Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Reuters teases readers with story about militant videos

Headlines like the one on this Reuters story draw people in by hinting that readers will be able to check out these sensational videos, but it's all a tease. As readers and consumers of the product of our corporate media in the US, everything is filtered through intermediaries, who can ensure that the spin is appropriate to advance the oligarchy's interests.

In the present instance, we have "militants" who control the tribal lands of "Pakistan," but that presumes that there is something natural and organic about Pakistan's dominion over these lands and people. As with the other national borders in the region, Waziristan is a construct of the imperial powers, whose legacy is a patchwork of ethnic groups populating manufactured political entities.

It is never explained how the US has any kind of legal or extra-territorial rights over this land, or exactly what business the US government has blowing up people by drone warfare, simply because they oppose US aims to control the region.
Videos show militants' reach in northwest Pakistan | Reuters: "(Reuters) - If U.S. policy makers need proof of how little control Pakistan has over its strategic border region with Afghanistan, all they need to do is watch videos available on YouTube of militants believed to be terrorizing the streets of North Warizistan.

Armed men in black with balaclavas freely roam the streets of one of the biggest towns in North Waziristan, where the United States wants Pakistan's military to launch an offensive against militant groups.

There are no signs of security forces as the men belonging to a militant hit squad created to hunt suspected U.S. spies throw a man into a station wagon and pin him down.

Nervous bystanders keep their distance. Another man looks horrified as militants haul him off a pick up truck. Both are shown in another video being blown up by explosives placed at their feet."
All this assumes that the militants, rather than fighting foreign interference in their native lands, are the aggressors and terrorists. It is presented as a given that collaborators with the Americans should be accorded special rights and recognition for their selfless acts on behalf of freedom and justice, instead of worms and traitors selling out their countrymen for money.

This drone warfare is a very dirty business, and there is no reasonable legal or moral justification for blowing up people simply for the crime of opposing the foreign domination of one's country, or the wanton murder of innocents who happen to be in the way of the imperial project.

In fact, the US never really makes its goals in the region explicit -- at least, not in a way that's at all coherent and convincing. With al-Qaeda on the run, what are the US' objectives for Afghanistan and Pakistan? We are told this fight is our solemn duty, and those who died must not have died in vain, but as always the bottom line is the money -- just follow the money.

We are stomping the shit out of these people because somebody is going to get paid. It's seldom more complicated than that.

No comments:

Post a Comment