Letters to the Editor,
The Daily Yomiuri,
1-7-1 Otemachi,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8055
The Pentagon and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld are now talking about a “long war” against terrorism, laying the groundwork for an armed struggle that could take decades. I feel my neck burning because it is so transparent. What they mean is“permanent war,” and so that is wheat they ought to be saying.
I cannot convince myself that that is not an undesirable thing for some elements within American society. Instead, it is a dream come true for the “military industrial complex” that former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower spoke of.
Born of war, the United States has always been a very militaristic and belligerent nation despite its long history of isolationism.
And today, trying to keep track of U.S. affairs is an exerciser in the Byzantine bizarre. What is happening is the evolution of a society dedicated to w aging permanent war on the periphery of its empire, like ancient Rome. Only in this case the periphery of the empire spans the entire globe, drawing or threatening to draw U.S. fighting men to every place imaginable.
Maybe instead of comparing it to ancient Rome I ought to compare it to some awful science fiction plot by Robert Heinlein.
It will never end. Even if Al-Qaida is eliminated, “terrorism” would just be redefined as an excuse to continue waging war somewhere else, permanently. It might be bad for societies suffering the bombing and ground assaults, but it is good for the U.S. economy, and in the United States that is what counts.
That means the United States is the most dangerous country in the world today.’ I know. I enjoy an affluent, peaceful, high standard of living in a democratic society because of American sacrifice and beneficence, so who am I - how dare I question the manner in which these things are provided? But that is not really how it is, and we know it.
Or, I could be wrong.
Published by on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 as “American empire is waging a ‘permanent war’.”
I completely reject the idea of American exceptionalism, which is a major plank in American conservatives’ conception of their own country and what they consider the self-evident virtue of their country. What poppycock! I have long said that I thought America was the most dangerous country in the world, the largest maker and stockpiler of weapons of mass destruction - nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Under George W. Bush the U.S. became the primary torturer in the world.