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Antiwar protest does not question the legitimacy of those to whom the protest is addressed.
Protest is accepted under Western style “democracy”, precisely
because it accepts the established political order, while exerting
pressure on political leaders to shift their policy stance.
Protest serves the interests of the war criminals in high office, to whom the demands are directed.
Ultimately what is at stake is the legitimacy of the political and
military actors and the economic power structures, which control the
formulation and direction of US foreign policy.
What is needed is to consistently challenge the legitimacy of the
main political and military actors, reveal the true face of the
American Empire and the underlying criminalisation of foreign policy.
Ultimately what is required is to question the Obama Administration’s
“right to rule”.
Even if a majority of the population is against the war, this in itself will not prevent the war from occurring.
The propaganda campaign’s objective is to sustain the lies which
support the legitimacy of the main political and military actors
While the Obama administration implements a “war on terrorism”, the
evidence (including mountains of official documents) amply confirms
that successive U.S. administrations have supported, abetted and
harbored international terrorism.
This fact, in itself, must be suppressed because if it ever trickles
down to the broader public, the legitimacy of the so-called “war on
terrorism” collapses “like a deck of cards.” And in the process, the
legitimacy of the main actors behind this system would be threatened.
How does one effectively break the war and police state agendas?
Essentially by refuting the “war on terrorism” and America’s holy
crusade against Islamic fundamentalism which constitute the very
foundations of America’s national security doctrine.
In other words, the mobilization of antiwar sentiment in itself will not reverse the tide of war.
A necessary condition for bringing down the rulers is to weaken and eventually dismantle their propaganda campaign.
How best to achieve this objective? By fully uncovering the lies
behind the “war on terrorism” and revealing the complicity of the US
administration in the events of 9/11.
This is a big hoax, it’s the biggest lie in US history. The war pretext does not stick and the rulers should be removed.
Moreover, it is important to show that “Enemy Number One” (Osama bin Laden) is fabricated.
The terrorist attacks are indeed real, but who is behind them? The
covert operations in support of terrorist organisations, including the
history of Al Qaeda’s links to the CIA since the Soviet Afghan war,
must be fully revealed. These covert operations relate directly to the
wave of terrorist attacks which have occurred since September 11, most
of which are said to have been ordered by Al Qaeda.
To reverse the tide, the spreading of information at all levels, which counteracts the propaganda campaign is required.
The truth undermines and overshadows the lie.
Once the “real truth” becomes fully understood, the legitimacy of the rulers will be undermined.
When the lies – including those concerning September 11 – are fully
revealed and understood by everybody, the legitimacy of the US NATO
Israel military agenda will be broken.
While this will not necessarily result in a fundamental and
significant “regime change” in the US, a new “anti-war consensus” will
have emerged, which may eventually pave the way for a broader struggle
against the New World Order and the American Empire’s quest for global
domination.
A war agenda is not disarmed through antiwar sentiment or through
protest. Protest accepts the legitimacy of the leaders to whom the
protests are being addressed.
One does not reverse the tide by asking President Barack Obama:
“please abide by the Geneva Convention” and the Nuremberg Charter.
Ultimately, a consistent antiwar agenda requires unseating the war
criminals in high office as a first step towards disarming the
institutions and corporate structures of the New World Order.
To break the Inquisition, we must also break its propaganda, its
fear and intimidation campaign, which galvanizes public opinion into
accepting the “war on terrorism”.
The Existing Anti-War movement
The existing antiwar movement has since 2003 been substantially
weakened and divided. It does not at present have the required
organizational capabilities to wage this campaign.
The antiwar movement is misinformed on the nature of the US military
agenda. Several non-governmental organizations have placed the blame
on Iran, for not complying with the “reasonable demands” of the
“international community”. These same organizations, which are
committed to World Peace tend to downplay the implications of the
proposed US bombing of Iran.
An important segment of the antiwar movement, including prominent
“progressive” intellectuals, are tacitly supportive of the “war on
terrorism”. Al Qaeda is considered a threat. “We are against the war
but we support the campaign against terrorism”.
The 9/11 Truth Movement which challenges US military doctrine and
the pretext for waging war is categorized by segments of the anti-war
movement as “Conspiracy Theorists”.
While we should build upon existing antiwar structures, a meaningful
mass movement would require entirely different premises and
strategies.
Manufacturing dissent
The antiwar collectives in the US, Canada and Western Europe are
composed of numerous trade unions, NGOs, community groups, etc, many
of which are dependent on foundation and/or government funding.
The programs of these NGOs and people’s movements rely heavily on
both public as well as private funding agencies including the Ford,
Rockefeller, McCarthy foundations, among others. While the
anti-globalization and antiwar movements are opposed to Wall Street,
the Big Five Defense Contractors (ie. weapons producers) and the Texas
oil giants controlled by Rockefeller, et al., the foundations and
charities of Rockefeller et al will generously fund progressive
anti-capitalist anti-war networks as well as environmentalists (opposed
to Big Oil) with a view to ultimately overseeing and shaping their
various activities.
These mechanisms of “manufacturing dissent” require a manipulative
environment, a process of arm-twisting and subtle cooptation of
individuals within progressive organizations, including anti-war
coalitions.
Whereas the mainstream media “manufactures consent”, the complex
network of NGOs (including segments of the alternative media) are used
by the corporate elites to mould and manipulate the protest movement.
In the US, the main antiwar coalitions including United For Peace and
Justice and MoveOn are funded by the corporate establishment.
Similarly, part of the “Left Leaning” alternative media, which has
accepted the official 9/11 narrative, tends to pay lip service to the
US led war. (See Michel Chossudovsky, “Manufacturing Dissent”: the Anti-globalization Movement is Funded by the Corporate Elites, Global Research, September 2010)
At this juncture, “progressives” funded by major foundations are an
obstacle to the formation of an articulate grassroots antiwar movement.
A consistent antiwar movement must also confront various forms of
cooption within its ranks, the fact that a significant sector of
progressive opinion tacitly supports US foreign policy including
“humanitarian interventions” under UN/NATO auspices.
An antiwar movement funded by major corporate foundations is the
cause rather than the solution. A coherent antiwar movement cannot be
funded by warmongers.
Jus ad Bellum: 9/11 and the Invasion of Yugoslavia and Afghanistan
Both the wars of Yugoslavia and Afghanistan were upheld by several
“Progressives” as “Just Wars”. In the case of Afghanistan, the
“self-defense” argument was accepted at face value as a legitimate
response to the 9/11 attacks, without examining the fact that the US
administration had not only supported the “Islamic terror network”, it
was also instrumental in the installation of the Taliban government in
1995-96.
In 2001, when Afghanistan was bombed and later invaded, several
“Progressives” upheld the Administration’s “just cause” military
doctrine.
In the wake of 9/11, the antiwar movement against the illegal
invasion of Afghanistan was isolated. The trade unions, civil society
organizations had swallowed the media lies and government propaganda.
They had accepted a war of retribution against Afghanistan, which
allegedly was harboring Al Qaeda. Several prominent “left leaning”
intellectuals upheld the “war on terrorism” agenda.
Media disinformation prevailed. People were misled as to the nature
and objectives underlying the invasion of Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden
and the Taliban were identified as the prime suspects of the 9/11
attacks, without a shred of evidence and without addressing the
historical relationship between Al Qaeda and the US intelligence
apparatus. In this regard, understanding 9/11 is crucial in formulating
a consistent antiwar position.
9/11 is the pillar of US war propaganda, it sustains the illusion
of an outside enemy, it justifies pre-emptive military intervention.
A meaningful anti-war movement requires breaking the ‘war on terrorism” and upholding 9/11 Truth.
To reverse the tide of war and globalization requires a massive
campaign of networking and outreach to inform people across the land,
nationally and internationally, in neighborhoods, workplaces, parishes,
schools, universities, municipalities, on the dangers of a US
sponsored war, which contemplates the use of nuclear weapons. The
message should be loud and clear: Iran is not the threat. Even without
the use of nukes, the proposed aerial bombardments could result in
escalation, ultimately leading us into a broader war in the Middle
East.
Debate and discussion must also take place within the Military and
Intelligence community, particularly with regard to the use of tactical
nuclear weapons, within the corridors of the US Congress, in
municipalities and at all levels of government. Ultimately, the
legitimacy of the political and military actors in high office must be
challenged.
The corporate media also bears a heavy responsibility for the
cover-up of US sponsored war crimes. It must also be forcefully
challenged for its biased coverage of the Middle East war.
For the past year, Washington has been waging a “diplomatic arm
twisting” exercise with a view to enlisting countries into supporting
of its military agenda. It is essential that at the diplomatic level,
countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America take a
firm stance against the US military agenda.
Both Hillary Clinton and her predecessor at the State Department
Condoleezza Rice have trekked across the Middle East, “expressing
concern over Iran’s nuclear program”, seeking the unequivocal
endorsement of the governments of the region against Tehran. Meanwhile
both the Bush and Obama administrations have allocated funds in
support of Iranian dissident groups both within Iran and the US.
Fake Anti-war Activism: Heralding Iran as a Nuclear Threat
Many people in the antiwar movement, while condemning the US
administration, also condemn the government of President Ahmadinejad
for its bellicose stance with regard to Israel. The Jus ad Bellum
reasoning used as a pretext to bomb Yugoslavia on humanitarian grounds
is now being applied to Iran.
President Ahmadinejad allegedly wants Israel to be “wiped off the Map” as first reported by the New York Times in October 2005:
“Iran’s conservative new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
said Wednesday that Israel must be “wiped off the map” and that
attacks by Palestinians would destroy it, the ISNA press agency
reported.
Ahmadinejad was speaking to an audience of about 4,000 students at a
program called “The World Without Zionism,” …. His tone was
reminiscent of that of the early days of Iran’s Islamic revolution in
1979. Iran and Israel have been bitter enemies since then, and
anti-Israel slogans have been common at rallies.”(See Nazila Fathi, Wipe Israel ‘off the map’ Iranian says – The New York Times, 27 October 2005)
The alleged “Wiped Off the Map” statement by Iran’s president was
never made. The rumor was fabricated by the American media with a view
to discrediting Iran’s head of state and providing a justification for
waging an all out war on Iran:
On October 25th, 2005 …. the newly elected Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech at a program, titled
“The World Without Zionism”….
Before we get to the infamous remark, it’s important to note that
the “quote” in question was itself a quote— they are the words of the
late Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of the Islamic Revolution. Although
he quoted Khomeini to affirm his own position on Zionism, the actual
words belong to Khomeini and not Ahmadinejad. Thus, Ahmadinejad has
essentially been credited (or blamed) for a quote that is not only
unoriginal, but represents a viewpoint already in place well before he
ever took office.
THE ACTUAL QUOTE:
So what did Ahmadinejad actually say? To quote his exact words in farsi:
“Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad.”
That passage will mean nothing to most people, but one word might ring a bell: rezhim-e.
It is the word “Regime”, pronounced just like the English word with an
extra “eh” sound at the end. Ahmadinejad did not refer to Israel the
country or Israel the land mass, but the Israeli regime. This is a
vastly significant distinction, as one cannot wipe a regime off the map.
Ahmadinejad does not even refer to Israel by name, he instead uses the
specific phrase “rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods” (regime occupying
Jerusalem).
So this raises the question.. what exactly did he want “wiped from
the map”? The answer is: nothing. That’s because the word “map” was
never used. The Persian word for map, “nagsheh”, is not contained
anywhere in his original farsi quote, or, for that matter, anywhere in
his entire speech. Nor was the western phrase “wipe out” ever said. Yet
we are led to believe that Iran’s President threatened to “wipe Israel
off the map”, despite never having uttered the words “map”, “wipe out”
or even “Israel”.
THE PROOF:
The full quote translated directly to English:
“The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time”.
Word by word translation:
Imam (Khomeini) ghoft (said) een (this) rezhim-e (regime)
ishghalgar-e (occupying) qods (Jerusalem) bayad (must) az safheh-ye
ruzgar (from page of time) mahv shavad (vanish from).
Here is the full transcript of the speech in farsi, archived on Ahmadinejad’s web site:
www.president.ir/farsi/ahmadinejad/speeches/1384/aban-84/840804sahyonizm.htm
(See the detailed article by Arash Norouzi, Israel:
"Wiped off The Map". The Rumor of the Century, Fabricated by the US
Media to Justify An All out War on Iran , Global Research February 20,
2007)
What President Ahmadinjad was essentially calling for in his statement was “regime change” in Tel Aviv.
(Compare Ahmadinejad’s bland statement on regime change in Israel with
that of former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who called for
“Ending states that sponsor terrorism”.
This alleged “Wiped off the Map” statement has served not only to
justify a pre-emptive attack against Iran but also to subdue and tame
the antiwar movement.
While the danger of an all out war on Iran is a matter of concern,
it is by no means a priority for the US, Canadian and European antiwar
movements. In the US, there are very few antiwar events focussing on
US-Israeli threats directed against Iran (See Main US antiwar
collective: United for Peace & Justice : Index, United for Peace & Justice : Events).
On the other hand, there is an ongoing campaign led by United
Against Nuclear Iran” (UANI), calling on President Obama and the US
Congress to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. (See UANI home page).
The UANI collective, founded by Obama appointees Richard Holbrooke and
Gary Samore, claims to be integrated by “human rights and humanitarian
groups, the labor movement, political advocacy and grassroots
organizations” (Coalition | UANI)
UANI’s advisory board consists of a number of U.S.
government insiders and big shots who have close ties with the U.S.
statesmen including R. James Woolsey, the former head of CIA,… By
publishing propagandistic reports and articles on the purported hazard
of Iran’s nuclear activities, UANI also functions as a mouthpiece which
is exclusively dedicated to fear-mongering and spreading falsehood
about Iran. (See Spreading falsehoods about Iran: “United Against Nuclear Iran”: America’s war propaganda mouthpiece” Orwell’s Dreams, September 20, 2010)
Notwithstanding Arash Norouzi’s disproval, many in the antiwar
movement, while condemning the US, continue to believe that Iran
constitutes a threat and that the solution is “regime change”. The
funding of NGOs (which are constituent members of major antiwar
collectives) by tax exempt charities and corporate foundations, has
also contributed to weakening antiwar activism in relation to Iran.
Iran is viewed by many within the antiwar movement as a potential
aggressor. Its non-existent nuclear weapons are considered, a threat to
global security.
The Road Ahead
What is required is the development of a broad based grassroots
network which seeks to disable patterns of authority and decision
making pertaining to war.
This network would be established at all levels in society, towns
and villages, work places, parishes. Trade unions, farmers
organizations, professional associations, business associations,
student unions, veterans associations, church groups would be called
upon to integrate the antiwar organizational structure. Of crucial
importance, this movement should extend into the Armed Forces as a
means to breaking the legitimacy of war among service men and women.
The first task would be to disable war propaganda through an
effective campaign against media disinformation. The corporate media
would be directly challenged, leading to boycotts of major news
outlets, which are responsible for channelling disinformation into the
news chain. This endeavor would require a parallel process at the
grass roots level, of sensitizing and educating fellow citizens on the
nature of the war and the global crisis, as well as effectively
“spreading the word” through advanced networking, through alternative
media outlets on the internet, etc.
The creation of such a movement, which forcefully challenges the
legitimacy of the structures of political authority, is no easy task.
It would require a degree of solidarity, unity and commitment
unparalleled in World history. It would require breaking down political
and ideological barriers within society and acting with a single
voice. It would also require eventually unseating the war criminals,
and indicting them for war crimes.
Abandon the Battlefield: Refuse to Fight
The military oath taken at the time of induction demands unbending
support and allegiance to the US Constitution, while also demanding
that US troops obey orders from their President and Commander in Chief:
“I,____________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I
will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against
all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and
allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the
President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed
over me, according to the regulations and the Uniform Code of Military
Justice. So help me God”
The President and Commander in Chief has blatantly violated all
tenets of domestic and international law. So that making an oath to
“obey orders from the President” is tantamount to violating rather than
defending the US Constitution.
“The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) 809.ART.90
(20), makes it clear that military personnel need to obey the “lawful
command of his superior officer,” 891.ART.91 (2), the “lawful order of a
warrant officer”, 892.ART.92 (1) the “lawful general order”,
892.ART.92 (2) “lawful order”. In each case, military personnel have an
obligation and a duty to only obey Lawful orders and indeed have an
obligation to disobey Unlawful orders, including orders by the
president that do not comply with the UCMJ. The moral and legal
obligation is to the U.S. Constitution and not to those who would issue
unlawful orders, especially if those orders are in direct violation of
the Constitution and the UCMJ.” (Lawrence Mosqueda, An Advisory to US
Troops A Duty to Disobey All Unlawful Orders, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/MOS303A.html, See also Michel Chossudovsky, “We the People Refuse to Fight”: Abandon the Battlefield! March 18, 2006 )
The Commander in Chief is a war criminal. According to Principle 6 of the Nuremberg Charter:
“The fact that a person [e.g. Coalition troops] acted
pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve
him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral
choice was in fact possible to him.”
Let us make that “moral choice” possible, to enlisted American, British, Canadian and Coalition servicemen and women.
Disobey unlawful orders! Abandon the battlefield! … Refuse to fight
in a war which blatantly violates international law and the US
Constitution!
But this is not a choice which enlisted men and women can make individually.
It is a collective and societal choice, which requires an organizational structure.
Across the land in the US, Britain, Canada and in all coalition
countries, the anti-war movement must assist enlisted men and women to
make that moral choice possible, to abandon the battlefield in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
This will not be an easy task. Committees at local levels must be
set up across the United States, Canada, Britain, Italy, Japan and
other countries, which have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We call upon veterans’ associations and local communities to support this process.
This movement needs to dismantle the disinformation campaign. It
must effectively reverse the indoctrination of coalition troops, who
are led to believe that they are fighting “a just war”: “a war against
terrorists”.
The legitimacy of the US military authority must be broken.
What has to be achieved:
- Reveal the criminal nature of this military project,
- Break once and for all the lies and falsehoods which sustain the “political consensus” in favor of a pre-emptive nuclear war.
- Undermine war propaganda, reveal the media lies, reverse the tide
of disinformation, wage a consistent campaign against the corporate
media
- Break the legitimacy of the war-mongers in high office.
- Dismantle the US sponsored military adventure and its corporate sponsors.
- Bring Home the Troops
- Repeal the illusion that the State is committed to protecting its citizens.
- Expose the “fake crises” such as the global flu pandemic as a
means to distract public opinion from the dangers of a global war.
- Uphold 9/11 Truth. Reveal the falsehoods behind 9/11 which are
used to justify the Middle East Central Asian war under the banner of
the “Global War on Terrorism” (GWOT)
- Expose how a profit driven war serves the vested interests of the
banks, the defense contractors, the oil giants, the media giants and
the biotech conglomerates
- Challenge the corporate media which deliberately obfuscates the causes and consequences of this war,
- Reveal and take cognizance of the unspoken and tragic outcome of a war waged with nuclear weapons.
- Call for the Dismantling of NATO
- Implement the prosecution of war criminals in high office
- Close down the weapons assembly plants and implement the foreclosure of major weapons producers
- Close down all US military bases in the US and around the World
- Develop an antiwar movement within the Armed Forces and establish
bridges between the Armed Forces and the civilian antiwar movement
- Forcefully pressure governments of both NATO and non-NATO countries to withdraw from the US led global military agenda.
- Develop a consistent antiwar movement in Israel. Inform the
citizens of Israel of the likely consequences of a US-NATO-Israeli
attack on Iran.
- Confront Target the pro-war lobby groups including the pro-Israeli groups in the US
- Dismantle the homeland security state, call for the repeal of the PATRIOT legislation
- Call for the removal of the military from civilian law enforcement. Call for the enforcement of the Posse Comitatus Act
- Call for the demilitarization of outer space and the repeal of Star Wars
People across the land, nationally and internationally, must
mobilize against this diabolical military agenda, the authority of the
State and its officials must be forcefully challenged.
This war can be prevented if people forcefully confront their
governments, pressure their elected representatives, organize at the
local level in towns, villages and municipalities, spread the word,
inform their fellow citizens on the implications of a nuclear war,
initiate debate and discussion within the armed forces.
What is required is the development of a broad and well organized
grassroots antiwar network which challenges the structures of power and
authority, the nature of the economic system, the vast amounts of
money used to fund the war, the shear size of the so-called defense
industry.
What is required is a mass movement of people which forcefully
challenges the legitimacy of war, a global people’s movement which
criminalizes war.
What is needed is to break the conspiracy of silence, expose
the media lies and distortions, confront the criminal nature of the US
Administration and of those governments which support it, its war
agenda as well as its so-called “Homeland Security agenda” which has
already defined the contours of a police State.
The World is at the crossroads of the most serious crisis in modern
history. The US has embarked on a military adventure, “a long war”,
which threatens the future of humanity.
It is essential to bring the US war project to the forefront of
political debate, particularly in North America and Western Europe.
Political and military leaders who are opposed to the war must take a
firm stance, from within their respective institutions. Citizens must
take a stance individually and collectively against war.
We call upon people across the land, in North America, Western
Europe, Israel, The Arab World, Turkey and around the world to rise up
against this military project, against their governments which are
supportive of military action against Iran, against the media which
serves to camouflage the devastating implications of a war against
Iran.
The military agenda supports a profit driven destructive global
economic system which impoverishes large sectors of the world
population.
This war is sheer madness.
World War III is terminal. Albert Einstein understood the perils of
nuclear war and the extinction of life on earth, which has already
started with the radioactive contamination resulting from depleted
uranium. “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
The media, the intellectuals, the scientists and the politicians, in
chorus, obfuscate the untold truth, namely that war using nuclear
warheads destroys humanity, and that this complex process of gradual
destruction has already commenced.
When the lie becomes the truth there is no turning backwards.
When war is upheld as a humanitarian endeavor, Justice and the
entire international legal system are turned upside down: pacifism and
the antiwar movement are criminalized. Opposing the war becomes a
criminal act.
The Lie must be exposed for what it is and what it does.
It sanctions the indiscriminate killing of men, women and children.
It destroys families and people. It destroys the commitment of people towards their fellow human beings.
It prevents people from expressing their solidarity for those who
suffer. It upholds war and the police state as the sole avenue.
It destroys both nationalism and internationalism.
Breaking the lie means breaking a criminal project of global
destruction, in which the quest for profit is the overriding force.
This profit driven military agenda destroys human values and transforms people into unconscious zombies.
Let us reverse the tide.
Challenge the war criminals in high office and the powerful corporate lobby groups which support them.
Break the American inquisition.
Undermine the US-NATO-Israel military crusade.
Close down the weapons factories and the military bases.
Bring home the troops.
Members of the armed forces should disobey orders and refuse to participate in a criminal war.
© Copyright Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 2010
Global Research