Conghaileach
10th January 2003, 20:47
ANALYSIS OF EMPIRE
=================
[Col. Writ. 1/1/03] Copyright 2003 Mumia Abu-Jamal
"To sit in darkness here
Hatching vain empires."
-- John Milton (1608-1674) "Paradise Lost"
There is something quite quaint, and faintly disturbing to
hear Americans speak of their nation as a 'democracy'. America,
given its richness, its diversity, and its complexity, is many
things, but a democracy it ain't. This is especially so, if one
considers the true imperial nature of the modern American
nation-state. This is not a rabid call of the wild radical, baying
at the pitted moon. For perhaps the first time in almost a century,
leading voices of the elite, and the corporate press admit as much.
In the pages of the business journal, *The Wall Street Journal*, one
finds scattered references to the imperial nature of the U.S. Empire,
even if there is no overt recognition of it in the platforms of the
political parties, or the alleged history taught in grade schools
these days. But if history teaches us anything, it is that nations
may describe themselves one way, and be another. When I hear
nativist propagandists speak of the U.S. as the 'Birthplace of
Freedom,' or some such, I feel compelled to ask, how can the
'birthplace of freedom' be built on slavery -- the very antithesis of
freedom -- the heart of *un*freedom? (Why not call it 'the
birthplace of White freedom' -- or is that too revealing of those who
weren't free?)
Of such fictions histories are born.
It is in this light that we must view the newly-announced
'Bush Doctrine', as recorded in the recently published "National
Security Strategy of the United States of America" document. It calls
for and justifies (or tries to) preemptive strikes all around the
globe, against anybody, anywhere, who even thinks about posing either
a threat or parity with the Empire. To make a long story short, the
document calls for the canning of the cold war strategies of
'containment' and 'deterrence'. Using its supremacy of the
technology of death, the U.S. reserves to its self the right to
pre-emptively attack and even overthrow any nation-state in the world
it deems threatening, attempting to acquire WMDs (you know, weapons
like the U.S. already has), harbors terrorists, or doesn't
sufficiently suck-up to the Big Dog on the street (U.S.A.).
The UN is but a minor annoyance (as has been shown in the Iraqi war
example).
Neither is the European Union much of a deterrent to U.S. hubris,
for while they may possess an inordinate amount of wealth and
economic strength, they are, at present, no match for the martial
power of the American Empire -- and they know it.
As long ago as 1991, when the late French President Francois
Mitterand and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, announced their
plans for a joint Franco-German "Euro-corps" -- an official military
arm of the EU -- Bush, the Elder, issued a thinly-veiled message to
his European 'allies': "Our premise is that the American role in the
defense and the affairs of Europe will not be made superfluous
by European union. If our premise is wrong, if my friends, your
ultimate aim is to provide individually for your own defense, the
time to tell us is today." The "Euro-corps" idea was quietly
shelved, and the Cold War relic of NATO has been edged into its place
-- under continued U.S. strategic and command dominance, of course.
Indeed, even NATO has its limits, as scholar Michael Ignatieff noted
in a recent "New York Review of Books" article:
Britain's prime minister can shuttle usefully between Islamabad
and New Delhi, but the influence that determines outcomes in
the regime comes from Washington. This is a painful reality
for Europeans, who like the Japanese believed the myth that
economic power could be the equivalent of military might.
Events since September 11 have rubbed in the lesson that
global power is still measured by military capacity. Having
rallied to the American Cause after September 11, the
NATO liaison officers who arrived at CENTcom in Florida had
to endure the humiliation of being denied all access to the
Command Center where the war against Osama bin Laden
was actually being run. *The American's trust their allies
so little -- the same was true during the Kosovo operation --
that they exclude everyone but the British from all but the
most menial police work.*
["Barbarians at the Gate?", NYROB (2/28/02), pp.4-6]
An Empire has, nor needs, allies. It is sufficient to Itself. It
has subject powers. It has vassals. It does not have, nor tolerates
equals. The Bush Doctrine is replete with threats for the rest of the
world, to keep it that way.
Forever.
Copyright 2003 Mumia Abu-Jamal
=======================================
MUMIA'S COLUMNS NEED TO BE PUBLISHED AS BROADLY AS POSSIBLE TO
INSPIRE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT AND HELP CALL ATTENTION TO HIS CASE.
The campaign to kill Mumia is in full swing and we need you to
**please** contact as many publications and information outlets as
you possibly can to run Mumia's commentaries (on-line and
**especially off-line**)!! The only requirements are that you run
them *unedited*, with every word including copyright information
intact, and send a copy of the publication to Mumia and/or ICFFMAJ.
THANK YOU!!!
These are VERY SERIOUS TIMES for political activists in this country
and around the world. Get full details and keep updated by reading
ACTION ALERTS!! at http://www.mumia.org and http://www.movenet.org.
========================================
To download Mp3's of Mumia's commentaries visit
http://www.prisonradio.org or http://www.fsrn.org
==============================================>
The Power of Truth is Final -- Free Mumia!
PLEASE CONTACT:
International Concerned Family & Friends of MAJ
P.O. Box 19709
Philadelphia, PA 19143
Phone - 215-476-8812/ Fax - 215-476-6180/ E-mail - [email protected]
AND OFFER YOUR SERVICES!
Send our brotha some LOVE and LIGHT at:
Mumia Abu-Jamal
AM 8335
SCI-Greene
175 Progress Drive
Waynesburg, PA 15370
WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CAN *NOT* REST!!
=================
[Col. Writ. 1/1/03] Copyright 2003 Mumia Abu-Jamal
"To sit in darkness here
Hatching vain empires."
-- John Milton (1608-1674) "Paradise Lost"
There is something quite quaint, and faintly disturbing to
hear Americans speak of their nation as a 'democracy'. America,
given its richness, its diversity, and its complexity, is many
things, but a democracy it ain't. This is especially so, if one
considers the true imperial nature of the modern American
nation-state. This is not a rabid call of the wild radical, baying
at the pitted moon. For perhaps the first time in almost a century,
leading voices of the elite, and the corporate press admit as much.
In the pages of the business journal, *The Wall Street Journal*, one
finds scattered references to the imperial nature of the U.S. Empire,
even if there is no overt recognition of it in the platforms of the
political parties, or the alleged history taught in grade schools
these days. But if history teaches us anything, it is that nations
may describe themselves one way, and be another. When I hear
nativist propagandists speak of the U.S. as the 'Birthplace of
Freedom,' or some such, I feel compelled to ask, how can the
'birthplace of freedom' be built on slavery -- the very antithesis of
freedom -- the heart of *un*freedom? (Why not call it 'the
birthplace of White freedom' -- or is that too revealing of those who
weren't free?)
Of such fictions histories are born.
It is in this light that we must view the newly-announced
'Bush Doctrine', as recorded in the recently published "National
Security Strategy of the United States of America" document. It calls
for and justifies (or tries to) preemptive strikes all around the
globe, against anybody, anywhere, who even thinks about posing either
a threat or parity with the Empire. To make a long story short, the
document calls for the canning of the cold war strategies of
'containment' and 'deterrence'. Using its supremacy of the
technology of death, the U.S. reserves to its self the right to
pre-emptively attack and even overthrow any nation-state in the world
it deems threatening, attempting to acquire WMDs (you know, weapons
like the U.S. already has), harbors terrorists, or doesn't
sufficiently suck-up to the Big Dog on the street (U.S.A.).
The UN is but a minor annoyance (as has been shown in the Iraqi war
example).
Neither is the European Union much of a deterrent to U.S. hubris,
for while they may possess an inordinate amount of wealth and
economic strength, they are, at present, no match for the martial
power of the American Empire -- and they know it.
As long ago as 1991, when the late French President Francois
Mitterand and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, announced their
plans for a joint Franco-German "Euro-corps" -- an official military
arm of the EU -- Bush, the Elder, issued a thinly-veiled message to
his European 'allies': "Our premise is that the American role in the
defense and the affairs of Europe will not be made superfluous
by European union. If our premise is wrong, if my friends, your
ultimate aim is to provide individually for your own defense, the
time to tell us is today." The "Euro-corps" idea was quietly
shelved, and the Cold War relic of NATO has been edged into its place
-- under continued U.S. strategic and command dominance, of course.
Indeed, even NATO has its limits, as scholar Michael Ignatieff noted
in a recent "New York Review of Books" article:
Britain's prime minister can shuttle usefully between Islamabad
and New Delhi, but the influence that determines outcomes in
the regime comes from Washington. This is a painful reality
for Europeans, who like the Japanese believed the myth that
economic power could be the equivalent of military might.
Events since September 11 have rubbed in the lesson that
global power is still measured by military capacity. Having
rallied to the American Cause after September 11, the
NATO liaison officers who arrived at CENTcom in Florida had
to endure the humiliation of being denied all access to the
Command Center where the war against Osama bin Laden
was actually being run. *The American's trust their allies
so little -- the same was true during the Kosovo operation --
that they exclude everyone but the British from all but the
most menial police work.*
["Barbarians at the Gate?", NYROB (2/28/02), pp.4-6]
An Empire has, nor needs, allies. It is sufficient to Itself. It
has subject powers. It has vassals. It does not have, nor tolerates
equals. The Bush Doctrine is replete with threats for the rest of the
world, to keep it that way.
Forever.
Copyright 2003 Mumia Abu-Jamal
=======================================
MUMIA'S COLUMNS NEED TO BE PUBLISHED AS BROADLY AS POSSIBLE TO
INSPIRE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT AND HELP CALL ATTENTION TO HIS CASE.
The campaign to kill Mumia is in full swing and we need you to
**please** contact as many publications and information outlets as
you possibly can to run Mumia's commentaries (on-line and
**especially off-line**)!! The only requirements are that you run
them *unedited*, with every word including copyright information
intact, and send a copy of the publication to Mumia and/or ICFFMAJ.
THANK YOU!!!
These are VERY SERIOUS TIMES for political activists in this country
and around the world. Get full details and keep updated by reading
ACTION ALERTS!! at http://www.mumia.org and http://www.movenet.org.
========================================
To download Mp3's of Mumia's commentaries visit
http://www.prisonradio.org or http://www.fsrn.org
==============================================>
The Power of Truth is Final -- Free Mumia!
PLEASE CONTACT:
International Concerned Family & Friends of MAJ
P.O. Box 19709
Philadelphia, PA 19143
Phone - 215-476-8812/ Fax - 215-476-6180/ E-mail - [email protected]
AND OFFER YOUR SERVICES!
Send our brotha some LOVE and LIGHT at:
Mumia Abu-Jamal
AM 8335
SCI-Greene
175 Progress Drive
Waynesburg, PA 15370
WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CAN *NOT* REST!!