Dissident Voice

April 17, 2003

The military reports from the US and its coalition-poodles as well as the “reporting” from the “liberators’” TV channels are all breathing a sort of standard of morality that’s no longer double. It’s more of triple, or worse. All the time there is a sort of indignant irritation that Iraqis are shooting back at the invading forces. (Sometimes they even do. More often it’s just imagination or friendly fire.) Very normal tricks and ruses of war that are hailed as the highest patriotism when performed by themselves as defenders are scorned, despised and threatened with victor’s justice in the form of concentration camps or execution when used by Iraqis. Well, of course it would be much easier for the invaders if every Iraqi who wanted to defend his country painted a targetboard on his chest and back and stood still while the heroes took aim. And why the hell do they take cover behind walls and vehicles? Shouldn’t they have the decency to come out in the open and face the A10s straight on with their old rifles? Maybe with a large sign pointing to their heads? It’s all a question of standards!

The coalition standards of morality see the imperial British lining up of Maxim-machineguns to slaughter Asians or Africans or the American giving smallpox-infested blankets to Indians and spreading millions of gallons of Agent Orange over Vietnam as brave, heroic and honorable fighting. It just goes with the standard of arrogance!

There are not two but rather three or more standards of morality involved here. One standard (1) allows the US, Israel (1b), and to a slightly lesser extent (1c) Britain and Australia, to do absolutely anything they want. No holds barred and every crime in the book is allowed and excused, for the safety of the world (the world = the people in the American junta, its friends, backers, relatives and favorite pets) and for God (the American god, who of course is much better than any third world country god. Just watch who has the most bombs!).

The second standard applies to the countries that support the US. These can be divided into the ones who do it willingly in the hope of an American pat on the head (2a), and the ones who do it under duress and in the hope of avoiding an American bullet through the head (2b). These are all allowed a certain freedom as long as they loudly and publicly praise the master and their acts are acceptable to the US. Some of these countries can expect to be fed a few crumbs from the master for licking his ass and selling their souls.

The third standard (3a) is applicable to the countries, a grand and impressive majority of the world including France, Germany, Russia, China most of Asia, South America and Europe, who are not yet in American bombsights but can easily land there. These are countries that don’t support the US when the US is in violation of international law. This means they are neither friends nor official enemies, but are still to be derided and denied influence. If you happen to belong to these countries you ought to know that the American empire is extremely displeased with you and you are a coward and a shame to the memory of John Wayne. You are living on borrowed time and your French fries will be replaced with some nutty replacement!

The last standard (3b-z) applies to a group of countries that for some reason -- oil, pipelines, currency, strategic location, disobedience or any minor imperial irritation or craving -- are declared enemies of US. These countries are not allowed to do anything. Each and every act performed by them is criminal, deplorable, cowardly and an affront to democracy and McDonalds! One by one they are declared to (a) threaten world peace, (b) harbor terrorists, (c) have or want to have WMDs, (d) be dictatorships that oppress their own people.

If you live in a country in the third class, you better watch your ass or the empire might shoot it off for offending its sensible tastes! Iraq, like the probable next targets for invasion, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Angola, and North Korea, all belong to this group. Some are official enemies, some are so far just a gleam in the eyes of thief-in-chief Bush. One false move from a 3a-country and it may be up (down?)-graded to 3b! To be included in 3b-z categories means that the American media has a license to pervert all reporting about you. As we have seen in the reporting of the Iraq-war from US/UK military and media, Iraq simply does everything completely wrong while the invaders do everything right, except maybe killing a lot of civilians, journalists and coalition soldiers and allowing looting and ransacking of museums, hospitals and private homes.

A lot of people are perplexed about this. Since it’s a war crime to kill civilians and a violation of the Geneva Convention to allow looting and use cluster bombs and depleted uranium, many would expect US to be at least in category 3f. Let’s face it! If US would be 3f, then THAT would be the top position! Then Iran and Syria would be 79x and ready for extermination. By definition the US is ALWAYS right! Never forget it lest you want a Tomahawk sneaking up on you.

These different standards are very confusing sometimes. We don’t know how the Americans plan to defend their homeland, should they ever face an invader (and it gets more and more probable they will), but I’d expect that they, like every other people, would be encouraged to use every trick in the book plus a few not yet invented to repel an aggressor. They might not have the courage and dedication to take part in suicide attacks, but poisoning some water for the attackers or fooling them into nasty ambushes would be standard procedure.

The first, last and most important fact we’ve got to keep in mind is that Iraq has been defending itself against illegal aggression! Had the world community lived up to its obligations, all countries in the world, except those who declared war on Iraq, ought to send troops to defend Iraq! That’s what the U.N. charter says! That’s what you do! At least if an approved democracy like Turkey asks for it. That’s what you are denied if you are declared by the US-junta as category 3z!

In many countries people are taught, both as civilians and soldiers, that in case of an attack on the country, “every message that the resistance is to be ended is false!” An attacker has to be aware that the people will never give in and are willing to use every means of defence deemed most efficient to repel an enemy. In Iraq, the US and the poodles are surprised and indignant that people shoot back. Of course! A 3z-country should allow itself to be raped and say thank you afterwards!

CNN and BBC wander through Saddam’s palaces captured by their troops and are terribly upset that there are taps of gold and expensive carpets on the floors. Like all the royal palaces in Britain and elsewhere are not of a standard that ordinary Brits can only dream about? Come on guys, if you haven’t seen luxury, don’t go to Iraq! Visit Buckingham Palace, Stockholm Royal Castle, Balmoral, Windsor Castle, Saudi Arabia’s many palaces, arms-merchant Kashoggi’s palaces, the White House, just to name a few on a mile-long list. What else are the media and coalition shedding crocodile tears of empathy and excitement over? Prisons and torture cells? Welcome to the world, or at least the Middle East! If the people who are embedded in the invaders’ war effort would care to take a trip around the world, they would find very few countries, including friends Israel, Spain and Turkey, where prison-conditions are tolerable and torture is not a common practice. But it goes with the 3z-sorting. Official enemies of US/UK are supposed to have their dictators live in caves and their prisoners live in castles not to cause indignation in an arrogant western world.

The invaders make a big song and dance about chemical protection suits and gas masks found in some places. And some cans of pesticides!! Wow!!! Now we just have to wait until a coalited genius finds out that there was a 8 year war going on between Iran and Iraq and both sides then used gas, (Iraq with US approval and help!). Again, it is a logical result of your rating.

The invasion was illegal from the first shot, the first missile and the first bomb. The coalition soldiers have a duty to disobey their commanders and if they do not, they are in violation of the principles laid down by the Allies’ War Trials at Nuremberg. The leaders of the US, Britain and Australia are all to stand trial for aggressive war and the killing of civilians and journalists are just one more count to answer for. If these leaders are allowed to go unpunished we can consider international law and order to be a thing of the past! Except, of course, if the aggressor is mighty and has declared himself to above human and international law. Which naturally he is if he is rated as infallible, omnipotent and omniscient (1) by himself and his Pravda-alikes in the media!

The final message to the world after this war, the bottom line of conduct to be learned by states, individuals, children, criminals and organizations, has been driven home, forcibly, in Iraqi blood:

Might is right and nukes and missiles allow you anything!

(IF you have the stomach for triple standards of morality! Orwell couldn’t have said it better!)

By some strange coincidence, a great number of world citizens have one and only one standard of morality and since these people don’t have a military machine, and wouldn’t want to use violence anyway, they have decided to use a better way to make the USA see the truth and itself in the true light. That is why America now faces a rapidly spreading world-wide boycott of its transnational companies and its products. We 3a-rated people may be without nukes, but we number billions. If the US-junta sees us as irrelevant we can easily persuade Coca-Cola, Exxon, Nike and Proctor & Gamble otherwise!

As they say: No Money for War!

Jerre Skog is a Swedish writer, musician and independent observer living in Germany. His writings, politics and satire, can be found on www.skog.de and comments are welcome at jerre@skog.de