{"id":11485,"date":"2011-04-11T12:00:29","date_gmt":"2011-04-11T11:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=11485"},"modified":"2011-04-10T19:48:13","modified_gmt":"2011-04-10T18:48:13","slug":"to-libya-with-god-on-our-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2011\/04\/to-libya-with-god-on-our-side\/","title":{"rendered":"To Libya with God on Our Side"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe United States \u2026should not try or be widely perceived as trying to manipulate religion in pursuit of narrowly drawn interests.\u201d<\/em> The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, February 22, 2011 Task Force report [Engaging Religious Communities Abroad: A New Imperative for US Foreign Policy].<\/p>\n

\u201cI will never hesitate to use our military swiftly, decisively, and unilaterally when necessary to defend our people, our homeland, our allies and our core interests. That’s why we’re going after al-Qaida wherever they seek a foothold\u2026 God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.\u201d<\/em> Obama speech on Libya, March 28, 2011<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the president orders assassination, it must be legal… If the president orders torture, it must be legal.\u201d<\/em> – Condoleezza Rice (http:\/\/www.informationclearinghouse.info\/article11488.htm<\/a> ).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grabbing other people\u2019s land and interfering in their affairs became as American as apple pie before the annexation of Texas, and \u201cManifest Destiny\u201d as the engine of U.S. foreign policy.<\/p>\n

In 17th Century inspirational moments God sent His chosen from England to found the \u201ccity on a hill\u201d (Boston). He had dispatched other select British subjects to settle \u201cthe promised land\u201d (Virginia).<\/p>\n

According to John L. O\u2019Sullivan in 1839, God intended \u201cthe fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.\u201d<\/p>\n

See how Americans talked to God before Pat Robertson \u2013 before God punished us with Hurricanes for allowing homosexuals to cavort.<\/p>\n

In 1898, God, doubling as President McKinley\u2019s National Security Adviser while simultaneously suggesting headlines for William Randolph Hearst, answered McKinley\u2019s prayers for advice. The Big Guy told me to \u201ctake the Philippines,\u201d McKinley explained to the press as he launched the Spanish American War.<\/p>\n

Secretary of War Elihu Root extolled the virtues of that war because “The American soldier is different from all other soldiers of all other countries since the world began. He is the advance guard of liberty and justice, of law and order, and of peace and happiness.” (In Peter Maguire, Law and War: AN AMERICAN STORY. Columbia University Press, 2002, pp.53-54)<\/p>\n

Root omitted discussion of U.S. troop\u2019s involvement in massacring suspected Philippine resisters. Our vanguard soldiers killed some 600,000 before President Herbert Hoover ended the U.S. occupation in January 1933. (Howard Zinn, Common Dreams, June 6, 2007)<\/p>\n

Woodrow Wilson fought a holy war for democracy. Harry Truman to stop an atheist Communist dictator in North Korea and prop up a Christian fascist one in South Korea. And Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon all invoked His name.<\/p>\n

Reagan invaded Grenada, but didn\u2019t recall who advised him and Bush I ordered the hit on Panama after his third lunchtime martini. The born-again Bush II knew his direction came from above. The Iraqis and Afghans will remain ever grateful for those wars.<\/p>\n

Making war without congressional declaration has become traditional. Some thought the Nobel Peace Prize winner would challenge that behavior. But, he explained, he had to kill (he used euphemisms) bad<\/p>\n

Libyans to save good ones. \u201cGod bless us all,\u201d he added at the end of his speech.<\/p>\n

Was the photo of smiling Obama shaking hands with President Gadhafi taken before or after Obama knew he was a bad Libyan? Did Obama\u2019s smile came from constipation, or did God only recently inform him after prayer that Gadhafi was evil? Did Divine consultation convince Obama not to save rebels\u2019 lives in Bahrain and Yemen? He did nothing when their nasty leaders murdered them for protesting.<\/p>\n

Or did God, again as national security adviser, explain the important religious functions of Bahrain\u2019s King (hosting the U.S. fleet) and Yemen\u2019s President (torturing Washington\u2019s Al-Qaida suspects). GIs with cell phone cameras might send email photos of naked prisoners to loved ones and thus reveal national security secrets as they did in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo!<\/p>\n

Obama couldn\u2019t let all the despots that obeyed the U.S. kill their people with impunity; so with NATO allies he launched a \u201chumanitarian\u201d intervention. Warplanes and ships fired missiles against Libyan targets, speculating correctly that the mainstream media would not inquire whether these impressive explosive displays killed civilians. Well, even if some died, it wasn\u2019t intentional.<\/p>\n

Later their families might even collect compensation. We\u2019re generous in war spending. By calling the mission \u201chumanitarian\u201d we distinguish it from older missions when Belgians in 1911 massacred about 12 million Congolese. Germans between 1903-1906 killed 60,000 Hereros in Namibia.<\/p>\n

In 1964, the CIA provided names of some one million plus suspected atheist-communists in Indonesia. Our anti-communist friends in that obedient Muslim nation wiped them out — humanely.<\/p>\n

Our soldiers killed some 4 million (mostly civilians) in Vietnam \u2013 hard to remember why. And our zealous Latin American friend General Rios Montt (a religious Christian) exterminated about 70,000 Guatemalan peasants (1965-77) \u2013 and so on.<\/p>\n

The United States claims authority to kill people in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, without formal accusations \u2013 forget due process \u2013 if the President (after praying) decides they might be enemies. So, U.S.<\/p>\n

Kill Teams (ah, cooperation!) and drones (hi-tech is super!) waste suspected enemies (God\u2019s enemies, of course). Do these newly named entities kill more than that G.. damned Gadhafi? Oops. Almost used God\u2019s name in vain \u2013 a sin. But we not need worry, the weapons Obama instructed the CIA to deliver to \u201cfree Libyans\u201d will carry Jesus\u2019 blessing.<\/p>\n

God Bless America!<\/p>\n

___________________<\/p>\n

Saul Landau\u2019s new film WILL THE REAL TERRORIST PLEASE STAND UP is available through cinemalibrestudio.com. <\/em><\/p>\n

Nelson Valdes is Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 informationclearinghouse.info<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grabbing other people\u2019s land and interfering in their affairs became as American as apple pie before the annexation of Texas, and \u201cManifest Destiny\u201d as the engine of U.S. foreign policy. In 17th Century inspirational moments God sent His chosen from England to found the \u201ccity on a hill\u201d (Boston). He had dispatched other select British subjects to settle \u201cthe promised land\u201d (Virginia). According to John L. O\u2019Sullivan in 1839, God intended \u201cthe fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anglo-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11485\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}