Thursday, May 15, 2008

A Generation Defined by War

The Broken Record Continues

By HAMDAN A. YOUSUF and DANIA S. AHMED | Counterpunch, May 15, 2008


We are a generation defined by war. Shattering the idyllic innocence of our youth, September 11th fell upon us like a convulsion, bringing us face-to-face with the catastrophic consequences of American foreign policy. New terms were shoved down our throats, the media playing its part to inculcate them into our daily lives: terrorism, patriotism, red alert, liberation, and homeland security all became part of our vocabulary. Like deer caught in headlights, we struggled to come to terms with this overnight upheaval in our worldview.

"Muslims are terrorists," we were told. "They want to destroy us." Paralyzed and in shock, we asked, our voices full of trepidation, "We are Muslims. Do we want to destroy us?" We were told to keep quiet and b good citizens—not asking too many questions and submitting to authority. And so, the war generation came of age.

The years passed, thousands more Americans died, hundreds of thousands of the 'other' were bombed out of existence, and the perpetrators of September 11th were never found. "How does this story end?" you might be tempted to ask. And that's just it. It doesn't. Nearly seven years after the onset of the 'War on Terror,' the broken record of American imperialism continues to play. Only we've gotten so used to hearing it that many of us have learned to tune it out.

The idea of America as a hegemonic power, exerting its influence all over the world, dominating and conquering at any cost is nothing new. The genocide of millions of Native Americans and the enslavement of the black race bears witness to the blood-drenched nature of our past. The most horrifying of crimes were justified with the obscene claim that the oppressors were acting in the best interests of those they oppressed. Thus, the extermination of an entire people was 'manifest destiny' while the colonization of Africa was actually a 'civilizing mission.' One would like to think that we have made great strides towards overcoming this legacy, but as the events of the past few years demonstrate, that might be wishful thinking.

After it became clear that Iraq posed no threat to the United States, the Bush administration seized upon a new justification for the war: to liberate the Iraqi people. One would have expected that five years of bloody occupation would have demonstrated the fallacy of imperialism in the name of liberation. Yet, despite costs of over $500 billion and unimaginable loss of life, some continue to advocate a continued American presence in Iraq for as long as a hundred years. More disturbingly, the same faulty logic that was used to justify the war in the first place seems to be alive and well.

Continued . . .

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