SECTION FOUR
sm
COLUMN
104,
APRIL 1, 2004
(Copyright © 2004 The Blacklisted Journalist)
OUR
DECEITFUL BOY EMPEROR
HE WAGGED THE DOG, WE GOT A NEEDLESS WAR AND
NOW HE'S WAGGING OBL
[Margie Burns writes freelance in the DC area and teaches in the English
Department at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). She can
be reached at margie.burns@verizon.net ]
To try to comprehend the administration, one must apply a little rhetorical
analysis. For example, authoritative sources tend to name only "Al Qaeda? among terrorist groups, although Al Qaeda is not the only Islamist partisan group,
nor the only one engaged in violence against Westerners. Hypothesis? Either the
speakers don't know much about their topic, or the administration is simplifying
for the American people, or they're engaging in rhetoric rather than genuinely
briefing about national security. Probably the correct answer is all of the above,
but the administration's negligent security in US aviation, nuclear sector, and ports
highlights the last.
It is in this light that the upcoming "push against Bin Laden? should be
evaluated. One word cluster, to use a linguisticians? phrase, early in the new spate
of stories about Bin Laden, was "concentric rings." Several news reports transmitted speculation that Bin Laden was holed up in mountains near the
Afghanistan-Pakistan border, protected by concentric rings of local tribesmen, partisans, and bodyguards.
For whatever reasons, we're not hearing the concentric-rings description
a few weeks later. Newer reports instead describe Bin Laden as 'shuttling? between Pakistan and Afghanistan. There must be superhumanly
non-money-hungry border patrols, tribesmen, and others in that area, not to turn
in a constantly shuttling creature with a bounty of $25 million on his head: Osama
bin Laden is up on the FBI's ten most wanted list
( http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/fugitives/laden.htm
). Incidentally, he is not wanted for "masterminding? 9-11.
Another typical phrasing has Bin Laden under increasing pressure, and it's
only a matter of time till we "get? him.
What is not said is that we'll capture him; media reports sometimes say
that, but US officials
Dead men
tell
no tales
don't. Nor do they say that OBL's people are being
pressured to hand him over, or that we want him for questioning because we want to find out much, much more about the plotting behind those attacks. Indeed,
since September, 2001, no administration official has said, "We desperately want
to pull in Bin Laden. We want to know everything he could tell us." Instead,
Bush started making little "dead or alive? noises; a good slogan for a t-shirt, but
not exactly Intel.
What does all this add up to? Most probably, Bin Laden was killed in
late 2001, by the concerted, massive attacks in the vicinity of Bora Bora, Afghanistan. Global news reports at the time quoted the FBI, the Pentagon, and
the military head of Pakistan, General Musharraf, separately as saying that Bin Laden had been killed, either directly in the bombing attacks, or indirectly by
being kept from essential life-support for kidney disease. The last known video of
Bin Laden showed a pale, gaunt, feeble man with an immobile left arm. He has not been seen or heard
since in any videotape or audiotape whose date and content could be attested by independent experts.
Unfortunately, those saying "we got him? were frowned down by the White House. Perhaps Team Bush didn't want the Afghanistan "war? over
quickly, or preferred to avoid questions about why they didn't compel the Taliban
to hand him over, or wanted OBL as a shadow opponent in what another writer has aptly termed "Cold War II." If this seems far-fetched, it should not. The sad,
deceitful buildup to invading Iraq revealed that many in media outlets would take a
"Bin Laden tape? at face value, even if they turned it over and it had "From the
desk of Paul Wolfowitz? stamped on the back.
So how will today's intensified hunt for Bin Laden end? All too probably,
the upshot of this hunt will be, not capture, but intensive bombing of one spot, said
by unnamed sources to be Bin Laden's last hiding place. Then, of course, there
will be the inevitable military briefing of the press, with reporters allowed to hear
or to quote only material selected by authorities, and held at a place where they
will not be able to corroborate or check it. At the briefing, some grizzled combat
veteran will joke that OBL's "concentric circles? of protection turned out to be a
"bull's-eye." [laughter]
Sadly, we also face more loss of life. This is a plea: if anyone out there
can stop this, please try. ##
NOW AVAILABLE!
ON THIS 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF BEATLEMANIA!
A 615-PAGE PAPERBACK THAT TELLS YOU MORE ABOUT BOB DYLAN AND THE BEATLES THAN ANY OTHER WRITER CAN TELL YOU, BECAUSE THE AUTHOR WAS THERE AND NO OTHER WRITER WAS
YOU CAN ORDER 'BOB DYLAN AND THE BEATLES' FROM 1ST BOOKS LIBRARY AT www.1stbooks.com AT $17 A COPY OR YOU CAN PURCHASE THE BOOK FROM BOOKSELLERS AT $25.95 A COPY
0R, IF YOU WANT A COPY THAT'S NUMBERED AND SIGNED, SEND A UNITED STATES POSTAL MONEY ORDER FOR $17 PLUS $3 FOR SHIPPING AND HANDLING TO THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, BOX 964, ELIZABETH, N.J. 07208
OR, IF YOU WANT THE BOOK SHIPPED TO YOU VIA PRIORITY MAIL, SEND A MONEY ORDER FOR $25
NO CHECKS ACCEPTED!
CLICK HERE TO GET TO INDEX OF COLUMN 104
CLICK HERE TO GET TO INDEX
OF COLUMNS
The
Blacklisted Journalist can be contacted at P.O.Box 964, Elizabeth, NJ 07208-0964
The Blacklisted Journalist's E-Mail Address:
info@blacklistedjournalist.com
THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST IS A SERVICE MARK OF AL ARONOWITZ