We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Search and Destroy: The rape of Iraq

Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times Online.

Unlike the numerous Empire propagandists, liberals, and apologists who refer to it as a "mistake", this author calls the invasion and occupation of Iraq for what it really was:
First thing we do, let's kill all mythographers (lawyerly or not): the rape of Iraq is the biggest, man-made humanitarian disaster of our times. It's essential to keep in mind this was a direct consequence of Washington smashing international law to pieces; after Iraq, any freak anywhere can unleash preemptive war, and quote Bush/Cheney 2003 as precedent. 
Actually, I prefer "war crime" rather than "disaster".

And, the author brings us briefly up-to-date on the project of balkanization of the Middle
East to insure Empire dominance. Where he falls short, like many other critical analysts, is his sourcing of these war crimes to hired government employees such as Bush, Cheney, Obama, etc., instead of those capitalist directors (see this, this, and this) such as David Rockefeller who, while hiding behind the curtain of obfuscation, pull the strings of the puppets.