Mission Accomplished 2.0
June 12, 2006 | 16 Jumada al-Ula 1427
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead. The media is touting this as a major victory for the Iraqi people and for the United States military. Zarqawi has been labeled a terrorist and may indeed be responsible for many acts of violence. But with the American military coming under fire for alleged massacres of Iraqi citizens, past visions of the convenience of apprehending Saddam Hussain start to wash over me. So if this is a major victory why does it smell funny? Why do I get the feeling that this is Mission Accomplished 2.0?
Many armchair pundits have drawn parallels between Zarqawi and Bin Laden (based on the bounty on Zarqawi’s head being equal to that of Bin Laden’s $25m). But are they two of a kind? Zarqawi’s sphere of influence has been contained to Iraq. Bin Laden, if only by a deliberately inflated reputation, has potentially a more global sphere of influence. Bin Laden was the poster boy of Islam-Gone-Wild, the bull’s-eye objective of both the United States military and of ire of the American public for being the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. So when you add up their respective scales, how does Zarqawi equal Bin Laden? Of course, what really begs the question is why haven’t they killed or apprehended Bin Laden? With 9/11 memorials being raised and Hollywood films reenacting the events of 9/11, how can Bin Laden walk free and Zarqawi’s (who’s been dismissed as a “violent thug” by Frank Gardner of the BBC) assassination get labeled a major victory?
So the point of this short post is simple: don’t be easily distracted by the media machine. This may sound a bit “conspiracy theory’ish” but I and many others want to know what happened to the Original Mission? If Bin Laden is still at large, why isn’t he apprehended? I have heard that the tape that Zarqawi made led to him being tracked down because of certain landmarks in the background (a video dipicting Zarqawi firing a machine gun in the desert). You mean to tell me that they could track down Zarqawi with just some sand and dirt in the background but Bin Laden is still pulling a Houdini act on us? Something smells and it don’t smell good. Mission Accomplished 2.0? In my opinion it’s just like Mission Accomplished 1.0: a big, fat zero.
June 12th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
You are right we are being manipulated, but willingly. The American people are easily distracted. In general, we have the attention span of the African Leopard climbing an Acacia tree with a freshly killed Gazelle locked in its jaws. But a flying Peacock Butterfly is sighted and the hungry Leopard drops its feast to take a swat at the fleeting thing. Survival of the fittest, that’s not funny!
This is the funny part: The Leopard loses its balance, falls to the ground in a loud dusty thump. It shakes its head to clear its vision, embarrassed, looks around trying to comprehend the situation. Unable to fathom reality, the Leopard runs off a hundred meters and lies down confused and hiding in the tall Yellow Thatch Grass. For the rest of its life, the Leopard loses its appetite whenever a Peacock Butterfly happens by. That’s conditioning. That’s how our mass media works. How dumb or numb can we be? I guess it’s not that funny either.
June 12th, 2006 at 10:49 pm
The most interesting thing that I read over the past week since the news of Zarqawi’s death broke was the interview of Nicholas Berg’s father. If you recall Berg was the contractor who Zarqawi purportedly killed.
Berg’s father is a staunch “pacifist” and many interviewers seemed to assume that the news of Zarqawi’s death would somehow please him. WRONG!
Soledad O’Brien asked if he was glad that Zarqawi was dead and Berg’s response was “No. How can a human being be glad that another human being is dead?” On every interview it was clear that the media was trying to get him to concede that he should be happy for Zarqawi’s death but Berg held his ground essentially cautioning the public - dont believe the hype.
In one quote that I printed Berg stated …
“Iraq did not have al Qaeda in it. Al Qaeda supposedly killed my son.
Under Saddam Hussein, no al Qaeda. Under George Bush, al Qaeda.
Under Saddam Hussein, relative stability. Under George Bush, instability.
Under Saddam Hussein, about 30,000 deaths a year. Under George Bush, about 60,000 deaths a year. I don’t get it. Why is it better to have George Bush the king of Iraq rather than Saddam Hussein?”
June 13th, 2006 at 9:13 am
Asalaam alaikum brother. So true. We as the american public are easily swayed and redirected…as if we are 6 year olds with ADD. Zarqawi is NOT the end all to be all in IRAQ and ‘REAL’ war analysts know this. It’s the american government that is living in the dense fog of a reality. I would also know what the REAL deal was with IRAQ. I think I could swallow the Deaths of 2 thousand plus Service men and women, the countless deaths of innocent men, woman and children in a IRAQ and the creation of a war culture in the cradle of civilization. But all I can do is make dua for the blood shed to END. **very incitefull piece**
June 14th, 2006 at 12:36 am
Keep in mind, I am nearly 60!