From Orwell to Bush: Learn from History, America

Orwell would be scared today. In our time, the government's exploitation of public fear has reached Oceanian proportions. Between the hasty inception of the PATRIOT Act and its grave implications on our countries' civil rights and the unashamed sidestepping of the Constitution by the current administration, America is heading in an Orwellian spiral to its ruin.

Not since the Red Scare in the 1950s and the "communist menace" has the government's blatant exploitation of the public been so evident. Vague threat warnings are given out during the holiday season to keep everyone alert for the menace that has somehow failed to seriously threaten our nation since the events of September 11. But we all still must stay vigilant, and keep an eye on the Terror Alert Level, a fancy color-coded way for the American public to see that terrorism still lurks in the shadows. Polls are taken on the corporate-owned media that ask questions about terrorism, and the airwaves are full of people bantering about the topic for hours on end. Keep it in play, control the public's knowledge, and ride it out for all it's politically worth. It sounds a lot like 1954 to me.

Everyone knows the phrase "history repeats itself", it's become common in our world, but apparently they have all disregarded it in their consideration of our current administration. 50 years after McCarthy conducted his witch hunts, the government is at it again. Ambiguous terms like "communist sympathizers" have been replaced by the more modern-sounding and important "domestic terrorist". But this time it's serious.

With the saturation of technology into modern society and large corporations owning huge media conglomerates, the government has found all the information control it needs. News like Bush's current oil deal with the Saudis (now rescinded by all parties as a simple "misunderstanding") get brushed aside without a thought, and instead the media focuses on more entertaining stories about mass murderers, sports, Janet Jackson's nipple ring, and of course, the constant threat of terrorism.

Before, McCarthy could shout at "Communist sympathizers" as loud and as much as he wanted, and through the HUAC he ruined hundreds of honest American's lives. But this time, the McCarthy of our era is in a position to scratch out the Constitution and put laws on the books that will seriously affect the civil rights and freedoms of the American public.

Our administration, since it's inception in a 2000 election that can only be described as "ambiguous", has set it's course directly towards the elimination of the American public's voice in government. Section 803a of the PATRIOT Act reads as follows:

"The term 'domestic terrorism' means activities that appear to be intended to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion..."

Quite ambiguous, but I suppose that's the point. Make a broad net to allow for the capture of the dangerous terrorists, and slide a bit down that slippery slope towards the complete erosion of our nation's core laws. And if the public is a little disconcerted about this violation, you gently remind them that terrorism still lurks. And a few months later, you push for a little more power to eliminate it, I mean, so what if the civil rights that the legislation violates have successfully guided this nation since it's inception, we wouldn't use it against honest Americans, honest. We're the government. And by then, it's too late. If we don't stop it, the Orwellian spiral could start here, and I don't want to fathom where it could end.

II. War is based on Deception

The events of September 11th have paralyzed the American public with fear. The coming 2004 Presidential election is a perfect example of this fear, as evidenced in a Gallup poll conducted between April 5th and 8th, 2004 [1]. During the poll, 1,014 adults were asked "What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?" with 26% citing "Iraq /Fear of war", the number one response, and 13% responding that they felt terrorism was the most important, putting it fourth behind only the slumping economy (22%) and unemployment (17%).

This same fear has already been used to coerce the American public into an illegal war in Iraq with no concrete evidence to show for the over 700 American soldiers who have lost their lives and the thousands of others who have been wounded in combat. During the months leading up to the United States' illegal invasion of Iraq, President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair continued to speak of a connection between the terrorist group al Queda, and specifically its leader, Osama bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein, despite a May 2, 2002 New York Times story that stated "Federal authorities have concluded that there is no evidence that Mohamed Atta, the suspected ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks, met with an Iraqi intelligence officer before the hijackings."

Even the American public seems to have latched onto these claims, lumping the Iraqi government into the War on Terror, and according to a new poll, 57% of the American public still believes that before the war, Iraq was providing ''substantial support'' to al Qaeda, and 45% believe the United States has found evidence linking Iraq and al Queda [2]. All this despite recent comments by prominent members of the administration, including Richard Clarke, head weapons inspector David Kay, and top UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, who have all denied the fact that Iraq was in any way linked to al Queda. In a White House press release, even President Bush has denied the connection; when asked "Do you believe that there is a link between Saddam Hussein, a direct link, and the men who attacked on September the 11th?" Bush replied "I can't make that claim."[3]

So why, then, has our government been so ineffective in bringing the truth to the American public? For an answer to this question, let us again refer to survey which reported the woeful level of ignorance in American society. The survey found that of those respondents who believed there was a link between Iraq and al Queda, 62% said they would be voting for Bush and 36% for Kerry. Of those respondents who incorrectly believed Iraq had WMD, 72% stated their vote would go to Bush, while only 23% intended to vote for Kerry. Among the groups who correctly believed that there was no link between Iraq and al Queda, only 13% stated their intentions to vote for Kerry, while an overwhelming 85% planned to vote for Kerry.

After looking at this survey the reasons become clear; if the American public knew the truth, Bush would never be re-elected. However, as long as the media continues to group together the administration's illegal war in Iraq and the War on Terrorism, the government will maintain their stranglehold on American politics.

III. The PNAC

Preparations for the United States' illegal war in Iraq began long before September 11th, and can be traced back to the foundation in 1997 of the PNAC, or the Project for a New American Century. Since its inception, the members of this organization have dedicated themselves to the cause of American hegemony and, particularly, the policy of American global leadership. On January 26, 1998, the members of the PNAC sent a letter to the then-President Bill Clinton, urging him to invade Iraq, which contained the following:

"The only acceptable strategy is one that eliminates the possibility that Iraq will be able to use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction. In the near term, this means a willingness to undertake military action as diplomacy is clearly failing. In the long term, it means removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power. That now needs to become the aim of American foreign policy."[4]

In addition, on May 29, 1998, the members of the PNAC sent a letter to then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House which contained the following:

"We should use U.S. and allied military power to provide protection for liberated areas in northern and southern Iraq; and - We should establish and maintain a strong U.S. military presence in the region, and be prepared to use that force to protect our vital interests in the Gulf - and, if necessary, to help remove Saddam from power."[5]

Clinton ignored the PNAC, but their time would soon come; after the 2000 Presidential elections, many of the members of the PNAC found themselves in influential positions in Bush's administration, including the following:

Dick Cheney - Vice President
Donald Rumsfeld - Secretary of Defense
Paul Wolfowitz - Deputy Secretary of Defense
Peter W. Rodman - Assistant Secretary of Defense
Richard Perle - Chairman of the Defense Policy Board, Department of Defense
Robert B. Zoellick - Bush Cabinet Member

In September 2000, the PNAC posted a 90-page document on their website entitled "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces and Resources for a New Century" [6], which outlined the groups intentions to transform the U.S. military into a global force used to "fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars." This "transformation" would necessitate an enormous increase in the defense budget to "a minimum level of 3.5 to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, adding $15 billion to $20 billion to total defense spending annually." The PNAC had no illusions about the amount of time needed to bring about this sort of change, however, writing that "The process of transformation is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event-like a new Pearl Harbor."

I suppose September 11th would qualify.

IV. The Illegal War on Iraq

With the dust still billowing from the attacks on America on September 11, 2001, PNAC member and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had already began his plans to attack Iraq [7]. On September 11, at 2:40 PM, with all the evidence pointing to Osama bin Laden and his organization, Rumsfeld's notes say "Judge whether good enough to hit S.H. at same time. Not only UBL." adding "Go massive, sweep it all up. Things related and not." And thus began the fictitious link between the two and the march towards the completely illegal and unfounded attack on the country of Iraq.

In his pre-invasion ultimatum to Saddam Hussein, , President Bush stated that "Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised..." He also stated in his 2003 State of the Union address, in which he laid out his case for war to the American public, that he had acquired information which concluded that Iraq was attempting to procure uranium from Niger, even though as early as 2002, various intelligence sources had concluded that the information was a forgery.