The towers are gone now, reduced to bloody rubble,
along with all hopes for Peace in Our Time,
in the United States or any other country.
Make no mistake about it: We are at War now -
with somebody - and we will stay At War with that mysterious
Enemy for the rest of our lives.
It will be a Religious War, a sort of Christian Jihad,
fueled by religious hatred and led by merciless fanatics
on both sides.
It will be guerrilla warfare on a
global cale, with no front lines and no identifiable enemy.
We are going to punish somebody for this attack, but just who
or what will be blown to smithereens for it is hard to say.
Maybe Afghanistan, maybe Pakistan, or Iraq, or possibly all three
at once. Who knows?
This is going to be a very expensive war, and Victory
is not guaranteed - for anyone, and certainly not for anyone
as baffled as George W. Bush. All he knows is that
his father started the war a long time ago, and that he,
the goofy child-President, has been chosen by
Fate and the global Oil industry to finish it Now.
He will declare a National Security Emergency
and clamp down Hard on Everybody, no matter
where they live or why. If the guilty won't hold up their hands
and confess, he and the Generals will ferret themn out by force.
The lid is on. Loose Lips Sink Ships. Don't say anything
that might give aid to The Enemy.
Hunter S. Thompson - 9/12/01
along with all hopes for Peace in Our Time,
in the United States or any other country.
Make no mistake about it: We are at War now -
with somebody - and we will stay At War with that mysterious
Enemy for the rest of our lives.
It will be a Religious War, a sort of Christian Jihad,
fueled by religious hatred and led by merciless fanatics
on both sides.
It will be guerrilla warfare on a
global cale, with no front lines and no identifiable enemy.
We are going to punish somebody for this attack, but just who
or what will be blown to smithereens for it is hard to say.
Maybe Afghanistan, maybe Pakistan, or Iraq, or possibly all three
at once. Who knows?
This is going to be a very expensive war, and Victory
is not guaranteed - for anyone, and certainly not for anyone
as baffled as George W. Bush. All he knows is that
his father started the war a long time ago, and that he,
the goofy child-President, has been chosen by
Fate and the global Oil industry to finish it Now.
He will declare a National Security Emergency
and clamp down Hard on Everybody, no matter
where they live or why. If the guilty won't hold up their hands
and confess, he and the Generals will ferret themn out by force.
The lid is on. Loose Lips Sink Ships. Don't say anything
that might give aid to The Enemy.
Hunter S. Thompson - 9/12/01
Hunter S. Thompson was brilliant. Almost prophetic.
ReplyDeleteI remeber Saddam Hussien issuing a warning prior to the last Gulf war. He said it would be the beginning of the Mother of all Battles.
ReplyDeleteAt the time, I thought that was a ridiculous thing to say considering the military history of Western vs. Middle Eastern conventional warfare.
I have since come to understand what it was that he was saying, and that the once deemed dirty theiving wogs had studied the fine art of guerilla warfare, and any outside involvement would encompass being set in the middle of the timeless internal cut throat rivalries.
Long before I read the words of Hunter S. Thompson that you have just posted, I came to understand the demographics of the region.
One aspect of that being how the human tools used to achieve western goals, were always as coniving and vicious as those who were once the masters they reluctantly, and temporarily accepted. Not an entirely new concept.
So this goes where? The Iranians/Muslim community doesn't trust the West. With good reason. The West doesn't trust the West, also for good reasons. The West doesn't trust the Iranians/Muslims. Sigh..And no one trusts the Israeli's, except Goldman Sachs.
Being a simple man, I remember what war does to people. Watching the life blood ebb from their bodies. That is what I want to speak out against. I hope some will listen.
For all the unquestionable progress Western civilization has made these past several centuries we remain enslaved to a belief in our cultural superiority.
ReplyDeleteWe have a rich history of treating the peoples of Arab and South Asian nations as a lower form of life; a feral, second order of humanity steeped in barbarism that can only function under brutal, autocratic rule. This rather disgraceful narrative suits our purposes and justifies our continued support of truly oppressive, anti-democratic regimes such as Mubarak's and the House of Saud. The actual motivation is, of course, to ensure security of our access to their sole resource of value, their oil.
The evolution of democracy is an inherently messy business just as it was for us also. We don't want that disorder, messiness, even spells of chaos in nations that fuel our economic engines. Better for us to prop up tyrants and look the other way.
How would we, as individuals, respond to the same provocations and oppression these people have endured for the better part of two centuries? What if the shoe were on the other foot and it was Arabs or Chinese who had corrupted our oligarchs to rule us and deny our basic democratic aspirations? Would we be any less radical than the Arab Street is today?
It is so much easier, so much more convenient to demonize entire peoples than to even try to understand what motivates them.
It is no small irony that the self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Democracy" has, for generations, diligently worked to thwart the outbreak of real democracy in so many places from the Middle East to Central and South America.
Recall that Iran had a genuine democracy until that state dared to exercise its sovereign power to nationalize its own oil resources. Then the CIA instituted a coup, slapped the Shah Pahlavi onto the throne, trained a secret police, the Savak, that made the Gestapo look like pussies, and established tryanny in the pursuit of oil security. What kind of nation treats the people of another nation like that?
Enough. This is making me sick.
"What kind of nation treats the people of another nation like that?"
ReplyDeleteA nation that aspires to drive Escolades.
Our democracy is evolving? I suppose so. The process of civilization can only be measured in half millenium, so that is a fair statement. Sort of. I'm thinking of Dion and Iggs. The Roman Senate come to mind.
Everything you just wrote is true. People need to read the truth. Even if they don't like it.
Ok, enough.