Sunday, August 27, 2006

Who's Bed have your Boots been Under?

The title of this article is in fact the title of a song by Canadian Superstar Shania Twain but it applies to almost every aspect of political life. When one takes in the news and examines the facts, one must wonder about the behind the political manoeuvring going on behind the scenes. What we see in the news is not reality and with the massive consolidation of media to single corporate entities; we certainly do not get an unbiased version of anything. It is always filtered and spun by the master spin doctors to suit whatever side the owner of the media conglomerate sits on (Rupert Murdoch’s media empire is a prime example of this).

This is most especially true when examining the happenings in the Middle East. One should always ask the question which politician is in bed with the other over the bodies of thousands dead. We see it everywhere we look. In Iraq, the U.K. and the U.S. are in bed with their puppet government and declaring progress even while the body count gets higher and higher. In Afghanistan, the U.S. was in bed with the Mujahideen of the Taliban (and of course the CIA trained Osama Bin Laden) while the Soviet Union was in the country but when they left, the U.S. withdrew support and left the Taliban to run rampant and create one of the most vicious and repressive regimes in the region.
In Egypt and Jordan, we have Moubarak and King Abdullah in bed with both the U.S. and Israel. As a matter of fact, you can put almost any Arab dictator in bed with the U.S. as long as that dictator tows the line and never disagrees with whoever happens to be in the Oval Office. Look what happened to Saddam. He was the U.S.’s best friend when he was battling Iran. When that was done and he decided to invade tiny little Kuwait, the U.S. went rank and decided he couldn’t play in the sandbox with them anymore.

Onto Lebanon, we all know Hizbullah is in bed with Syria and Iran. The question then becomes one of loyalty. It is a widely accepted view that the war between Hizbullah and Israel that played out on Lebanese soil and cost untold lives and millions was in fact a proxy war between the U.S (i.e. Israel) and Iran (i.e. Hizbullah). It is thought that by breaking Hizbullah, the U.S./Israel would be breaking Iran. They thought wrong. Hizbiullah is no where near broken and in fact, have a new lease on life.

Thanks to this hideous misstep in policy and pre-emptive wars (and an ego contest), Hizbullah is stronger than ever. They now have more support than they ever did in the Arab world. The fact that Israeli soldiers remain on Lebanese soil gives them in their own minds a good reason not to disarm. Now, every time the topic of disarmament comes up, they can point and say “Israel is still here and we need to defend the south of Lebanon”. Brilliant move by Bush et al don’t you think? I do. They achieved exactly what Iran wanted. Thanks boys and girl.

Who’s Bed Have Your Boots Been Under? Next time you talk to your local politician, ask him and watch him stammer.

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