I guess President Obama couldn’t resist giving the Air Force
and the Navy the green light to lay down some bombs in Iraq. When it comes to Iraq,
US presidents can’t resist a military option. Obama’s trigger finger has been
itching ever since the Islamic State began gobbling up huge swaths of
territory, in the process routing Iraqi troops the US spent millions of dollars
training and equipping. When the going turned dicey, those troops dropped their
weapons, stripped off their uniforms, and scattered.
What does Obama hope to achieve with this latest round of US
aggression in Iraq? There are strategic and military calculations to be sure,
but with mid-term elections on the horizon domestic political considerations
take precedence over those. Obama doesn’t want another Benghazi on his hands.
Late last week President Obama admitted that in the
aftermath of 9/11 the US tortured “a few folks,” and the Prez admonished those
of us who see torture as an abomination under any circumstances from becoming
too sanctimonious and judging too harshly the motives of “patriots” who
water-boarded innocent Muslims. Wow! How far the US has fallen. That Americans tortured
human beings is proof that Osama Bin Laden won the so-called War on Terror. Bin
Laden won precisely because he made the most powerful nation on earth adopt his
twisted methods. Whatever moral standing the US once had in the world – albeit
standing that was always situational and strategic – is gone now. No matter how
you slice it, the US is a brutal, hyper-militarized nation.
Bibi Netanyahu blames Hamas for the civilian casualties in
Gaza because Hamas refused to accept a ceasefire proposal put forward early in
the one-sided conflict by Israel and Egypt. Bibi fails to mention that Hamas
wasn’t consulted about the proposal; Hamas was expected to gratefully accept
the terms dictated by its adversarial neighbors, sight unseen. Aside from the
US, which will be the last nation on earth to abandon Israel, the world isn’t
buying Israel’s horrific behavior or Bibi’s Big Lies. Among them: Hamas is
responsible for the latest conflict in Gaza; Israel has a right to defend
itself and that’s all it has done for the past month, defend itself; the
Palestinians are morally bankrupt and don’t care if their children are murdered;
Israel truly cares about Palestinian civilians and does everything in its power
to minimize civilian casualties, including notifying people in advance that
their homes are soon to be blown to shit; Israel only wants peace.
In an interview on Democracy Now the other day I heard Noam
Chomsky say that the reason most people in the world either hate or fear Israel
has nothing to do with anti-Semitism and everything to do with Israel’s
policies: the outright theft of Palestinian land and water, the endless
settlement building, the inhuman siege of Gaza, the belligerent militarism and
utter disrespect for international law, and the blatant racism against non-Jews
within Israel. In the eyes of most of the world, all these transgressions make
Israel a pariah state.
I was walking along De la Guerra Street the day after the
end of Santa Barbara’s annual Fiesta, that venerable five-day homage to the
town’s Spanish heritage and major tourist magnet that draws thousands of people
each year – who can resist a parade, Flamenco dancing, Mexican food, Mariachi
bands, and plenty of drinking? – when I overheard a couple of workmen talking.
One of them said, “This was a nice town before it got ruined by all these rich
fucks from LA.” To which his partner replied, “Yeah, rich fucks and foodies.
What the fuck is a foodie anyway?”
And there you have it.
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