Presidents Obama and Bush:
Have both promoted fear as an
instrument of domestic
and foreign policy?
Like Bush, Obama Fans and Exploits Fears of the People (Hoy, Ecuador)
"Fear and terror are concepts antagonistic to rationality,
which is what is supposed to prevail in the United States. ... The 21st century
drama triggered by the events in Afghanistan and the medieval abuses at Guantánamo
reaffirm that the U.S. continues to sow its bad seeds, which are products of the
fear and terror embraced precisely to combat terrorism. Paradoxical, isn't it? The
planting of bad seeds always leads to a bad crop!"
If
President B. Obama (BO) were to be consistent with his discourse in favor of
freedom, he ought to be able fulfill a campaign commitment, albeit belatedly,
and order a review of the excesses and atrocities, if not torture, committed by
his administration and that of Bush, under the pretext of fighting terrorism.
On
September 12, 2011, I wrote in this column the following:
"Beneath
the dull rumbling that it would compromise national security, the Republican
administration committed multiple abuses, denied justice to many people it had seized,
applied sanctions to whoever it pleased, tortured a la carte, or simply
questioned anyone it categorized as dangerous, sanctioning them all under the
wide umbrella the so-called Patriot Act. These excesses were then justified under
the pretext that terrorism had to be fought, thereby avoiding having to account
for these acts. And the courts of justice, in this context, have been extremely
generous toward the administration by looking the other way regarding government
misconduct, always under the same official argument: "State secrets,"
"national security," threats to "national security," "combating
terrorism," etc., etc.
"In
this context, the North Americans made a bet on the future by electing BO, who promised
in his inaugural address to restore the system of civil liberties that had been
clearly undermined by Bush's policies to execute anti-terrorist plans that
resulted in government abuses against the essential human rights of his own
people and outsiders - by implementing the Patriot Act."
What
a pity that BO betrayed his own discourse. Former Vice President Al Gore, in
his book, TheAssault on Reason, questioned the excesses
("useful lies" Gore calls them) permitted beneath the language of
fear, so well marketed by Bush. However, by default, BO has supported and
continued these Patriot Act excesses, to the detriment of privacy and respect for
civil liberties. Fear and terror are concepts antagonistic to rationality,
which is what is supposed to prevail in the United States.
Without
denying the necessity of strengthening security, the leaks of Bradley Manning,
who is accused of undermining state security; certain cables published by WikiLeaks,
which brought to light dirt laundered at the behest of the departments of State
and Commerce in regard to the abuses of business interests permitted under the
Patriot Act; the wiretapping of the press encompassed by "AP-Gate;" and
the revelations of Edward Snowden, who accuses the National Security Agency of
having become a center of espionage which violates the privacy of Internet users
and undermines free expression, clearly show that such legal violations
continue. Such violations exploit collective psychosis under the umbrella of
fighting terrorism. Now they intend to justify it all by saying it prevented
terrorist attacks.
Furthermore,
the 21st century drama triggered by the events in Afghanistan and the medieval abuses
at Guantánamo reaffirm that the U.S. continues to sow its bad seeds, which are products
of the fear and terror embraced precisely to combat terrorism. Paradoxical,
isn't it? The planting of bad seeds always leads to a bitter crop!
