Naomi Klein, Bush's tool kit for mini-empires

[G_j]

another great article from Naomi..

A DEADLY FRANCHISE
Naomi Klein, AlterNet

George Bush's "war on terror" has created a tool kit for any mini-empire looking to get rid of its opposition.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16701


The Marriott hotel in Jakarta was still burning when Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia's security minister, explained the implications of the day's attack: "Those who criticise about human rights being breached must understand that all the bombing victims are more important than any human rights issue."

In a sentence, we got the best summary yet of the philosophy underlying Bush's so-called War on Terror (WOT). Terrorism doesn't just blow up buildings; it blasts every other issue off the political map. The spectre of terrorism ? real and exaggerated ? has become a shield of impunity, protecting governments around the world from scrutiny for their human rights abuses.

Many have argued that the War on Terror is the US government's thinly veiled excuse for constructing a classic empire, in the model of Rome or Britain. Two years into the crusade, it's clear this is a mistake: the Bush gang doesn't have the stick-to-it-ness to successfully occupy one country, let alone a dozen. Bush and the gang do, however, have the hustle of good marketers, and they know how to contract out. What Bush has created in the WOT is less a "doctrine" for world domination than an easy-to-assemble toolkit for any mini-empire looking to get rid of the opposition and expand its power.
..more..

[G_j]

1. evening kick

:kick:

[Stone_Spirits]

2. question, pardon the sarcasm but

who cares?


edit: good read btw

[DemBones DemBones]

3. Excellent article & an easy way to brush up on events in 7 countries

that have taken cues from the Bush* War On Terror.

[Stone_Spirits]

4. maybe that's why

there is so little interest in it?
(more sarcasm) :-(

[DemBones DemBones]

5. Why the sarcasm? Do you dislike Naomi Klein's writing?

Don't care about what happens in other countries? I don't understand what your agenda is here.

:shrug:

[Stone_Spirits]

6. I apologise

for being unclear in my sarcastic manner. I love Naomi's writing! I've been visting DU for a long time and have never seen much interest in her, I saw this thread with no replies fading away, thus my sarcasm. Sorry, I guess I was a bit over the top.

peace-

[DemBones DemBones]

7. That's OK. When I read your first comment, I thought that

could be your meaning but I just had to ask when you repeated it. I don't know why nobody's interested. Good writer, good article, not even very long, what's not to like? Perhaps some people are reading the article and not posting any comments? At least we know three of us enjoyed it.

I especially liked reading it at alternet -- Naomi will stop using that tiny font on her site when she has to start wearing bifocals!

But any of you DUers reading this who aren't familiar with Naomi's work should check out her site:

http://www.nologo.org

And peace to you, Stone_Spirits. :hippie:

[G_j]

8. LOL

Stone is actually a close friend of mine!

thank you DemBones for the link!

[DemBones DemBones]

10. Bwahaahaa! You guys really didn't think anyone else liked

Naomi Klein?

Wait. . .

only three of us posting. . .

maybe you guys were right. Damn.


At least I know it's not an anti-Naomi conspiracy.

[G_j]

11. had a similar conversation

over a piece she wrote before the war. Her interest in connecting issues to "globalization" doesn't ring a bell with many folks I guess. I'll look for the article.

edit: found this in the my DU bookmarks, unfortunately the link no longer works and I couldn't find the article at her site or anywhere else. Thanks to Armstead for the original post.

http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/54692/1/ (no longer works)

Carving Up Iraq's Assets
Naomi Klein
Third World Network (Goa)
Mon., Apr. 21, 2003

Bomb Before You Buy: What is Planned for Iraq Is Not Reconstruction but Robbery

By Naomi Klein
Putting Iraq on Sale

On April 6, deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz spelled it out: there will be no role for the UN in setting up an interim government in Iraq. The US-run regime will last at least six months, "probably longer than that." And by the time the Iraqi people have a say in choosing a government, the
key economic decisions about their country's future will have been made by their occupiers. "There has to be an effective administration from day one," Wolfowitz said. "People need water and food and medicine, and the sewers have to work, the electricity has to work. And that's coalition responsibility."

The process of how they will get all this infrastructure to work is usually called "reconstruction." But American plans for Iraq's future economy go well beyond that. Rather than rebuilding, the country is being treated as a blank slate on which the most ideological Washington neo-liberals can design their dream economy: fully privatised, foreign-owned and open for business.
<snip>

Some argue that it's too simplistic to say this war is about oil. They're right. It's about oil, water, roads, trains, phones, ports and drugs. And if this process isn't halted, "free Iraq" will be the most sold country on earth.
<snip>


So what is a recessionary, growth-addicted superpower to do? How about upgrading from Free Trade Lite, which wrestles market access through backroom bullying at the WTO, to Free Trade Supercharged, which seizes new
markets on the battlefields of pre-emptive wars? After all, negotiations with sovereign countries can be hard. Far easier to just tear up the country, occupy it, then rebuild it the way you want. Bush hasn't abandoned free trade, as some have claimed, he just has a new doctrine: "Bomb before you buy."
<snip>

[G_j]

9. it's ok

:hi: