The October 2015 Portland Alliance
Mantra for 9/11:
Exceptional Pain Dispensed
by the Indispensable Nation
Fourteen Years Later, Improbable World
by
Tom Engelhardt
(Photo: Cyril Attias/flickr/cc)
Fourteen years later, don’t you still find it improbable that...
Fourteen years later and do you even believe it? Did we actually live it? Are we still living it? And how improbable is that?
Fourteen
years of wars, interventions, assassinations, torture, kidnappings,
black sites, the growth of the American national security state to
monumental proportions, and the spread of Islamic extremism across much
of the Greater Middle East and Africa. Fourteen years of astronomical
expense, bombing campaigns galore, and a military-first foreign policy
of repeated defeats, disappointments, and disasters. Fourteen years of a
culture of fear in America, of endless alarms and warnings, as well as
dire predictions of terrorist attacks. Fourteen years of the burial of
American democracy (or rather its recreation as a billionaire’s
playground and a source of spectacle and entertainment but not
governance). Fourteen years of the spread of secrecy, the classification
of every document in sight, the fierce prosecution of whistleblowers,
and a faith-based urge to keep Americans “secure” by leaving them in the
dark about what their government is doing. Fourteen years of the
demobilization of the citizenry. Fourteen years of the rise of the
warrior corporation, the transformation of war and intelligence
gathering into profit-making activities, and the flocking of countless
private contractors to the Pentagon, the NSA, the CIA, and too many
other parts of the national security state to keep track of. Fourteen
years of our wars coming home in the form of PTSD, the militarization of
the police, and the spread of war-zone technology like drones and
stingrays to the “homeland.” Fourteen years of that un-American word
“homeland.” Fourteen years of the expansion of surveillance of every
kind and of the development of a global surveillance system whose reach
-- from foreign leaders to tribal groups in the backlands of the planet
-- would have stunned those running the totalitarian states of the
twentieth century. Fourteen years of the financial starvation of
America’s infrastructure and still not a single mile of high-speed rail
built anywhere in the country. Fourteen years in which to launch Afghan
War 2.0, Iraq Wars 2.0 and 3.0, and Syria War 1.0. Fourteen years, that
is, of the improbable made probable.
"All [the experience of September 11, 2001] opened us up to was bringing pain to others."
rest of the story: http://www.theportlandalliance.org/engelhardt
Fourteen Years Later, Improbable World
by
Tom Engelhardt
(Photo: Cyril Attias/flickr/cc)
Fourteen years later, don’t you still find it improbable that...
rest of the story: http://www.theportlandalliance.org/engelhardt
Vol. XXXIV, Number 10 October 2015
http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/2015/October
|About Us | Subscribe | Contact Submission info | Volunteer ThePortlandAlliance.org/afewwords Letters to the editor
ThePortlandAlliance.org/communitycalendar ThePortlandAlliance.org/olderletterstoeditor
http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/2015/October
|About Us | Subscribe | Contact Submission info | Volunteer ThePortlandAlliance.org/afewwords Letters to the editor
ThePortlandAlliance.org/communitycalendar ThePortlandAlliance.org/olderletterstoeditor
PDX Police Updates ThePortlandAlliance.org/police ThePortlandAlliance.org/PDXArtMuseum Jobs! http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/jobs
Speaking Truth to Power Since 1981
This issue includes critical information about what happened at Oaks Park on Labor Day, Doctors Without Borders, A Peace Rally coming up, Homeless Action Day, commentary on the Twin Towers, Keaton Otis Vigil and much more...
This issue includes critical information about what happened at Oaks Park on Labor Day, Doctors Without Borders, A Peace Rally coming up, Homeless Action Day, commentary on the Twin Towers, Keaton Otis Vigil and much more...
