The Globe & Mail's John Ibbitson speaks for the Empire by Louis Evan Palmer
At one point in the not too distant past, Mr. Ibbitson looked into matters pertaining to Toronto and Ontario and seemed to be a progressive voice. Nowadays, he joins the Globe & Mail's coterie of right-wing apologists, and has also become a spokesman for the Bush Regime as in "Iraq: Hang on, Mr. Bush, for all our sakes". Maybe that's considered a graduation of sorts?In this July 11th, 2007 article, Mr. Ibbitson argues that since the Iraqis are still fighting the thugs who have taken over their country, the thugs must remain lest the ignorant rabble fight amongst themselves and destroy what's left of their nation. The fact that most of the destruction has been carried out by the US is conveniently ignored.
If we move this essay back in time to world-war-II Poland, we can see the specious nature of his logic. The Poles formed something called the "Home Army" which engaged in many of the same anti-occupation activities now going on in Iraq. The Germans constantly referred to this "army" as hooligans, terrorists and thugs. Using Mr. Ibbitson's logic, we would first off state that Mr. Hitler must stay on in Poland otherwise the country will descend into anarchy. We would urge Mr. Hitler to "hang on" and we would avoid condemning "regime change" because that's another argument. Unlike the Americans in Iraq, the Germans are not doing their "regime change on the cheap" which Mr. Ibbitson strongly advises against.
To bolster his curious plea to Bush, Mr. Ibbitson calls on the judgement & insight of un-indicted war criminal Henry Kissinger who baldly states "precipitate withdrawal would produce ... a disaster". Presumably, Mr. Kissinger is not including America's hasty 1975 retreat from Saigon in the "disaster" category. Maybe because it was not entirely voluntary?
This is the same Mr. Ibbitson who claimed in another recent article that claims of blackmail against Mr. Libby by an American Congressman were "wild". It seems that Mr. Ibbitson is unaware of one the main currencies in Washington and other power centres. Then again, true apologists have notoriously selective memories and perceptions.
J. Edgar Hoover, a cross-dressing homosexual, ran a highly politicized national police agency that spied on countless Americans and interfered with their right to free assembly and belief yet his Agency never acknowledged the existence of the Mafia. In Mr. Ibbitson's world, the fact that the Mafia had compromising pictures of him was merely a coincidence.
Nowhere does Mr. Ibbtison seem to recognize that the American invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq are illegal; that America has to pull back from its attempted imposition of Empire; that the real debate is not about America dominating the Middle East or other regions of the world (like Bosnia of which he is approving) but America overextending itself into oblivion and tyranny.
For all our sakes, Mr. Ibbitson, don't hang on!
The Globe & Mail's John Ibbitson speaks for the Empire, The Way It Can Be, Louis Evan Palmer
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2007 Louis Evan Palmer lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have appeared in numerous publications.
No comments:
Post a Comment