Sunday’s “Booknotes” on C-SPAN featured James Bovard, author of Terrorism and Tyranny: Trampling Freedom, Justice, and Peace to Rid the World of Evil. Mr. Bovard and I see differently on many domestic issues. But I thought he made a number of interesting points in the interview, including:
- “Since 9/11, Bush often seems blinded by the glare of his own halo. The moral self-adulation at the heart of the war on terrorism is a danger both to America and to the world.” (p. 349)
- President Bush (and other politicians’) constant reference to the “goodness” of America inspires a sense of blind righteousness–a feeling that we can do no wrong. This mindset can lead a nation down a dangerous policy road.
- An effective technique employed by politicians is to flatter those whom they wish to control. Note how often those in power talk about Americans being the greatest people on earth.
- In his address to the nation the evening of 9/11, Bush claimed that the reason we had been attacked was because America is a symbol of freedom. This assertion of motive was curious, because at that point the FBI wasn’t even sure who the attackers were.
- In July, 2001, the CIA issued a warning that Osama Bin Laden would launch a “significant” and “spectacular” terrorist attack in the coming weeks against the U.S. or Israeli interests designed to inflict mass casualties. The Bush administration’s insistence following the attack that they had no prior warning contributed to a greater level of faith in the government, which allowed the administration to push through the PATRIOT Act. Had America known at that time how many warning signals were out there, we would have been a a lot less flag waving and a lot more tough questioning.
- In October, 2001, many members of Congress voted in favor of the PATRIOT Act even though they didn’t have time to read it.
- Since 1948, the U.S. has spent $240 billion (figures in 2001 dollars) on foreign aid to Israel. Since 1978 we have sent $117 billion to Egypt and $22 billion in Syria. We are supporting nations such as Pakistan, even though they terrorize their own people.
- Although Bush said no FBI or CIA agents were to blame for 9/11, he did blame U.S. drug users for funding terrorism. This despite the fact that a vast majority of drug users smoke marijuana, which has no financial link to terrorism. Since the U.S has invaded Afghanistan, opium production has increased 2,000%.
- In the buildup to the invasion war, Bush kept using the phrase “if war is thrust upon us.” He then proceeded to launch an unprovoked attack against a country which posed no threat to America.
Sounds like an interesting book.