'Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization.' -- Eugene V. Debs

Monday, August 13, 2007

Manufactured Consent 

Last week, Joe published a post that ridiculed Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollock, those purported Brookings Institution critics of the war who discovered that, gosh golly, the surge is really working, and the war is turning in our favor. Joe, unlike the mainstream media, recalled that, in fact, both of them have supported the war since its inception. Amazing what you can learn from a little Internet research when your memory fails.

In an excellent Salon article, Glenn Greenwald mercilessly exposes the role of the mainstream media in perpetuating the fraud that two war critics had changed their mind about the prospects for victory in Iraq (whatever that means). Greenwald also shatters any remaining vestige of credibility in regard to the alleged discoveries of O'Hanlon and Pollack during their trip to Iraq. The mendacity of O'Hanlon and his media enablers is a wonder to behold, the sort of thing you have to do, I guess, if you want to be appointed to a prominent foreign policy position in the next Clinton presidency.

Because, contrary to the public reaction, the purpose here is not to legitimize Bush policy, but rather, to justify the hawkish Iraq views of nearly all of the Democratic presidential candidates, with the exception of Kucinich and Richardson. In other words, as bad as Bush has been, the US is on the verge of victory if we just follow the wiser counsel of a Democratic president like Hillary or Obama. Hence, the creation of a phony antiwar advocacy group by MoveON.org and the Service Employees International Union, Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, to forestall calls for immediate withdrawal.

As Justin Raimondo said today:

President Hillary Clinton will inherit a war that she intends to fight and win, no matter what she says to the Democratic base. And her "antiwar" cheerleaders at MoveOn and the SEIU will still be "building bridges" to cushy jobs, choice cuts of pork, and their fair share of political perks. Then, with sudden swiftness, we'll be hearing about the progress of labor unions in American-occupied Iraq, and why it's much better and more "humane" to continue a "residual" presence that will, like all such presences, grow of its own accord.

There remains an Alice in Wonderland, or more precisely, a Medea in Wonderland, quality to the exertions required to perpetuate the illusion that Democrats like Hillary intend to extricate US forces from Iraq. Fortunately, as described here yesterday, the Iraqi resistance doesn't rely upon such nonsense as part of their strategy to liberate their country from the predations of the occupation. Instead, the more direct approach of violent attacks upon US forces is clearly more effective.

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