Obama’s Pet Dog
By Peter Ewart
Thursday, December 03, 2009 03:45 AM
By Peter Ewart
After President Barack Obama was elected, the U.S. media spent endless time speculating what kind of pet dog he and his family would select for the White House, as it has become a tradition that each American president will have some kind of dog while in office. Eventually, a Portuguese water dog was settled on, and, in the wake of the selection, there was much snapping of pictures and posing for, what some would call, a servile and fawning national press.
But there is also another kind of tradition for a new president. And that is which country will he select to attack or invade? - a kind of “pet war” so to speak. Most American presidents of modern time have mounted at least one war or invasion, and sometimes more, while in office. Usually, it is a much smaller, weaker country in some far off place.
George W. Bush had Iraq, as well as Afghanistan. Clinton had the war in the Balkans. George Herbert Bush had Panama and Iraq. And the list extends far back into the last century and before.
Throughout American history, various U.S. presidents have never tired of claiming that the U.S. is the “shining beacon on the hill”, that it is the main force for “peace” in the world, or that - as Obama claimed in his recent televised speech on Afghanistan - it has never sought “world domination” nor “occupation of other nations.”
The historical record, of course, speaks quite differently. Indeed, the U.S. is one of the most, if not the most, war-like and aggressive power in human history. From its very beginnings, the country has waged war. First, against the various native tribes in innumerable conflicts. Then, using the doctrine of “manifest destiny”, against Mexico, from which it seized the territories of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and California. Then against Spain, where it picked up Cuba, and eventually the Philippines, as neo-colonies.
In the fog of history, facts and events are forgotten. For example, that such sunny American tourist spots as Hawaii and Puerto Rico were annexed to the country through military force. Indeed, the U.S. is the only country in the world that has ever tried to invade Canada.
Of course, in recounting the above wars, we are not even out of the 19th Century. In the 20th Century, a wide assortment of countries were subject to U.S. military intervention of one kind or another, including Haiti, Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Grenada, Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, Lebanon, Somalia, Serbia, Libya, and the list goes on and on.
Literally tens of millions of people have been killed, injured or displaced by these foreign adventures. As the historian of ancient Rome, Tacitus, wrote about Rome’s imperial wars: “They make a desert and call it peace.”
Internally, U.S. troops have been used against the American people on numerous occasions. Aside from the many “Indian Wars,” government troops were unleashed against striking workers in West Virginia, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois and elsewhere, sometimes with considerable loss of life. As well, throughout the 20th Century, they were used to put down rebellions of black people who were resisting racial discrimination.
In 1932, in Washington, DC, U.S. troops were even used to brutally repress - with bullets, bayonets, and gas - First World War army veterans protesting bonus payments they were owed.
It is clear that these kind of presidential “pet dogs” are not so warm and cuddly as the White House spin masters would have us think. More like out of control pit bulls or savage wolves than your average poodle.
And pit bulls must be fed. When leaving office, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower warned of the growing power of a “military – industrial complex” inside the U.S. This huge complex has a ravenous appetite and eats up an enormous portion of the U.S. budget. The military spending of the U.S. is now more than all of the other countries in the world combined.
The U.S. defence industry is also a very powerful lobbying force in the U.S. Congress. And who has been the biggest recipient of defence industry political contributions? None other than the so-called “peace candidate” Barack Obama himself.
Obama’s military adventure in Afghanistan, which now includes Pakistan and could extend to Iran, is taking place when the U.S. economy is in deep trouble. A political and economic “witches brew” is being created, the outcome of which no one can predict.
Canada must not be part of this mess. The Afghan people have suffered enough from the foreign occupations of the last thirty years. And we, as part of the current American imperial occupation, have already had too many of our soldiers killed or injured. And for what? No one, especially our political leadership, seems clear. Now we are involved in a shameful torture scandal of our own.
Yes, Obama has his pet dog. But it is not our dog and never has been. We must get out of Afghanistan now.
Peter Ewart is a writer and columnist based in Prince George, British Columbia. He can be reached at: peter.ewart@shaw.ca
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Posted by: ammonra on December 3 2009 7:23 AM
Peter Ewarts words are right out of the depths of communism....and the mantra that terrorist manuals teach the poor souls that they brainwash into suicide bombings, and other horrific acts they do even to their own people....all in the name of their cause or god.
I am sure the Talibaln and Al Quaida would wlcome Mr. Ewart into their houses of terror with open arms.