The Hammer and the Scalpel
Domestic politics drives the “war on terrorism”
(AntiWar.com) -- by Justin Raimondo --
A recent New York Times report details the secret war now being waged by the Obama administration across the globe, from Africa to Central Asia – and no doubt places we don’t yet know about. This is nothing new: the Bush regime started this reign of lawlessness, but, according to the Times, the Obama-ites are doing the Bush White House one better:
“While the stealth war began in the Bush administration, it has expanded under President Obama, who rose to prominence in part for his early opposition to the invasion of Iraq.”
The vaunted “antiwar” candidate – whose victory was hailed by United for Peace and Justice and lefties as far left as Socialist Action – is turning into Lyndon Baines Johnson and Richard Nixon rolled into one, with the belligerent instincts of the former and the sneakiness and need for secrecy that eventually destroyed the latter.
Nor are the Obama-ites shy about proclaiming the manipulative and crassly political nature of their efforts:
“Obama administration officials point to the benefits of bringing the fight against Al Qaeda and other militants into the shadows. Afghanistan and Iraq, they said, have sobered American politicians and voters about the staggering costs of big wars that topple governments, require years of occupation and can be a catalyst for further radicalization throughout the Muslim world.”
Make no mistake: the worldwide US military campaign is being pulled into the shadows not because a more open campaign would “be a catalyst for further radicalization” of those we are trying to “liberate,” but precisely because the American people – who are paying the bill for this staggeringly expensive effort – are sick unto death of endless war. What Washington is deathly afraid of is radicalizing Americans, and with good reason. The Obama administration, which began its reelection campaign the day after Obama took office, is faced with the daunting prospect of a disastrously wounding election in November, and they are doing everything they can to stanch the bleeding, and keep from losing their white liberal base.
Naturally, the Obama-ites are trying to put a “strategic” gloss on what is a calculated political move, as the Times reports...
The shadow war is surely no mystery to those nations where it is being fought: reports of US attacks, and the subsequent “collateral damage,” are duly noted in the local media, where such exists, but our pro-administration Fourth Estate buries it if it even deigns to notice at all. The real motive for drawing the curtain on the activities of our hired assassins is to keep it from the American people, and their elected representatives – and, most of all, to keep it away from Obama’s base, which is already getting unruly (albeit not yet to the point of open rebellion).
This underscores the underlying principle of libertarian foreign policy analysis, which is that all foreign policy decisions undertaken by our rulers in Washington are, first and foremost, about domestic politics: that is, they are motivated by domestic considerations. It’s all about seizing and keeping power – and expanding it at every opportunity. Are we taking an unusual interest in what happens in far-off Where-the-Heckistan? Well, then, you can bet the farm there’s some domestic political angle: perhaps some big contributor is a major investor, or perhaps Goldman Sachs has a lot to lose if the cash-poor but oil rich Heckstani government goes into default...MORE...LINK
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