Reprehensible

I think it was the American writer, James Baldwin, who said something to the effect that the reason he was such a harsh critic of America was because he loved this country so much. I think what Baldwin meant was that he loved what America could become – if the nation came to its senses about race relations and accepted African-Americans as full citizens. If you have read the Fire Next Time you know that Baldwin was a devastating critic of racism.

Since 9/11, when we Americans lost our collective minds, I have had a hard time accepting this country’s behavior on the world stage. We reacted to being attacked by a stateless band of terrorists by invading and occupying Afghanistan, a mess we are still not free of. We then pivoted abruptly and attacked Iraq on totally manufactured pretenses, one of the most monumental blunders this country has ever committed. We enthusiastically traded our civil liberties for “security.” We began kidnapping suspected terrorists and spiriting them away to secret black sites, where we – or our proxies – tortured them. We occupied Iraq and proceeded to create the conditions for a brutal civil war between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. We put military forces on the ground in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia and other African countries. We killed innocent people with drones.

But one thing we didn’t do was ask why.

George W. Bush sputtered on about how Muslims hated the freedoms enjoyed by people in the West, an argument I never bought for a second because it was obviously absurd. Hate our freedoms? No, what some Muslims hated in 2001 – and hate to this day – is our political, economic and military behavior in their part of the world, primarily our blind support of Israel.

That support is on full display now, in both US government circles and the fawning American media, which has eyes and ears only for how Hamas is terrorizing poor Israelis. When Israel needed more ammunition to kill more Palestinians the US was quick to throw open the doors of its strategic stockpiles in Israel. Take what you need with our compliments, and good hunting. I find this action to be incomprehensible and reprehensible. As it stands, Israel has total military superiority over Hamas and requires no additional assistance from the US. Despite its many pronouncements that it takes every precaution to avoid civilian casualties, the fact is that Israel is targeting and killing innocent civilians, and putting a collective hurt on the people of Gaza.

Why is the US helping Israel commit war crimes? Why are billions of American tax dollars handed to Israel year after year in the form of loans, grants and military assistance? Congress cannot spare a dime to help the city of Detroit, but it has no problem allocating billions for Israel. And do we receive Israel’s cooperation and everlasting gratitude in return for our generosity? No, Israel routinely thumbs its nose at its primary benefactor and continues building settlements in the West Bank, erecting walls to separate Jews and Arabs, passing Draconian laws to solidify its apartheid system, and, of course, periodically bombing Gaza.

Like James Baldwin, I expect better from my country.