Blowback II

For years and years the government of the USA:
slaughtered with impunity; assassinated leaders of other countries; attempted to assassinate leaders and freedom fighters of other countries; oversaw numerous coups across the world; invaded numerous countries across the world; trained the armed forces of other countries to torture and disappear the oppressed; used its attack dogs such as Israel and the UK to oppress at will; instigated a ‘war on drugs’ that started drug wars and turned parts of the Americas into war zones; crippled the economies of numerous countries across the world; supported the most brutal and oppressive regimes across the world; used proxy armies to fight wars in far off lands and dropped tons of carcinogens and mutagens across several countries to ensure that the suffering of the nation continued well after the war had ended.

On 11th September 2001 the USA was attacked. Fifteen Saudi, two United Arab Emirate, one Egyptian and one Lebanese nationals hijacked and flew four planes into buildings in key US cities. Thousands died. Thousands were traumatized and are still trying to piece their lives back together again. Many people asked “Why us”? Many knew the answer to that question – blowback. The creation of a jihadist regime who then turned against its master. Bully, threaten, maim, torture enough people and in the end someone will hit back. They did.

How has USA government policy changed since that fateful day:
they invaded Afghanistan and are still there today even though no Afghanis were involved in the 9/11 attack; they invaded and destroyed Iraq even though, again, Iraq played no part in 9/11; they oversaw the death penalty being carried out on Iraq’s leader who had been their friend; they reduced Iraq to the Dark Ages and then handed it to their sworn enemy, Iran, minus a million of its citizens; they plotted a coup in Venezuela that was reversed by people power; they invented the tern ‘extraordinary rendition’ which allowed them to torture foreigners in foreign lands without breaking their own laws; they tortured Iraqis even more in the hell-hole known as Abu Ghraib; they tortured Afghanis themselves at the Bagram Hell-Hole; they tortured anyone handed in to them for whatever reason at the Guantanamo Hell-Hole.

In 2008 the USA replaced their bumbling, apparently intellectually challenged, President with a highly educated, cultured, All Action American Hero who won the election on a Hope and Change ticket. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize but no one can remember why. Under this President, the USA government has: overseen the coup that removed Manuel Zelaya from power in Honduras; turned a blind eye as Fernando Lugo was deposed as president of Paraguay thus removing hope from two countries that were slowly emerging from the dictatorship hell that was Central and South America: assassinated the supposed architect of the 9/11 atrocity without the trial that may have answered the questions of grieving Americans; operated Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, sexily known as Drones, blasting people to death from the skies above Afghanistan; Pakistan; Somalia; Libya and Yemen to name but a few; liberated at least two thousand Pakistanis from their tiresome existences on this planet even though the USA has never declared war against Pakistan; interfered in Syrian affairs cynically in order to expose Iran which has resulted in a bloody civil war in Syria even though they used to rendition unfortunates to Syria for torture; supported the group known as Al Qaeda, the supposed orchestrators of the 9/11 attack, in at least two conflicts – Libya and Syria, even though the War on Terror still defines Al Qaeda as Enemy No 1; permitted the lynching of the Libyan leader before he was allowed to speak at a trial even though he had been their friend and torture contractor in days gone by; overseen the continuing destruction of Mexico, Columbia and now Honduras as well under the auspices of the War on Drugs; failed to close the Guantanamo Bay Prison / Torture Camp ensuring the there are some political prisoners on the Cuban island despite what Amnesty International say; authorised a cyber attack using the Stuxnet virus to disable parts of the Iranian nuclear power project; authorised their Middle East attack dog to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists to further impede their nuclear ambitions; tortured, humiliated and incarcerated Bradley Manning even though they have stated that Whistle-blowers will be protected.

This smooth, slick, Harvard educated American President removed Hope from the poor nations struggling to free themselves from the chains of empire and Changed USA policy to one of targeted killings, light footprint warfare; special forces’ interventions and cyber attacks against Official Enemies. He ratcheted up the tension with New Official Enemy No 1, Iran, and may well soon have himself another cataclysmic middle-eastern war in which another million poor people will die. Why do they always kill the poor? He must surely be the only Nobel Peace Prize winner who chooses who lives and who dies every Tuesday from the Pentagon Death List.

Did Blowback I change anything? Yes, the USA government tightened internal security and went on the attack overseas. Is the USA immune to Blowback II which may take the form of cyber attack on SMART networks; targeted killings; bombings; shootings; attack from the air by a hijacked aeroplane or a rogue unmanned aerial vehicle operated from somewhere other than Langley? Is the USA a safer place today as a result of the bogeymen being slain?