They will speak of peace and wage war
They will wage war and call it peace
They will mercilessly wage war
and be hailed as peacemakers

Never in history anywhere in the world have leaders waged war not believing it to be a noble cause. And of course, wars are usually waged against infidels and against evil in the name of God. Now, President Barack Obama appears to have joined those ranks. Truthfully, he has not joined the brutes of history, i.e., Ghengis Khan or Caligula. Instead, in maters of war, he has become quintessentially American. He has followed in the footsteps of James Polk, Teddy Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and most remarkably, his immediate predecessor, George W. Bush, in continuing to wage wars of aggression under false pretenses. And like his named predecessors, he will escalate the war(s) to end the war(s).

And now, back to the Tiger Woods saga, or better yet, to things that really matter. For instance, whatever happened to balloon boy? And how is Sarah Palin’s book tour coming along?

That seems to be the focus and attention span of American media. More time is spent on covering sex scandals, reality TV and its flight-by-night stars and empty headed celebrities than on the story of our times: the American assertion of the right to wage worldwide permanent war. The president is not only engaged in a costly war in Iraq, but is also escalating the war in Afghanistan. Worse, he is also laying the foundation for a third war in Pakistan.

His acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize was a scene straight out of the Twilight Zone. Rather than speak of peace, he made the case for war… for so-called just war. Every tin pot dictator and warmonger around the world was pleased. At home, right wing politicians such as Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove and even Sarah Palin herself heaped extraordinary praise on the Commander-in-Chief.

Mind-boggling.

And as noted, the news cycle has moved on. The war(s) is no longer an issue, even though the country cannot afford to wage them. Yet in poetic language, the president has defended and sanctioned his predecessor’s war policies, no less, during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo. And not surprisingly, the right wing is pleased.

Apparently, defending the notion of a -just war- does not include denouncing unjust wars by name: Iraq.

There are unjust, illegal and immoral wars and all of them spell Iraq.

Yet, the president could not get himself to name Iraq. Truthfully, had he done so, it would have exposed the past administration to the International War Crimes Tribunal and other courts of justice. Not mentioning Iraq does not absolve or insulate the past administration from criminal or legal claims at the Tribunal. It only gives them protection and cover during the tenure of the current administration.

No president anywhere can make an illegal war legal, moral or just.

It was bad enough that the president was nominated for this prize while waging two wars and while calling for escalation in Afghanistan, but worse is that he obscenely justified war, while receiving this prize.

Perhaps at fault here is not the president, but rather, the committee that bestowed him this honor. What were they thinking? It is obvious; Bush raised worldwide tension every time he spoke arrogantly of war, of fighting evil and doing so in the name of God. The world frowned upon this Texas cowboy.

Now, they have embraced president Obama. He speaks of peace but wages war. At least he’s not Bush.

President Obama gives credibility to war. Gives it a good name. He speaks of committing more troops as though he were sending Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops and Peace Corps volunteers overseas. His eloquent talk permits U.S. troops to continue to kill by the thousands, including through the use of unmanned drone technology. No blood on anyone’s hands here. His smooth talk makes easy their dehumanization. He calls them incorrigibles. His predecessor called them evil. He calls them evil. As long as not too many Americans are killed on the battlefield, the sanitized wars will continue. And the wars will continue until the nation’s enemies resemble us, until everyone shares our values and partakes in our customs, until they all speak English and pray to a Christian God.

Blessed are the Warmakers.

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•    Rodriguez can be reached at: XColumn@gmail.com or PO BOX 85476 – Tucson, AZ 85754

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