[Reader-list] Politics of American Un-civilization

[Vivek Narayanan]

I'd like to thank Avinash for translating this article for those of us 
who do not read or even understand Hindi; it's important to get a sense 
of the range of what goes on in other languages, and to bring together 
discourse and conversations across linguistic barriers. So I hope you'll 
post more translations, even of material you don't agree with.

However, I don't agree with some of the assumptions underpinning the 
article, though of course it's hard to pronounce on factual certitude 
when the facts themselves will never completely be at hand.

Firstly, it is important to keep in mind that the published photographs 
themselves are just the tip of iceberg. We know from congressmen and 
others that there are several (perhaps hundreds) of other visual 
documents, including videos depicting rape, etc, which have not been 
released for general consumption precisely because they would threaten 
to seriously unmask the true nature of the US occupation. Since many of 
these interrogation procedures are identical to those reportedly taking 
place thousands of miles away in Guantanamo Bay, we can also surmise 
that these procedures were not anomalies but a deliberately implemented 
policy and, from info leaks from the CIA, we have heard that this policy 
was broadly outlined and signed into existence right from the White 
House, with an army of attendant lawyers, in response to its failure to 
actually capture any "terrorists" of note. And we know (this underscores 
the article's point that we only get the US point of view and points to 
the flawed belief that photographs are somehow more "truthful" than oral 
depositions) from the testimonies of Iraqi prisoners and their families 
that the torture often went much, much further into unphotographed and 
unspeakable brutality. This is common word-of-mouth knowledge in Iraq: 
the photographs were a big shock only to those of us looking in from the 
outside. So if the state dept really wanted to "strike terror" it ought 
to have leaked more info about what is actually happening. The 
procedures depicted in the photographs are chilling to see, no doubt, 
but they surely don't reflect the extent of brutality that happens, and 
has been happening every day, in interrogation rooms around the world, 
whether it be wrought upon nationalist fighters or even ordinary 
pickpockets.

Secondly, the assumption that any leak must have been deliberately 
engineered shuts off the possibility of internal outrage and shame.

Leaks seem to be happening at many levels. Many of the US soldiers in 
Iraq are not properly trained fulltimers, but part of the National 
Guard-- which means they expected to do a few drills on weekends and go 
on with college, or work, or whatever was being financed. Many of them 
are from deeply rural areas where they did not even get to witness 
casual urban violence. Plopped in the middle of Iraq, shooting and 
getting shot at by eleven-year old Iraqis, they must be deeply 
traumatised (the suicide rate for this group is high), and are less 
likely to buy into the code of silence that constricts professional 
soldiers. While their emails home are censored, a fair amount seems to 
be getting through, including letters to Michael Moore. From the sense I 
get, the photographs were a common practice and must have been in very 
wide circulation long before they hit the press, so anybody could have 
leaked them. It is also possible, for me at least, that they were leaked 
by disgruntled and traumatised officers, a few of whom have also written 
to Moore.

There are also leaks happening all the way up the hierarchy. Bush is 
famous for overruling logic at meetings and making quick decisions based 
on what he calls his "gut instincts" (email communications from Jesus in 
heaven, perhaps). This has alienated many within his own party (though 
few are talking)and many who have had their jobs through several 
administrations. There seems to be, especially, a large amount of 
dissent fomenting in the CIA, because they are simultaneously blamed for 
intelligence lapses AND not listened to. While CIA employees themselves 
cannot talk to the press, the preferred method seems to be to leak the 
info to ex-CIA friends, who are not bound anymore by the code. So the 
person who usually comes on TV to hint at leaks is an ex-CIA official. 
These are, admittedly, people who are still heavily invested in US 
dominance, and have presided over many years of torture and 
assassination; but they would rather that imperialist policy be dictated 
by logic and assessment than by Jesus via his deputy prophet. So they 
are less shocked and traumatised by what goes on but believe that the 
White House has embarked on an adventure that has been and will continue 
to be very diffuse and counterproductive.

So there is ample evidence that the US power structure is cracking under 
the weight of its own contradictions, and that the leaks are seeping 
through these cracks.

V.

> 
>
>From: LOKVIDYA SAMVAD, No. 14, July 2004 (p.20)
>
> 
>
>Politics of American Un-civilization
>
> 
>
>What happened in Abu Gharaib prison and the worldwide publicity it gained, both should be regarded as parts of US strategy. It is not a strategy of war but the strategy of establishing an uncivilized regime in the world. This should also be seen in the context of forthcoming elections in the US to which Bush Administration is responding in part by this particular strategy.  
>
> 
>
>The story goes that the Officers of the US Army may have been aware of the torture of Iraqi prisoners but they were not a part of it, and that the pictures and videos of the torture were heroically leaked to the media leading to their worldwide dissemination. We think this is just lies. Ever since the war has been on in Iraq, the US has successfully censored the news and pictures coming out of there. There were hardly any pictures of the protracted battles that took place while the pictures of the demolition of Saddam Hussain's statue were repeated over and over again on the TV screens. Only victories of US army found place in the media coverage. Only on rare occasions did one fine the stories of Iraqi Army's resilience and of defeats suffered by US forces. Is the heroism of the media limited only to showing the victimhood of Iraqis? The truth lies somewhere else. The whole thing is about the priorities and policies of the US administration.
>
> 
>
>The way US went ahead to start a war in Iraq solely on the basis of its military strength in opposition to global resistance, spurning the sentiments of people everywhere, and by completely disregarding the United Nations, brings to light the current US policy and strategy. The policy clearly is to rule the world and the strategy is terror. US cannot hope to win the support of people and countries to its policies on the basis of their consent. It can gain their allegiance only by striking fear into them. By publicizing the pictures from Abu Gharaib depicting behavior that crosses all limits, the US is telling everyone that the people opposing US will meet with the same consequences. The worldwide publicity of these pictures can only be part of a well-thought out strategy.
>
> 
>
>This year's election also requires Bush administration to show itself as that demon which has in it to rule the world with iron hand. In the age of globalisation, control on international trade can be exercised only in this manner and only thus the dream of an American Century can be fulfilled. The republican party cannot trounce the democratic party by paying lip service to democratic values or by talking about international cooperation. Only way Bush can win is by arousing the egotistic and animal instincts of the American people. 
>
> 
>
> 
>
>__________________________________________________
>Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi.
>
>--Boundary_(ID_+u9LCO2YpdC3SzCTUK/upw)
>Content-type: text/html; charset=o-8859-1
>Content-transfer-encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE
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><BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
><DEFANGED_DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Friends,</FONT></DEFANGED_DIV>
><DEFANGED_DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DEFANGED_DIV>
><DEFANGED_DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am appending below my translation of a small 
>piece that appeared in the Hindi journal 'LokVidya Samvad'. The piece argues 
>that the worldwide publicity of torture taking place in Abu Gharaib and 
>elsewhere is part of a plan. I take the claim seriously and would like to 
>inquire into how exactly these pictures were leaked to the media. I have read 
>that Seymoor Hersh and CBS Television were the first to publish these. What is 
>their background? Are there any heroic stories as to how this leak was made 
>possible? Are there any US enquiries as to the security lapses which made this 
>leak possible? It does seem to me that appearance one after another of these 
>videos and pictures from a high security prison is suspicious. </FONT></DEFANGED_DIV>
><DEFANGED_DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DEFANGED_DIV>
><DEFANGED_DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>avinash</FONT></DEFANGED_DIV>
><DEFANGED_DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DEFANGED_DIV>
><DEFANGED_DIV>
><P class="MsoNormal" DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;<?xml:namespace prefix = o 
>ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></P>
><P class="MsoNormal" DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">From: LOKVIDYA SAMVAD, No. 14, 
>July 2004 (p.20)</P>
><P class="MsoNormal" DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></P>
><P class="MsoNormal" DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Politics of American 
>Un-civilization</P>
><P class="MsoNormal" DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></P>
><P class="MsoNormal" DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">What happened in Abu Gharaib 
>prison and the worldwide publicity it gained, both should be regarded as parts 
>of US strategy. It is not a strategy of war but the strategy of establishing an 
>uncivilized regime in the world. This should also be seen in the context of 
>forthcoming elections in the US to which Bush Administration is responding in 
>part by this particular strategy.<DEFANGED_SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; 
></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
><P class="MsoNormal" DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></P>
><P class="MsoNormal" DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The story goes that the Officers 
>of the US Army may have been aware of the torture of Iraqi prisoners but they 
>were not a part of it, and that the pictures and videos of the torture were 
>heroically leaked to the media leading to their worldwide dissemination. We 
>think this is just lies. Ever since the war has been on in Iraq, the US has 
>successfully censored the news and pictures coming out of there. There were 
>hardly any pictures of the protracted battles that took place while the pictures 
>of the demolition of Saddam Hussain’s statue were repeated over and over again 
>on the TV screens. Only victories of US army found place in the media coverage. 
>Only on rare occasions did one fine the stories of Iraqi Army’s resilience and 
>of defeats suffered by US forces. Is the heroism of the media limited only to 
>showing the victimhood of Iraqis? The truth lies somewhere else. The whole thing 
>is about the priorities and policies of the US administration.</P>
><P class="MsoNormal" DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></P>
><P class="MsoNormal" DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The way US went ahead to start a 
>war in Iraq solely on the basis of its military strength in opposition to global 
>resistance, spurning the sentiments of people everywhere, and by completely 
>disregarding the United Nations, brings to light the current US policy and 
>strategy. The policy clearly is to rule the world and the strategy is terror. US 
>cannot hope to win the support of people and countries to its policies on the 
>basis of their consent. It can gain their allegiance only by striking fear into 
>them. By publicizing the pictures from Abu Gharaib depicting behavior that 
>crosses all limits, the US is telling everyone that the people opposing US will 
>meet with the same consequences. The worldwide publicity of these pictures can 
>only be part of a well-thought out strategy.</P>
><P class="MsoNormal" DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></P>
><P class="MsoNormal" DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">This year’s election also 
>requires Bush administration to show itself as that demon which has in it to 
>rule the world with iron hand. In the age of globalisation, control on 
>international trade can be exercised only in this manner and only thus the dream 
>of an American Century can be fulfilled. The republican party cannot trounce the 
>democratic party by paying lip service to democratic values or by talking about 
>international cooperation. Only way Bush can win is by arousing the egotistic 
>and animal instincts of the American people. </P>
><P class="MsoNormal" DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></P>
><P class="MsoNormal" 
>DEFANGED_style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></P></DEFANGED_DIV></BODY></HTML>
>
><P><HR size=1><FONT face=Arial size=2><B>
>Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi.
></B></FONT>
>
>--Boundary_(ID_+u9LCO2YpdC3SzCTUK/upw)--
>  
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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