"The Sole Superpower Syndrome"
" Military forces with global reach,
as demonstrated by bombing, serve the interests of the U. S. -
based transnational corporations dominant in the globalization
process, by showing what can happen to countries that are slow
to open markets or to install friendly regimes in power. Using
boycotts and bombs to punish "rogues " who somehow presume
to control their own markets and resources has been an integral
feature of U.S. and western policy since 1917. Periodic bombing
forays also help justify the large military establishment and
allow it to reduce old inventories and display and experiment
with new weapons.
... bombing is a political winner at home,
with the media always getting on the chauvinistic bandwagon, and
the public also regularly rallying around the flag and in support
of our boys. George Bush's poll ratings rose as he bombed Iraq
in 1991, with the reporters and public enthralled at our new clean
war.
With the right-wing and mainstream media helping
demonize anybody standing in our way, U.S. presidents are also
regularly under pressure to drop bombs as a display of macho "character"
and "leadership." Weak presidents are especially prone
to bomb in order to quiet their critics and protect and improve
their poll ratings...
... For the media, the U.S. has a right to
bomb another country if it thinks it has any kind of case - it
doesn't have to be sure of the facts, or rush to compensate the
victims of its errors, any more than it is obliged to abide by
international law. "
Edward S. Herman, economist and author
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Authors
and Books
Foreign
Policy watch
"The
Sole Superpower Syndrome"