Because You Never Asked

(5/06)

     This is the fourth time I’ve come to Spain since the 2^nd Bush Oil War in Iraq began. Each visit has engendered an “Escape From America” essay, now appearing on your nearest internet outlet as part of this series of essays. The first 2 (see essays, “Escape From America I and II“) were written at a time when the mainstream propaganda outlets of the world’s only “stupid power” were still trying to convince their reading fodder that this war should, could and would be won. Hence the attempt by one such as I, who could see through the charade right from the start, to “escape” the greasy barrage of lies, half truths and twisted facts that became the “virtual” reality of American “information”. These first 2 essays were meant to contrast this theater with the more objective negativity of the European press.

     By the time my 3^rd war time visit rolled around, the whole atmosphere had changed. The military undertaking was now unmistakably mired in the chest deep shit it deserved. Any attempt by American media to “put on a happy face” had now become opaque enough to make it counter-productive. Should, could and would had now become should’ve, could’ve and would’ve. There was not that much to contrast between the press coverage on each side of the Atlantic. Before even finishing my “Escape From America III” essay, I knew its title was already outmoded.

     People living in their national environments can easily overlook the fact that media coverage in each respective country has its own particular melody, much like the cadence of each particular language. This melody is generally set forth by the power elites of each place. Being that the European national hodge-podge lives in very close geographic proximity to each other, these differences in media melody can be less dramatic. This proximity will generally make the various forms of political left and right in each country concur. The maturity of the European Community has further accommodated this trend.

     And then there is that big gringo gorilla way out there on the other side of the big wide ocean, somewhat isolated in its own gigantic, uni-national personality. Americans operate in a particularly purified socio-political air, more so than the Europeans do. If we set aside the separate category of illegal immigrants, Americans are far less effected by a constant ebb and flow of foreign tides washing over their country. For the average citizen on each side of the Atlantic, a trip to Europe or America is a big deal not repeated with regularity, if at all. It’s easy to contrast this to international travel in Europe, which can be easily done in a car, train or almost instantaneous plane ride.

     Although the idea of “escaping” American war propaganda is now not a factor, mainly because the obvious failure of the enterprise makes it extremely difficult to do, there are still subtle differences that distinguish American media melody from that of the old continent. It’s logical to assume that the mouthpieces of any nation undertaking a military action will be more sympathetic to it, and American “Big Media”, global economy news sources behaved in just such a way. But even now, in the face of such a colossal error, the American media melody has still not given in with regard to certain essential aspects of this war. This somewhat isolated, even provincial uni-national aspect of American life, has probably contributed to this.

     It took me about 2 weeks before the urge to check the news from the Disney States of America came upon me this year. It now costs 2 Euros to buy the International Herald Tribune in Spain. Due to the somewhat less than sterling job being barfed up from the White House these days, this translates into $2.65. I got a laugh from the lady at the newsstand when I said that was quite a bit to pay for the lies of the day. (Another comical money exchange story is worth telling here. I usually change my dollars into Euros with a young lady who‘s a good friend of mine. The first time I got a few cents more than the time before, I said, “hey, we must be winning the war now.” She replied, “I thought you already won the war.”) In any event, there was not only nothing but bad news out of Iraq --- the usual death counts, bloodiest days, unformed governments, Iraqi forces unable to, no timetable, etc. --- but there was not even an attempt to create, fabricate, twist, or somehow manufacture anything that could be described as a hopeful sign. The ailing body of this war has almost become a cadaver.

     In the absence of some practical way to shine any favorable light on the war itself, American media spin has been reduced to maintaining some civil idea as to why it happened.

     And this is where the “Yanqui” news melody slightly differs from other places.

     The article that inspired this essay was the lead piece on the editorial-commentary page of the newspaper. It was a lengthy, 4 column dissertation by one Frank Rich, a writer for the New York Times. It was entitled “Seeking the Real Traitors”, and was a two fisted attack on an administration now trapped on the ropes of its own ineptitude. Rich rained down blow after blow from all different angles. A left, a right, the fiasco of the outing of Valerie Plame. A shot to the ribs, an uppercut to the jaw, the seemingly illegal, ineffective snooping on millions of domestic phone calls. A lightening series of jabs to a bloody nose, the farce of Peter Goss’s CIA appointment. Ooof! Bam! Another barrage of unanswered blows, the secret torture centers in foreign countries.

     Fine. Far be it for this writer to feel any sympathy for perhaps the most unscrupulous, ineffective, damaging presidency in the history of the Republic. The sooner the knockout blow comes, the better. But,

     Rich is also someone who has to play within the rules of the game. Obviously, the war’s failure has narrowed the terrain of American spin, but there is still some room for face saving bull, and Rich decides to find it.

     He lambastes the Bush administration for suggesting that those in the press corps who blew the whistle on his foreign torture centers were traitors. Excellent. But then he goes on to say that the administration, “by condoning torture, has surrendered the moral high ground to anti-American jihadists and botched the war of ideas …”

     And here we are, ladies and gentlemen, 2 years after the essay “Introduction to Propaganda 101”; one year after the essay “Propaganda 201”, both of which deal directly with what  will be said right now, and American media continues to insist, even in its most acerbic criticism of Bush’s farcical presidency, that this war had a moral imperative, that this war represented a conflict of ideas. There was only one idea behind this war and American media continues to not go there: the dreaded “o” word. This war’s only idea was to secure a natural resource that has become, through no fault but our own, an exercise in desperation.

     And yes, people like Frank Rich, or Thomas Friedman, or Richard Haass, all of whom have appeared in these pages, can rotundly criticize policy decisions, or inept execution, but they always leave out the most fundamental reason as to why this fiasco should not have happened: it was, is, and always will be an immoral act. Under no code of civilized behavior can the death, destruction and chaos rained down on Iraq be justified by the circumstances of this situation.

     And maybe that is why Rich can correctly blame this president for foolishly putting “American lives at risk”, without even deigning to mention the immense tragedy of the Iraqi people, who are the real victims here.