Caravaggio's Narcissus
December 31, 2007
There’s a reflexive tendency to think the worst of the Bush-Cheney administration when scandals like the torture tapes emerge. This tendency is well justified.
This administration’s
defining moment was the Iraq invasion. Over time, it caused
death to 1.2 million civilians and the injuries of 1.1
million noncombatants. Just last week we found out that
there are now five million orphans in Iraq. How
can the administration and their enablers ever top that?
Why shouldn’t we expect the worst immediately when we hear
yet another accusation of criminal or unethical conduct?
Destroying torture tapes pales by comparison to these
tragedies, all a result of the illegal
invasion: Opinion
Research Group Sept. 2007 Iraqi anti
corruption board Dec 15, 2007Have you heard
or read that 9% or Iraq’s population is either dead or
injured to date due to the 2003 invasion? This is rarely
addressed by U.S. media or politicians. The announcement
that 19% of Iraq’s population now consists of orphans
hasn’t hit mainstream media’s radar yet. This shocker
seems destined for the same fate as the death and injury
figures. Snuff Tapes and One Dead Terrorist Dominate
Coverage Odd isn’t it? All this emphasis on the
CIA’s destruction of Abu Zubaydah torture tapes instead of
the pervasive and ongoing human loss and suffering visited
on Iraq by Bush and Cheney? Let’s take a quick look
at the tape controversy and see if there’s some
relationship to the dismissal and denial of the infinitely
larger outrage. Abu Zubaydah was either a terrorist
kingpin or a seriously disturbed individual with multiple
personality traits. He either provided a wealth of
information or he was a useless informant. His torture was
conducted either with or without the full knowledge of
Bush-Cheney. The destruction of the torture tapes was
either approved by Bush-Cheney in advance or it became known
to them after the fact. We’re either seeing a major cover
up or flawed White House public relations in the wake of
Rove’s departure. By applying "the law of
subsumption," (i.e., thinking the worst of Bush-Cheney is
almost always correct given prior performance) this side
show can be wrapped up promptly. Bush and Cheney were
desperate to justify their disastrous Iraq adventure. There
were no WMDs, there never had been any connection between
Saddam and 911, and the excuse of bringing democracy to Iraq
had no legs. Why are we there? How do we explain the Iraqi
resistance? What if the people discover it was really all
about oil? Simple and Grotesque at the Same
Time A justification for
this insanity was both essential and time-critical. Voila!
We’ve captured Abu Zubaydah! Isn’t he a top al Qaeda
operative? But there was a deal
killer right from the start. The FBI’s top al-Qaeda
expert, Dan Coleman, didn’t mince words: "This guy is
insane, certifiable, split personality." In Zubaydah’s
long term diary, he named his personalities: "’hani 1, hani
2, and hani 3,’ - a boy, a young man and a middle-aged
alter ego." Coleman’s CIA counterpart came to the same
conclusion. (This is all documented by Ron Suskind in The One Percent Solution.) This analysis was
quickly discarded and replaced by a self serving political
fantasy. The key al-Qaeda operative was now in custody! A
fourth personality was created for Zubaydah when Bush
described his special prisoner as "one of the top
operatives plotting and planning death and destruction
on the United States." Bush blew the war that never should
have been. He was desperate. Abu Zubaydah experienced
the very worst timing in his life and wound up as a key
excuse for the program of illegal detention and torture.
Next outrage. Who knows why they taped the torture? What
difference does it make? How much more evidence do we need
to demonstrate the absolute betrayal of the United States by
a cult of supreme narcissists? We can grasp that these are
"high crimes" even if our elected representatives
can’t. The relationship between this "key
operative’s" story and the media and political blackout
about the death and suffering of millions may be this
simple. Keep people involved in appalling minutiae and
avoid the larger charges which nearly everyone would see as
an utter outrage. In a sense, it’s the same strategy
employed by the media and politicians in presidential
campaigns. Never mention the real problems, the
overwhelming challenges. Keep it focused on
"experience," the "horse race," polls, and who
apologized to whom. But never address the salient issues.
That would be telling. I Still See Dead People
As interesting as all this tape business is, what
difference does it make in the larger context - the tragedy
that is and will continue to be Iraq? The thought of five
million orphans in a nation of 26 million people is simply
too appalling to fully comprehend. An equivalent number in
the United States would be 57 million orphans. Can
you imagine that? Video taping torture, the destruction of
evidence, and the exact role of the White House in the
entire affair are indicative and emblematic of the larger
problems. These acts represent a gruesome metaphor. But
it’s just more of the same outrageous behavior we’ve
seen for years. The overriding crime is over a million
deaths plus the suffering and abandonment of millions more,
all due to a foreign policy based on lies and deception.
This was done against the prevailing views of the military
and the people of the United States. Millions of Iraqi
civilians are dead, suffering and abandoned. How will
they vote in their new democracy?
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