by Mike Pirsch
The American on-again, off-again relationship with Al-Qaeda is back in the hot-and-heavy phase, with the U.S. “leading a coalition including, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, The United Arab Emirates, Croatia, England, France, and Al-Qaeda to destroy and break up targeted countries.” The jihadist and imperialist mobs are once again married.
U.S. and Al-Qaeda: The Best of Frenemies
by Mike Pirsch
“Not a word was spoken or written about the White House, the Pentagon, and the Congress now funding, training, and arming Al-Qaeda, our supposed enemy.”
The insanity of endless war has found the White House, the Pentagon, and the Congress in an alliance with Al-Qaeda in Libya, Syria, Mali, and possibly other countries. The goal, it seems, is to destroy secular governments in Northern Africa and the Middle East. Also targeted are the Shia dominated governments in Iran and Iraq. The White House, Pentagon, and the Congress are leading a coalition including, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, The United Arab Emirates, Croatia, England, France, and Al-Qaeda to destroy and break up targeted countries. As Bush II and Obama have said, we Americans are not “into” nation building, we are “into” nation destruction.
This alliance of convenience finds the White House, the Pentagon, and the Congress in violation of the “Authorization for Use of Military Force” which was passed one week after the Saudi nationals crashed their hijacked airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The AUMF effectively declared war on “those nations, organizations, or persons he [the President] determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons…” Subsequent amendments to the annual National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA) identified Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and associated forces as well as any nation, organization, or person who is part of or is substantially supporting Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces. Bush II decreed he had the authority to detain indefinitely, without regard to international law or the U.S. Constitution, any person aiding our named enemies, including Al-Qaeda. Obama has gone further than Bush II and decreed he has the right to detain indefinitely or kill any U.S. citizen he thinks is aiding our named enemies including Al-Qaeda. This led recently to a short lived debate about this unilaterally decreed power. Ironically, the debate was led by the Senator Rand Paul, a Tea Party leader. There was a deafening silence from those in Congress who call themselves liberals/progressives.
“Obama has gone further than Bush II and decreed he has the right to detain indefinitely or kill any U.S. citizen he thinks is aiding our named enemies including Al-Qaeda.”
However, not a word was spoken or written about the White House, the Pentagon, and the Congress now funding, training, and arming Al-Qaeda, our supposed enemy.
We have a long history with Al-Qaeda going back to the late 1970’s during the Carter Administration. The relationship is characterized by mutual benefit more than enmity. Zbigniew Brzezinski hatched a plan to give the Soviet Union “its own Viet Nam” by training, funding, recruiting, along with Saudi Arabia, and arming radical Islamist Fundamentalists to conduct guerilla warfare in Afghanistan to drive the Soviet Union out. Working closely with the dictatorship Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Pakistani military and intelligence organizations, the U.S.-led terrorists succeeded in forcing the Soviet Union to retreat from Afghanistan. Several years later the Taliban gained control of most of Afghanistan.
But our alliance with Al-Qaeda did not end there. Clinton I recruited Al-Qaeda to join the U.S. and NATO in their successful destruction and breakup of Yugoslavia. Al-Qaeda’s role was to train and fight alongside Bosnian Muslims, fighting Serbs. Again we have a resounding success in destroying a nation. Clinton I also convinced Osama bin Laden to send his “freedom fighters” (Ronald Reagan’s words) to Chechnya to assist the Chechnya terrorists in their campaign to separate Chechnya from Russia. That didn’t end up so good in spite of a brutal terror campaign inside Russia and Chechnya.
Then we observe several years where it appears Al-Qaeda turned against its creator and benefactor, the U.S. government. The attack on the naval vessel the Cole in Yemen, the first attempt to bomb the World Trade Center, and finally the successful attack on the WTC strongly indicated the parties had divorced. One of the lies Bush II used to justify his illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq was his obligation under the AUMF to make war with Iraq. In fact, Saddam and Al-Qaeda hated each other. Al-Qaeda simply hates secular governments in majority Muslim countries such as Libya and Syria.
“We want to control all of Africa’s natural resources, especially people, and we want to drive China out of Africa.”
Today we have gone full circle. The divorce has been set aside and we are once again married to Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is too valuable in our never ending war because American people have been conditioned to treat it as a threat even when it is our ally. This alliance may enable Al-Qaeda to establish “franchises” in more countries than Starbucks. Look to Al-Qaeda “franchises” in African countries which already includes Mali, Algeria and Somalia. This convenience grants us the “right” under the AUMF to destroy African nations, all of which were given boundaries by European nations in the late 19th century. We want to control all of Africa’s natural resources, especially people, and we want to drive China out of Africa.
What is wrong with us that we have no reaction to this development? Are we so afraid that our brain has frozen? It is unlikely Obama will have himself detained or put on his own kill list as he has killed at least three U.S. citizens under the AUMF. Congress will keep its obedient silence and we will pay.
We will pay by losing our liberty and all vestiges of the social contract such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance, Education, etc. We cannot afford endless wars and the above mentioned benefits at the same time. One will have to go. It is up to us to determine which one. We have a choice. We can continue to do nothing and accept, however reluctantly, never ending war along with extreme poverty and despair and the largest police state ever built or we can say “Idle No More!!!” and act collectively in our neighborhoods to regain our sanity and democracy.
Mike Pirsch is former union organizer and pirate radio station d.j. He is an economic refugee from America living in Thailand.
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.
Black Agenda Report Editor and Columnist Ajamu Baraka has thoughts on Black Misleadership, faux human rights, the decline of the Empire, white Social Democrats, and other issues.
Recognizing the one state reality of Israel-Palestine instead of two-state dreaming would be a huge paradigm shift with huge implications.
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Joy James. Dr. James is Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College.…
Despite the praise she receives for being the “progressive” leader needed in the Caribbean, Mia Mottley and her policies in Barbados and her work within CARICOM have not veered outside the realm of…
