drop bombs on anyone they find “unacceptable”.
To this there is only one answer. Let no day pass without headbutting an ignorant politician, and kissing a sceptical historian.
One part the writer, Simon Jenkins, left out: “Cyberwar” and Anonymous.