'America’s Tragedy Has Become Ours As Well': The Bush Victory As Seen by the World

By Farish A. Noor

That a nation, in a time of crisis, would vote to maintain the existing leadership of the country or opt for a strong leader is perfectly understandable and all-too-human. Winston Churchill’s rise to power in Britain when the country found itself at war against the Axis powers is a case in point. During peacetime a leader like Churchill would have proven to be a disaster for Britain – the man himself being a product of a late Victorian mindset that could never accept the inevitable demise of Empire. But during times of war, a Jurassic blockhead like him was precisely what the doctor ordered and it was his simple yet unwavering convictions and singularity of purpose that saw Britain through the worst years of conflict.

There is, however, an important difference between the state of Britain at war in the 1940s and the predicament that the United States of America finds itself in today. In the latter case, the USA’s current crisis has more to do with the indirect results of America’s foreign policy during the Cold War and its incessant meddling in Third World affairs, mostly in countries deemed too remote and unknown to the collective American imaginary.

While the American mass media remains unique in its near-total neglect of the developments across the rest of the globe, and while the average American citizen was kept oblivious of the machinations of American companies, agencies and even NGOs that were being carried out in his name, the human costs of America’s foreign adventurism have accumulated year by year.

From Latin and Central America to Africa, Asia and the Arab world, the whole planet has been relegated to the secondary status of America’s ‘back yard’. (Policed, at times, by its domesticated poodle, the United Kingdom – when the Sheriff was not at home.) No more so than in the unscrupulous double dealings of the powerful corporations and agencies that now make up the backbone of President Bush Junior’s Neo-Con coterie of advisors and lobbyists: From the dealings of American oil and gas companies in Central Asia (who surreptitiously supported the rise of the Taliban) to the numerous intelligence agencies, think-tanks, research centers and foundations that have spread their tentacles from South America to East Asia, the hegemonization of American interests has been carried out in earnest.

Successive American governments (be they under the control of the Democrats or Republicans) continued to deal with right-wing, authoritarian dictatorships that were hostile to democracy and the aspirations of their people. The net result of half a century of double standards and double-dealings now manifests itself in a harvest of anti-Americanism on an unprecedented scale. The emergence of anti-American forces the world over attests to the fact that America is no longer seen by a significant portion of the globe as a model nation and that the hollow claims behind America’s promotion of democracy and democratic values have been laid bare. The fact that both George Bush and Hamid Karzai announced their electoral victories on practically the same day is ironic – as both elections have been bogged by charges of irregularities. (Perhaps American voters should have been photographed and had their fingers marked by ink, like the Afghans, too?)

The other worrying outcome of the US elections is that it has breathed new life into the resurgent forces of the far right the world over. Thailand’s Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra – whose harsh policy towards the Muslims of Southern Thailand resulted in the deaths of 84 Thai citizens a week ago, Philippine’s Gloria Arroyo – who trampled on the post-Marcos democratic constitution by allowing US troops to again return in force on Philippine soil, and Indonesia’s Susilo Bambang Yudhiyono – who was trained at Uncle Sam’s military colleges, can now breathe easier with the knowledge that their own questionable ‘anti-terror’ campaigns will receive less media attention and criticism from Washington.

Yet it is precisely this global slide towards authoritarianism and the retreat of democratic reform that has made the world a more dangerous place for us to live in, and significantly more dangerous for Americans in particular. The Americans’ vote for Bush was not only a vote for the man, but also for the entire clique of business-security-military interests he represents and defends. As such this was not only a victory for Bush personally, but also for the companies, corporations, think-tanks and foundations aligned with the far right in the USA. Have the Americans really understood the implications of their vote? To vote for such a leader and such an establishment right now has merely sent out the wrong message to the rest of the world. So much for the so-called ‘land of the brave’: The victory of Bush junior is an indicator that America today is a paranoid nation, fearful of its own shadow and unable to come to terms with the results of its external meddling abroad.

The only ones who stand to benefit from these election results are the corporate moguls who run America’s military-industrial complex, and Mr. Osama and company, managers of Global Terror Inc. who are their primary clients. George Orwell’s observations in his novel ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ remain as pertinent and relevant today as when he first wrote them: A government in need of legitimacy and blind support can do no better than to engineer a state of permanent crisis and fear among the people, for fear is the best way to command obedience and to ensure that the power of the state remains unquestioned and unchallenged. Today the fear of the American public is focused on the bogeyman of the ‘Islamic terror threat’; a morbid and gruesome comedy of errors whose cast include the unwitting puppets and players in the sick drama of the neo-Cons: Osama, Mullah Omar, etc.

Yesterday America’s fears were focused on the specter of the ‘Evil Red menace’ of the so-called ‘Soviet Empire’. And perhaps in the future the next maligned demon to occupy the stage in this hauntology is the ‘Yellow Peril’ of emerging China and North Korea. Whoever occupies this position, the logic and the dynamics of American politics will remain the same unless and until the Americans themselves develop the wisdom to see beyond the lies of their own propagandists and fear-mongers. There will always be an external enemy to disturb the slumber of the American conscience, and awakening from this self-induced nightmare the American voter will rush to the ballot box to cast his lot with the next authoritarian leader, whoever he may be. America’s tragedy has become ours as well.

Dr. Farish A Noor is a Malaysian political scientist and human rights activist.