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Are we ready for WWIII?

Claes Britton | Jan 31, 2007 | 0 comments

Well, ready or not, it looks like the odds are lower than ever that we'll soon be rumbling in a mighty bout, the future dimensions or outcome of which no one can foresee.

Ever since George W Bush's infamous "Axis of Evil" speach, I was convinced that we'll get to see an attack on Iran and, highly likely, also on Syria and North Korea during his rule. Had the assault on Iraq been less disastrous, I'm sure it all would have happened long ago. For a while there, it looked like all these horrors and the massive loss of confidence would stall Bush and Cheney long enough to prevent them from fulfilling their lovely masterplan for this our only planet. Now, however, it seems that there is still plenty of time, with the battleships already lined up and new troops on their way. The build up, with the lies, the propaganda and the provocations, looks almost identical to that which proceeded the Iraq attack. It's also very similar to the brutal charades in the overture to Germany's attack on Poland back in 1939. This time, however, the boys will not make the mistake of asking those geeks in the UN before going in to do their manly duty. The neocons themselves, as we know, have long referred to the "War on Terror" as the new World War, but calling it World War IV while labeling the Cold War as #3, proclaiming themselves as its victors in another typical act of deceptive propaganda.

What's most frightening is that they can get away with it so leisurely. After they lost the majority in both chambers, you would think it impossible, but after watching Bush's State of the Union speach in the Senate, such illusions were grimly crushed. Seeing the senators, including Hillary Clinton and other leading democrats, jumping up and down in their seats like puppets, wildly cheering Bush on in his aggressive warmonging, was like watching scenes from the German Reichdag back in 1933, to quote my old friend Pete Edler. I'm sorry, but these parallels just can't be ignored. Now, just like then, it's not the lunatics who are the real problem – it's the cowardice, convenience, self-sufficiency and indifference of the civilized people. Plus of course the stupidity. As Graydon Carter wrote in Vanity Fair, the divide in American politics is no longer between left and right, liberals and conservatives – it's long been between the smarts and the stupids, and look who's winning. Ever since I, coming from civilized Sweden, attended public school as a kid out in Los Angeles, I've been convinced that the abyss of American ignorance, combined with its aggressive macho mentality, will eventually lead to disaster. An old Swedish friend of mine, who has lived in America for more than twenty years, had lunch with a business associate in New York the other week – a succesful, well educated, affluent professional living with his family on Manhattan. My friend brought up the subject of American provocations of Iran, with battle ships cruising the Persian Gulf. The guy was completely baffled – he'd never heard of Iran, much less of any of these developments. Polls show that 70 percent of the Republicans are for war on both Iran and Syria.

People I dicuss this matter with, including my own father, believe that concerns of realpolitik will prevent an extremely dangerous attack on Iran. Well, I think we must understand once and for all that neither realpolitik, plain common sense or basic care for humanity are among these warlords' driving forces. We must also come to the terms with the notion that there are actually many people – many men, that is – who actually love the war, the primitive beauty and raw excitement of this the greatest of all games, just like in Kubrick's Dr Strangelove. I guess it's the same guys who liked to pass time torturing insects and animals when they were boys, as George W Bush is alleged to have done. Freedom has always been a favored propaganda slogan among the American Jesus freak ultra right and what is, after all, the ultimate freedom, if not death?

Didn't I know it? Writing about politics, Bush and America was letting the genie out of the bottle. Now I have to fight to get that sucker back in there again...

"You must never, never underestimate the stupidity of the masses. (...) A lie is a perfectly effective tool in convincing the masses – as long as its stated clearly and simply, and enforced with ruthless brutality."

- Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf

Are we ready for WWIII?

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