* Agustín
Velloso
es profesor de la Facultad de Educación en la Universidad
Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED).
e-Mail: avelloso@edu.uned.es

¿Political change in the United
States?
As in Israel, just different
faces
Agustín Velloso
CSCAweb, november
15, 2006
"Rumsfeld
left yesterday the ministry of defence of a government as genocidal
as Israel's, but as it happened with Sharon, this punctual change,
or the wider ones brought by elections, is unable to achieve
justice. A place in a bench in front of a war crimes tribunal
and against humanity, should be the first stop in his way to
a sentence in accord with his crimes (...)"
When the former Israeli prime
minister Sharon, was taken to hospital almost one year ago, and
his successor Olmert invited Peretz to head the ministry of defence,
political commentators made money once again with their articles
in support of the powerful leaders. The foresaw an almost rosy
future for Israel under the auspices of Peretz, "Peace Now"
forerunner and notable Labour member who promised increases in
social services and advances in negotiations with the Palestinians.
None of the comments makes the Israeli government less guilty
of crimes against humanity and the commentators less accountable
for their support of the government.
Rumsfeld left yesterday the
ministry of defence of a government as genocidal as Israel's,
but as it happened with Sharon, this punctual change, or the
wider ones brought by elections, is unable to achieve justice.
A place in a bench in front of a war crimes tribunal and against
humanity, should be the first stop in his way to a sentence in
accord with his crimes, if someone is able to visualize one.
This very morning political
commentators and editors, who are used to consider Bush's crimes
in the Middle East more or less serious political mistakes, and
who refer to his victims as alleged terrorists, keep on earning
money celebrating Rumsfeld's departure and the Democratic Party's
electoral victory.
They never lose, they always
side with the winner. If a Republican administration fails while
sending armies to invade, destroy and occupy Third World nations,
they still have the chance to criticise the failure and celebrate
the arrival of a Democrat one, which will invade, destroy and
occupy the same nations, but through humanitarian interventions
and peace-keeping forces.
The best selling Spanish newspaper
El País opens its editorial comment of November 9th about
the last carnage in Gaza with this sentence: "The slaughter,
presumably accidental." It is crystal clear that numerous
similar massacres during the 40 years of the bloody occupation
of Palestine do not prevent pro-Israel commentators from placing
a fitting doubt in the right place, with the hardly concealed
aim of diminishing the international impact of the latest crime.
One wonders if comments like
this one about Israel's crimes are written by a computer programmed
to support the Zionist cause, namely, to expel the Palestinians
from their land no matter how, dead or alive, in order to make
room for Jewish people from abroad. It is hard to believe that
the writer of an editorial piece about Gaza hides Israel's genocidal
record, fails to mention the many charges it has received for
its violations of international law, remains silent about the
illegality of the occupation of Palestinian lands, avoids to
inform about its use of banned weaponry against civilians, does
not mention that it terrorises a population on top of keeping
it under siege, and does not bring to light the fact that army
personnel are routinely acquitted of gross human rights violations
against the Palestinians, children under 10 years old and pregnant
women included. The main difference between machine and human
being is that the first does not receive any moneys for its support
towards the Zionist cause.
No one should be fooled: US
voters have not changed their Middle East policy. They have simply
changed their policy's head. What is more important: they did
not introduce the change because they realised that their policy
in Iraq -and other places- is a criminal one, but because it
is unprofitable. It is easy to shout "mission accomplished"
in a battleship deck in front of the world TVs before the arrival
of problems and big spending, but it is quite difficult to repeat
it after billions of dollars literally burnt and around three
thousand soldiers killed in Iraq.
Because of their Middle East
policies, US top leaders have become the laughing stock of the
big powers, China and Russia. European countries -middle size
powers- now shy away from their master, although they banked
on nice war spoils when they sided with it. On the other hand,
the hundreds of Arab and Muslim victims do not even appear in
the picture, their numbers do not have a place in their executioners'
balance sheet.
US voters have not punished
Bush because of his war crimes and crimes against humanity in
Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan, they simply have reproached
him for failing to achieve their imperial dream soon and cheaply.
There were no complaints when Bush destroyed a whole country.
On the contrary, he was acclaimed by standing men and women clapping
their hands in the House of Representatives. No one spoke about
taking him to a tribunal to face charges for those crimes. US
voters only express their frustration for not bumping Iraqis
off as their ancestors did so easily with the native population.
Before a war crimes tribunal
Bush could always say that the majority of the US was with him
from the beginning of the war and almost until the end, since
his voters only deserted him when he revealed himself as unfit
to carry out the US Imperialist policy in the Middle East, not
even massacring hundred of thousands of Iraqis.
Since it is almost sure that
US war criminals will never face a war crime tribunal, since
it is a hundred per cent sure that political editors will find
new words to show mass murders as political mistakes, since it
is pretty sure that the now abashed voters of the Democratic
Party will become enthusiastic voters of the Republican Party
as soon as the wind changes again, some comfort can be found
in the blow the resistance has inflicted to the Imperial US plans
and in the fact that the martyrs' blood has not been shed in
vain.
The recent Lebanese resistance
success is also another reason for hope. It looks like the start
of a wider movement that stretches out to Palestine, Iraq and
other subjected nations looking for a world free from oppressors
and their apologetic editorial commentators.

Otros
textos del autor en CSCAweb
Agustín
Velloso: "Roma no paga a traidores", advierte el embajador
del sionismo en España
Agustín
Velloso: 'Palestina 2006: los cadáveres por los suelos,
los ánimos por las nubes'
¿Todos
contra Hamás? No, todos contra los palestinos
Agustín
Velloso: Enhorabuena, Palestina. Bienvenido, Hamás (un
comentario no político a las elecciones legislativas palestinas
de 2006)
Agustín
Velloso: Biografía de Sharon, que es la de Israel y la
del sionismo
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