THE CANONIZATION OF COLIN POWELLby Justin Raimondo (RIP), December 25, 2000THE CANONIZATION OF COLIN POWELL
Colin Powell had been officially named secretary of state for barely five minutes and already he was beating the war drums, demanding the beefing up of Iraqi sanctions and not-so-subtly hinting at a military confrontation in the Middle East:
"We are in the strong position. He [Saddam Hussein] is in the weak position. And I think it is possible to reenergize those sanctions and then continue to contain him and then confront him – should that become necessary again."THE GREAT DISABLER
Have no doubt – it will indeed become "necessary" to rain bombs on the Iraqi people. After all, with the economy tanking – with plenty of help from Dubya, the Great Disabler, who today [December 21] practically announced the demise of the boom – we’ll all need some distraction, a diversion and a demon to blame our economic problems on. Saddam surely fits the bill.
POWELL’S FORKED TONGUE
Isn’t it funny how they always manage to personalize it?
It’s never ordinary Iraqis who will be "confronted" to death – only "Saddam," the incarnation of pure evil. What kind of a person speaks in this way? What sort of human being utilizes the calculated lie to prettify what he is actually talking about – the projected death of thousands of ordinary Iraqis?MUTLICULTURAL MILITARISM
The disgusting orgy of adulation for the new secretary of state is truly a phenomenon to behold, and one of the chief idolators seems to be Powell himself: according to him, his appointment will "give inspiration to young African-Americans coming along – but beyond that, to all young Americans coming along – that no matter where you began in this society, there are no limitations on you." Yes, you too can aspire to become a mass murderer – American foreign policy is, after all, an equal opportunity engine of destruction.
BULLY IN BLACKFACE
"We are in the strong position," he brayed, and the Iraqis are "in the weak position." This kind of blatant bullying is supposed to be an "inspiration"? There are no limits to the arrogance of this man, whose ego is so puffed up by our uncritical media that he can say and do anything – and get away with it. The reason is because Powell is the virtual embodiment of the modern statist ideal, combining his exalted status as a military hero with the inherent political correctness of a racial role model. And so the Bush administration will use Powell to peddle their program of unrestrained militarism, wielding a weapon usually reserved for the Left: the race card. Along with Condoleezza Rice, he will put a black face on US foreign policy – as if that could somehow ameliorate the crimes off the US government in the court of world opinion. General Powell’s reputation as "the reluctant warrior" – an idea that apparently came out of his unwillingness to go all the way and take Baghdad at the end of the Gulf war – is bound to be revised during the next four years, and sooner rather than later.AMERICAN CAESAR
The New York Post reports that Bush "had tears in his eyes as he made his first Cabinet appointment" – but you can bet he wasn’t thinking about the grisly fate that awaits the Iraqis. Indeed, he seemed entirely disconnected from the real meaning of his own appointment, and the clear message that Powell was sending. "He believes as I do," burbled Dubya, "that our nation is best when we project our strength and purpose with humility." Whatever Powell is projecting, it isn’t humility, but the imperial arrogance of an incipient American Caesar.
AN IRAQI CHRISTMAS
Christmas in Iraq – that’s where I’d like to send Colin Powell, and all his journalistic fan club, where he and they could dine on the few items that manage to get past US sanctions (washed down with some powdered milk mixed with contaminated water, the same deadly mixture that has so far killed thousands of Iraqi babies.) A merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
IN SEARCH OF ENEMIES
The media hangs on Powell’s every word, but the content of his statements go unexamined. Where is the logic in declaring that Iraq – long since incapable of launching a military effort of any kind – is a "dangerous threat," yet, according to the General, China is not a "potential enemy" but merely one of those "nations that are seeking their way"? As warmongering goes, this is not very convincing. If the War Party is going to invent enemies to justify a policy of perpetual war and expansion, then why pick on a nation of half-starved people who have been bombed half-way back to the Stone Age? Why not pick on a nation half a billion-plus strong, a nuclear power whose regime has been in cahoots with Dubya’s predecessor?
THE BUSH AGENDA
It just doesn’t make sense – unless and until you begin to unravel the commercial connections and interests that control this administration and direct its foreign policy.
Big Oil owns Dubya, and they have their sights set on the Middle East– not only the Iraqi oil fields but the untold oil wealth of the Caucasus, once part of the former Soviet Union. This volatile region is ready to blow, and a confederation of pro-Western – albeit far from democratic – states, including Georgia and Azerbaijan, are lining up against Russia. With the entry of an administration entirely beholden to Big Oil, US intervention in the region is only a matter of time. Iraq is the doorway to the Caucasus, and this is the real objective of US policy in the Era of Dubya – to finish the cold war and gobble up the juicier remnants of the old Soviet empire.
TWO-PRONGED ASSAULT
The Bush restoration will mean the revival of the cold war, a spate of military spending to pump up a flagging economy and a replay of Desert Storm: combined with NATO expansion, the Bush-Powell foreign policy will amount to a two-pronged assault on the Russians. With Poland and (soon) the Baltics joining the Western alliance, this will bring the NATO-crats right up to the gates of Moscow. And if the Russians notice this, and dare to be alarmed, then this will be touted as proof of Russian "paranoia," "conspiracism," and "xenophobia" – all sure signs of that dread phenomenon, "resurgent nationalism." How long before Vladimir Putin, having restored the old Soviet national anthem and gone to visit Fidel Castro, is reviled as the reincarnation of Stalin and (inevitably) Hitler?
COLIN POWELL AND THE POWER ELITE
I won’t go on at length about Colin Powell as a fitting symbol of our bipartisan policy of global "intervention" because I have already written a short book on the subject: Colin Powell and the Power Elite was written and published in 1993, when the Powell-for-President boomlet was at its height. Here is the story of a man bred for power. Carefully nurtured by the Powers That Be, who seem to have had a special destiny in mind for him, Powell’s appointment as secretary of state has brought him that much closer to his ultimate goal – the White House. After four years of what is shaping up to be a weak and "divisive" presidency, what better way to bring the warring factions of the nation together than the "unifying" figure of General Powell? In any case, as a guide to his political views and connections, and an indication of what we might expect over the next four years, you won’t want to miss Colin Powell and the Power Elite.
https://original.antiwar.com/justin/2000/12/25/the-canonization-of-colin-powell/This post was edited by cambovenzi on Oct 19 2021 07:17pm
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