The New Face of An Old Evil

Obama's the new face of the war party

May 19, 2009 04:30 AM
Re: Obama to resume Guantanamo trials, May 15

Barack Obama's dithering on prosecution of Bush-era war criminals, suppression of photographs of American soldiers' abuse of terror suspects, and resumption of Guantanamo trials is a betrayal to all liberal thinking people.

Obama's cynical reversals represent the triumph of the most impressive, seductively skin-thin repackaging of the old military industrial complex and its hateful imperatives, reflected in his broken promise to pull troops out of Iraq, his push for war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and his continued use of drone attacks. Political change is now rebranding; liberal discourse is now idiocracy.

It is time for a national dialogue in Canada on our relationship with a country that is in effect a military dictatorship of the most insidious kind, for it comes packaged in dark skin, hot abs and liberal platitudes. We are dealing with a country whose right loathes us and whose centre-left wishes to exploit our resources and spread disinformation about us – witness U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's remarks on terrorists crossing the border – in order to achieve its warmongering, mega-corporate goals. Is this an ally?

What future can exist for our left, our distinctiveness, our autonomy, in the face of this utterly compromised behemoth?

Ryan Whyte, Toronto