Lies With a Life of Their Own

By George Gregoriou
(Part I)
Instead of watching the news on the TV or reading the newspapers, I think I would be better of watching the food or design channels. My blood pressure will go down and I will not gain any weight watching the chefs unload tons of butter into every pot. Nor do I take notes on the recipes or buy the cookbooks they are pushing. I have no plans to design or remodel anything. I have done that. The sight of a hammer bothers me. On the other hand, watching the news or the presidential debates depresses me.

I am not a decider, like Mr. Bush. I am much better at dithering. I am pleased with my own cooking. It does not require much thought. I like my own cooking. I have one recipe, with slight variations, to trick myself into thinking that I am a “gourmet” meal. I am like the Mexicans, documented and undocumented. The leftovers are back on the stove the next day–rice and beans, beans and rice, chicken and rice, beef and rice, rice and chicken, occasionally rice and pork. But, mine is Greek cooking. I can do my Greek cooking with my eyes closed, just like I was trained in the US Army to disassemble and assemble an M-1 automatic rifle, blindfolded, in case the gun got jammed and I had to shoot Russians, at night.

We avoided World War III with the Russians, though we came close in 1962, with Cuban missiles crisis. The consequences were unthinkable, complete annihilation of combatants and non-combatants alike. The Cold War was costly. 15 trillion dollars were wasted in the world, on militarism. One-half ($7.5 trillion) was spent by Washington. It is the equivalent of $15,000 billion ($1 billion per year in the life of the planet earth, which is calculated to be 15 billion years. The earth is now in its mid-life crisis (7.5 billion years old), if the scientists are correct in their calculations, and I got it right. Anyway, $15 trillion is a lot of money.

The Cold War lasted for 70 years. A hot war here and there gave the Cold War credibility. The money was good (great profits for the military- industrial complex) and a rationale for people to pay the price, that is, cut-backs in social services, tax-cuts for the wealthy, and the flag for the wounded, for those in body-bags, and for the lies by government officials. Patriotism, flag waving, and demonizing the enemy goes a long way. The lies are recycled, for the next war, thanks to our short memory and the beating of the war drums by state officials and their enablers in the media.

At the turn of the 21st Century we have one super-power. Not for long. It is in a state of decline. The deciders in the White House are desperate. Empires are not forever. When in decline, desperate things happen. The Ottoman rulers embarked on a genocide policy, with vengeance, to make “Turkey for Turks Only.” Millions of Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, and others, 33% of the Ottoman population (1900), were deported or massacred (interchangeable words). One of the Ottoman inventions was to “parboil” thousands of Greeks in Turkish baths and then send them, barely clothed, on death marches in the snow, to die of pneumonia and other related sicknesses. Parboiling avoided spilling blood (whereas using axes and spades to slaughter the victims was bloody), nor bullets, which were too expensive. The British imperialists were much better at it. Forced to pack up and leave, they had the Hindus and Muslims in the Indian Sub-Continent, the Jews and Arabs in Palestine, the Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, and the Greeks and Turks in Cyprus kill each other. They even stood by as innocent by-standers, to keep law and order. The French, Spanish, and Portuguese after WWII did the same.

What is certain is that a new state or an empire cannot be created (or dismantled) without massacres or genocide. The fate of the natives in America, the enslavement of Africans and the slave trade by Europeans, the occupation of the Palestinians by the Zionists escaping persecution in Europe, or the massacres of Christians by the Ottoman Turkish invaders in Asia Minor were not mere coincidences. They were part of this historical reality. An invasion and conquest of another territory involves the enslavement, forced conversion (religion), even physical elimination of the people inhabiting those lands for hundreds or thousands of years.

Imperialist USA is in deep trouble. Most people in the world think so, except those in the White House. They are trapped into lying, and they want us to share their lies. In the last five years, the only countries where the image of the US improved by a few points are: Lebanon, Pakistan, South Korea, Ivory Coast, and Kenya. That was five months ago. In Britain, France, and Germany, the favorable image of the US dropped by minus 24, –23, and -30 points, respectively. In the Czech Republic it dropped by minus 26, in Poland by -18, and Indonesia by -32 (The N.Y.Times, 6/28/07, A12).

The lies to invade Iraq in 2003 are now repeated against Iran. This is how it is done. No one seems to be interested in the Iraqi war anymore, and those who do blame Bush and the neo-conservatives. The jihadists are popping out of the ground like mushrooms. Even White House lies and the culture of terror have a limited life span. They need to be upgraded, but to the general public, the war is lost. So, someone in the White House (I cannot say it is Mr. Bush. No one would believe me anyway!) took a look at his watch and said “We have time for another war, Iran seems to be the best candidate, all we have to do is scare the hell out of the American people, to believe us. We can also pass this war to our enemies, our critics at home. Let us see if they can do a better job!” Is it that simple? It is only money and body bags, which they, the people, do not see anyway. It is so obvious. The officials in government have been reduced to repeating the same lies, with a straight face, whether it is Iraq, Iran, Syria, or any country not toeing the Washington line.

George Gregoriou
Professor, Critical Theory and Geopolitics