Category: politics

my comments on hendrik hertzberg’s “what wikileaks tells us about iran”

this essay highlights many things for me: wikileaks cables r NOT the pentagon papers – they do not reveal anything new. hertzberg, much like fareed zakaria (an unflattering comparison by any standards), finds the leaks reassuring as they simply showcase the apparent honesty of american foreign policy and the eloquence of american diplomats.

the biggest revelation, according to both writers, is how iran has been proven to be a threat, not just to israel and by extension the u.s., but also to arab states in the region. this is what wikileaks has accomplished – a judith miller via the internet, with oh, so much more credibility.

i’m deeply disappointed by hertzberg’s use of corporate-media-speak. he insists on calling the iranian govt “mullahs” while failing to call the american govt “war criminals” – that would put things in perspective, no? the iranian govt might place religion on an altar but don’t we do the same with corporate profit? they imprison women for adultery because it’s against their religion and we torture people for resisting our military occupations because it’s against ours.

i’m also tired of ahmadinejad’s corny description as holocaust denier and potential eraser of israel. how come we don’t use similar labels for netanyahu or pretty much every israeli politician of import? here r some ideas: ethnic cleanser of palestine, bulldozer of homes, incarcerator of children, supporter of apartheid, blockador and decimator of civilians, etc. so preposterous to judge one politician (ahmadinejad) on rhetoric while refusing to judge another (netanyahu and others) on action.

it’s also incredible to me that someone of hertzberg’s intelligence would consider an imaginary iranian bomb to be a threat to israel because it would embolden its enemies and shatter its mystique of invincibility. can’t he see the obvious disadvantages of the lopsided distribution of power in the middle east, which is further distorted by israel’s unilateral possession of nuclear arms. how does that encourage balance or any investment in diplomacy? i’m not advocating nuclear bombs for everyone but a change in thinking – nuclear disarmament on every side, not just countries that fall outside our sphere of influence and consequently off of our most popular client state list.

most disheartening of all r hertzberg’s reasons for not going to war again, on muslim soil: in view of time investment and poor chances of bloodlessness (for americans, hertzberg is quick to elaborate). he doesn’t care to mention the illegality of the wars or the massive horror and mayhem visited on muslim civilians.

he ends with some wisdom about internal change being a better option in iran. but he reminds the u.s. and israel (he makes it a point to see them as interchangeable) to keep up their “steady vigilance, strategic patience, and stomach for twilight uncertainty” in order to defeat iran’s evil intentions. he is particularly excited by the “biting” sanctions against iran in this regard. an equally strong argument can be made for non-western or muslim countries (on whose soil we like to play our war games) to use their vigilance, patience and stomach for uncertainty vis a vis what the united states/israel have in store for them. if the present wars and occupations r any guide, it’s not anything good i’m afraid.

Iran and the Bomb by Hendrik Hertzberg
The New Yorker, DECEMBER 13, 2010

WikiLeaks Shows the Skills of U.S. Diplomats By FAREED ZAKARIA
Time, Thursday, Dec. 02, 2010

Tariq Ali: Does Liu Xiaobo Really Deserve the Peace Prize?

the nobel peace prize – another joke?

“For the record, Liu Xiaobo has stated publicly that in his view:

(a) China’s tragedy is that it wasn’t colonised for at least 300 years by a Western power or Japan. This would apparently have “civilized it forever”

?(b) The Korean and Vietnam wars fought by the US were wars against totalitarianism and enhanced Washington’s ‘moral credibility’;

(c) Bush was right to go to war in Iraq and Senator Kerry’s criticisms were ‘slander-mongering’;

(d) Afghanistan? No surprises here: Full support for Nato’s war.”

Full article.

No Act of Rebellion Is Wasted

We may feel, in the face of the ruthless corporate destruction of our nation, our culture, and our ecosystem, powerless and weak. But we are not. We have a power that terrifies the corporate state. Any act of rebellion, no matter how few people show up or how heavily it is censored by a media that caters to the needs and profits of corporations, chips away at corporate power. Full article.

Iraq The Hidden Story

“no one who would see what we see, would ever ever support a war again. so it’s essential for govts that they shouldn’t see these things.” (robert fisk) full article.

Images of Iraq dominate our TV news bulletins every night but in this film, Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow, questions whether these reports are sugar-coating the bloody reality of war under the US-led occupation. Warning: This video contains images that should only be viewed by a mature audience.

amiri baraka’s dutchman performed at RIT’s lab theater

met amiri baraka after a performance of his legendary play “dutchman” – rit’s lab theater, dec 13, 2010.

FROM enotes.com:

Dutchman, Amiri Baraka’s shocking one-act play was first presented at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City in March, 1964. It won the Obie Award for best off-Broadway play, putting Baraka, who was actively contributing to five other plays at the time, into the public limelight. He was still in his Bohemian phase but would the following year divorce his white wife, move to Harlem, and change his name from LeRoi Jones to Amiri Baraka indicating his new Black Nationalist leanings. Dutchman, written just before this move, is a transitional piece. It carries elements of the dadaist poetry of his Bohemian stage, anti-racist sentiments, and the radical black consciousness-raising that would characterize much of his later work.

Dutchman is an emotionally charged and highly symbolic version of the Adam and Eve story, wherein a naive bourgeois black man is murdered by an insane and calculating white seductress, who is coldly preparing for her next victim as the curtain comes down. The emotionally taut, intellectual verbal fencing between Clay (the black Adam) and Lula (a white Eve) spirals irrevocably to the symbolic act of violence that will apparently repeat itself over and over again. Baraka’s play is one of mythical proportions, a ritual drama that has a sociological purpose: to galvanize his audience into revolutionary action. Dutchman initially played to primarily white audiences, until Baraka moved it to a Harlem theater that he founded in order to reach, and to educate, his intended audience of the black bourgeoisie. Ironically, the Harlem audiences labeled it a white-hating play and the play closed in Harlem due to lack of revenue. But Baraka was now fully established as the roaring black literary lion, and he continued his mission of black consciousness raising through a prolific output of drama, poetry, essays, and political activity.

with amiri baraka

John Pilger: Why are wars not being reported honestly?

Never has so much official energy been expended in ensuring journalists collude with the makers of rapacious wars which, say the media-friendly generals, are now “perpetual”. In echoing the west’s more verbose warlords, such as the waterboarding former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who predicated “50 years of war”, they plan a state of permanent conflict wholly dependent on keeping at bay an enemy whose name they dare not speak: the public. Full article.

Iran’s Nuclear Operation Revealed To Be Cover For Greatest Roller Coaster Ever

Despite years of economic sanctions and the constant threat of military action, Iran reportedly continued working on the clandestine project by stockpiling metal tubes for the tracks, enriching uranium to provide glow-in-the dark lighting for the subterranean portion of the ride, and purchasing hundreds of gallons of neon green paint from Pakistan. Full article.

december 10th is human rights day

the universal declaration of human rights was passed and adopted by the general assembly of the united nations on december 10, 1948 – 62 yrs ago. much to live up to.

so today on human rights day, do something for peace and social justice: join a rally, sign a petition, write a letter to ur local newspaper, call ur congress people, join with other activists in ur community, volunteer, donate, check out the aclu or amnesty intl, listen to democracy now and make a habit of it, get involved. this is our world – let’s make it better.

roadmap to apartheid

itisapartheid.org has organized a video contest to illustrate the grim reality of apartheid in israel. u can watch all 10 videos here and vote online. over the following few days i will be posting the videos that i found most compelling. here is the first one, “roadmap to apartheid.”