ALL THE ELEMENTS

My reaction on the second day of the big "American victory" is a basic one. When you are a country built on violence, and sustained by violence, you need another hit now and then to pump up the people in order for the mythology of cultural supremacy to persist. It's also a perfect distraction from corporate thievery of the nation's declining financial resources.

I've been closely reading many of the mainstream media reports and see the broad outlines of a foreign policy facade having been erected. Here are a few important points as I see them:

• Obama says that the "unity that we had on 9-11 has frayed a bit since then".....this killing of Osama bin Laden helps to restore that nationalism and sense of superiority.



• This event is being framed as a "vindication" of the CIA's detention facilities and interrogation methods. The claim is that these controversial intelligence operations resulted in this "mission success".



• The woman as a "human shield" talking point was a key element in the story that came out yesterday about the killing of Osama. It was used to show that Osama was a wussy who, to the bitter end, hid behind women (his wife) while brave American soldiers stood in the open to engage the "enemy". Today there is some walking back from this story. See it here



• Today we are beginning to hear that the U.S. should end military aid to Pakistan as they must be punished for looking the other way while Osama hid out there in recent years. Look for this to become an excuse to further expand U.S. military operations into Pakistan to "stablilize" their government - thus another reason to remain in Central Asia for years to come.



• I was watching some talking heads on MSNBC-TV news yesterday and one of them had this to say: "We put a bullet in Osama's head. This our our brand!" That's a pretty disgusting comment but quite telling as it indicates the depth to which many Americans have internalized the killing culture narrative. It's actually very sick and sad.



• By taking out Osama, and bombing the hell out of Libya, the talking heads are also now claiming that Al-Qaeda has lost the struggle for the hearts and minds of the surging people in the Middle East who want change and democracy. Al-Qaeda uses "violence and killing" while the U.S. supports real democracy. While I would generally agree that the people in the Middle East are not "following" Al-Qaeda, this self-serving talking point reeks of hypocrisy.



• The oligarchy is universal in saying we must stay "on course" with our "war on terrorism". Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) worked himself to tears commenting about the killing of Osama yesterday on the TV and pointed to his flag lapel pin and said he's worn it every day since 9-12-2001. That performance was certainly worth another round of funding for the Afghanistan occupation.



• The talking heads were also working themselves into a lather yesterday when they congratulated each other about the bi-partisan nature of Congressional foreign policy decision making. While Republicans and Democrats might argue over funding for NPR or Planned Parenthood, they made it clear yesterday that they are "one" when it comes to waging war. Ugh......



• In the end a familiar feeling came over me yesterday. I felt it when Ronald Reagan ordered the "invasion" of mighty Grenada; when George H. W. Bush invaded Panama and then began the Persian Gulf War; when Clinton waged war on Yugoslavia; when George W. Bush pulled 9-11 and launched shock and awe on Afghanistan and Iraq; and now as Obama escalates war in Afghanistan-Pakistan and attacks Libya. We are an out-of-control war making country. Addicted to war and always needing another swig on the bottle full of demon blood lust.

I saw a quote in the Washington Post this morning from Cindy Sheehan where she said, "This lying, murderous Empire can only exist with your brainwashed consent — just put your flags away and THINK!”

Nicely said.