Гор Видал - Perpetual War For Perpetual Peace

The awesome physical damage Osama and company did to us on Dark Tuesday is as nothing compared to the knockout blow to our vanishing liberties — the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1996 combined with the recent requests to Congress for additional special powers to wiretap without judicial order; to deport lawful permanent residents, visitors, and undocumented immigrants without due process; and so on. As I write, U.S. "Concentration Camp X-Ray" is filling up at marine base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. No one knows whether or not these unhappy residents are prisoners of war or just plain evildoers. In any case, they were kidnapped in Afghanistan by U.S. forces and now appear to be subject to kangaroo courts when let out of their cages.

This is from a pre-Osama text: "Restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press; on the rights of assembly and associations; and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications and warrants for house searches, orders for confiscations as well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed." The tone is familiar. Clinton? Bush? Ashcroft? No. It is from Hitler's 1933 speech calling for "an Enabling Act" for "the protection of the People and the State" after the catastrophic Reichstag fire that the Nazis had secretly lit.

Only one congresswoman, Barbara Lee of California, voted against the additional powers granted the president. Meanwhile, a New York Times -CBS poll noted that only 6 percent now opposed military action while a substantial majority favored war "even if many thousands of innocent civilians are killed." Simultaneously, Bush's approval rating has soared, but then, traditionally, in war, the president is totemic like the flag. When Kennedy got his highest rating after the debacle of the Bay of Pigs, he observed, characteristically, "It would seem that the worse you fuck up in this job the more popular you get." Bush, father and son, may yet make it to Mount Rushmore though it might be cheaper to redo Barbara Bush's look-alike, George Washington, by adding two strings of Teclas to his limestone neck — in memoriam, as it were.

Finally, the physical damage Osama and friends can do us — terrible as it has been thus far — is as nothing as to what he is doing to our liberties. Once alienated, an "unalienable right" is apt to be forever lost, in which case we are no longer even remotely the last best hope of earth but merely a seedy imperial state whose citizens are kept in line by SWAT teams and whose way of death, not life, is universally imitated.

Since V-J Day 1945 ("Victory over Japan" and the end of World War II), we have been engaged in what the historian Charles A. Beard called "perpetual war for perpetual peace." I have occasionally referred to our "enemy of the month club": each month we are confronted by a new horrendous enemy at whom we must strike before he destroys us. I have been accused of exaggeration, so here's the Scoreboard from Kosovo (1999) back to Berlin Airlift (1948-49). You will note that the compilers, Federation of American Scientists, record a number of our wars as "ongoing," even though many of us have forgotten about them. We are given, under "Name," many fanciful Defense Department titles like Urgent Fury , which was Reagan's attack on the island of Grenada, a month-long caper that General Haig disloyally said could have been handled more efficiently by the Provincetown police department. (Question marks are from compilers.)

CURRENT OPERATIONS

Name Locale Dates U.S. Forces Involved

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Joint Guardian Kosovo 11 Jun 1999—TDB 200?

Allied Force/ Kosovo 23 Mar 1999—10 Jun 1999

Noble Anvil

Determined Force Kosovo 08 Oct 1998—23 Mar 1999

Cobalt Flash Kosovo

Shining Hope Kosovo

Sustain Hope/ Kosovo

Allied Harbour

Provide Refuge Kosovo 05 Apr 1999—Fall 1999

Open Arms Kosovo

Eagle Eye Kosovo 16 Oct 1998—24 Mar 1999

Determined Falcon Kosovo & Albania 15 Jun 1998—16 Jun 1998

Determined Effort Bosnia-Herzegovina Jul 1995—Dec 1995

Joint Endeavor Bosnia-Herzegovina Dec 1995—Dec 1996

Joint Guard Bosnia-Herzegovina Dec 1996—20 Jun 1998

Joint Forge Bosnia-Herzegovina 20 June 1998—Present 6,900

DELIBERATE FORCE Bosnian Serbs 29 Aug 1995—21 Sep 1995

Quick Lift Croatia 03 Jul 1995—1 Aug 1995

Nomad Vigil Albania 01 Jul 1995—05 Nov 1996

Nomad Endeavor Taszar, Hungary Mar 1996—Present

Able Sentry Serbia-Macedonia 05 Jul 1994—Present

Deny Flight Bosnia-Herzegovina 12 Apr 1993—20 Dec 1995 2,000

Decisive Endeavor/ Bosnia-Herzegovina Jan 1996—Dec 1996??

Decisive Edge

Decisive Guard/ Bosnia-Herzegovina Dec 1996—20 Jun 1998??

Deliberate Guard

Deliberate Forge Bosnia-Herzegovina 20 Jun 1998—Present

Sky Monitor Bosnia-Herzegovina 16 Oct 1992—Present

Maritime Monitor Adriatic Sea 16 Jul 1992—22 Nov 1992??

Maritime Guard Adriatic Sea 22 Nov 1992—15 Jun 1993??

Sharp Guard Adriatic Sea 15 Jun 1993—Dec 1995 11,700

Decisive Enhancement Adriatic Sea Dec 1995—19 Jun 1996 77

Determined Guard Adriatic Sea Dec 1996—Present??

Provide Promise Bosnia 03 Jul 1992—Mar 1996 1,000

SOUTHWEST ASIA

Name Locale Dates U.S. Forces Involved

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[none] (air strike) Iraq 26 Jun 1993—13 Jan 1993

[none] Iraq 13 Jan 1993—17 Jan 1993

(cruise missile strike)

[none] Iraq 17 Jan 1993—26 Jun 1993

(cruise missile strike)

DESERT STRIKE Iraq 03 Sep 1996—04 Sep 1996

DESERT THUNDER Iraq Feb 1998—16 Dec 1998

DESERT FOX Iraq 16 Dec 1998—20 Dec 1998

Shining Presence Iraq Dec 1998—Dec 1998

Phoenix Scorpion IV Iraq Dec 1998—Dec 1998

Phoenix Scorpion III Iraq Nov 1998—Nov 1998

Phoenix Scorpion II Iraq Feb 1998—Feb 1998

Phoenix Scorpion I Iraq Nov 1997—Nov 1997

Desert Focus Saudi Arabia Jul 1996—Present

Vigilant Warrior Kuwait Oct 1994—Nov 1994

Vigilant Sentinel Kuwait Aug 1995—15 Feb 1997

Intrinsic Action Kuwait 01 Dec 1995—01 Oct 1999

Desert Spring Kuwait 01 Oct 1999—Present

Iris Gold SW Asia?? 1993—Present

Pacific Haven/ Iraq>Guam 15 Sep 1996—16 Dec 1996

Quick Transit

Provide Comfort Kurdistan 05 Apr 1991—Dec 1994 42,500

Provide Comfort II Kurdistan 24 Jul 1991—31 Dec 1996??

Northern Watch Kurdistan 31 Dec 1996—Present 1100

Southern Watch Southwest Asia/Iraq 1991—Present 14,000

Desert Falcon Saudi Arabia 1991—Present

OTHER OPERATIONS

Name Locale Dates U.S. Forces Involved

—————————————

Korea Korea Ongoing

New Horizons Central America Ongoing

Sierra Leone NEO Sierra Leone May '00

MONUC [UN PKO] DR Congo Feb 2000—Ongoing

Resolute Response Africa Aug 1998—Present

Gatekeeper California 1995—Present

Hold-the-Line Texas 1995—Present

Safeguard Arizona 1995—Present

Golden Pheasant Honduras Mar 1988—Present

Alliance U.S. southern border 1986—Present

Provide Hope I Former Soviet Union 10 Feb 1992—26 Feb 1992

Provide Hope II Former Soviet Union 15 Apr 1992—29 Jul 1992

Provide Hope III Former Soviet Union 1993?—1993?

Provide Hope IV Former Soviet Union 10 Jan 1994—19 Dec 1994

Provide Hope V Former Soviet Union 06 Nov 1998—10 May 1999

COUNTERDRUG OPERATIONS

Name Locale Dates U.S. Forces Involved

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