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This is how civil wars begin
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by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News
Oct. 1, 2006
Courtesy of Tim Grieve from his War Room column on salon.com, we read
this little gem tucked into the end of the recently declassified
summary of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on 'Trends in
Global Terrorism.'"Anti-U.S. and anti-globalization sentiment is on the rise and
fueling other radical ideologies. This could prompt some leftist,
nationalist, or separatist groups to adopt terrorist methods to
attack US interests. The radicalization process is occurring more
quickly, more widely, and more anonymously in the Internet age,
raising the likelihood of surprise attacks by unknown groups whose
members and supporters may be difficult to pinpoint." It continues:
"We judge that groups of all stripes will increasingly use the
Internet to communicate, propagandize, recruit, train and obtain
logistical and financial support."
The assumption one is invited to make here is that they are talking
about folks outside the US, non-US citizens. However, available
evidence does not support the idea that our intelligence services are
limiting themselves in this manner. Domestic "enemies" with "anti-
globalization sentiment[s]" are clearly seen as a threat.
When they
say "anti-globalization" we should translate this to mean anyone
opposed to the effects that the current, incredible concentrations of
wealth and corporate control are having on society. All that's necessary to be considered an "enemy" by these people is
to be against the exploitation of the poor, to see value in restoring
a more equitable distribution of wealth in society, to believe what
Jesus really taught or simply be in favor of unions.
It requires very little thinking on the part of people vocally
opposed to the policies of the US government to connect the current
"wisdom" of our politicized intelligence services, as stated in the
NIE, with other moves by the Bush administration involving tortured
(pun intended) definitions of such terms as 'legal interrogation
methods,' 'enemy combatant,' 'terrorist' and 'aid and comfort to the
enemy' to begin to see this gathering of storm troopers as a very
personal threat.
This is how civil wars start. One ideologically homogeneous group
demands dogmatic purity and strict discipline from their
followers, encourages extreme views, and gains control of the armed
forces and police apparatus of the nation. As this group makes
more and more enemies amongst the rest of the population due
to excesses in the pursuit of power and greed, draconian measures are
instituted to protect the dominant group from the just demands of the
rest of the population. Action and reaction spiral out of control
and the next thing you know corpses are rotting in the streets.
Ultimately it is the police power of the state that resolves these
conflicts, one way or the other. In the historically most common
outcome, the dominant group crushes the aggrieved majority with great
violence and destruction. This group then imposes a totalitarian
rule with all the attendant absolute powers over life and death that
characterize authoritarian rule.
In some rare circumstances the majority succeeds and proceeds to
extirpate the formerly dominant group. The American Revolutionary
War was such an example. As with most anti-colonial wars, in
actuality it was more like a civil war than an uprising against alien
authority, as it is traditionally portrayed by the myth makers.
As a rough estimate, about a third of the population of colonial
America were "patriots" (called insurgents by the royalist), and a
third were "tories" (self identified loyalist to the British Crown)
and another third had no loyalties to speak of and merely did what
was necessary to survive for the moment. With the successful
resolution of the conflict in favor of the French (this was another
great power proxy war after all) and their insurgent allies, a
general dispossession and exile of the royalists occurred. But civil
wars are rarely completely resolved. The class divisions that led to
the original conflict eventually reassert themselves and conflict
breaks out again generations later.
The US Civil War was an example of this kind of resurgence.
Ideologically, the Northern and the Southern forces (which actually
wasn't the strictly geographic separation implied as supporters of
both sides were active in both the North and the South) were divided
along virtually the same questions of aristocratic privilege and
authoritarian rule that divided the "patriots" from the "tories"
almost a hundred years earlier.
I see, in our current troubles, a third recurrence of the underlying
conflict between the same polarized elements. These interests are
primarily represented by wealthy families, powerful business
interests and fundamentalist religious constituencies allied on one
side, utilizing the formal powers of government that they have
colluded to control (just as in the original iteration of this
conflict during the "Revolutionary War") and the mass of people being
exploited economically, supported by various associations of
professionals and portions of the educated elite, subscribing to
Enlightenment ideals of egalitarianism and human rights, on the
opposing side.
The previous two internal conflicts involving these perennial
polarities of thought brought incredible suffering to our nation.
During the previous two episodes we were protected, in large measure,
by our geographic isolation. We fought off a formal
counterrevolutionary attack that attempted to re-impose colonial
status in 1812. But by 1860 the British again were supporting
authoritarian political elements in the US and encouraging them to
secede geographically from the more populist anti-authoritarian
culture centered in the North.
It is uncanny, really. In the third civil war that is brewing on our
doorstep the same ideological conflicts define the poles of
opposition that drove the previous two. There is actually, again,
support from aristocratic British sources! The geographical element
is also easily discernible. The centers of power that have
successfully taken control of our government and military are
strongest in the South, just as before. One could be excused for
asserting that the South has
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In the third civil war that is brewing on our doorstep the same ideological conflicts define the poles of opposition that drove the previous two.
There is actually, again, support from aristocratic British sources!
The geographical element is also easily discernible.
The centers of power that have successfully taken control of our government and military are strongest in the South, just as before.
One could be excused for asserting that the South has finally won the Civil War in that they have captured Washington, DC and dominate many state legislatures as well as the regular military.
But it is hardly a final victory.
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Dr. Herb Ruhs & grandson
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There's much more than this at Unknown News.
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finally won the Civil War in that they
have captured Washington, DC and dominate many state legislatures as
well as the regular military. But it is hardly a final victory.
The egalitarian, populist sentiment of the rest of the country is
becoming aroused. It will be necessary for the authoritarians to
cancel any concept of civil rights as laid down in the first ten
amendments to the Constitution (a task largely accomplished already
by subterfuge) and impose formal authoritarian rule either by
ignoring the Constitution (as is currently being done) or by
imposition of a new "Constitution" that is supportive of
authoritarian methods.
The natural paranoia of the powerful will take it from there and war
will be waged, once again, against the many weak by the strong few.
This time around, however, it is hard to imagine that the country
will survive as a political unit in our "globalized" world. Maybe
that will, in the final analysis, be a good thing for our population
and the world, but I can find no heart to invite it.
© by the author.
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Previous articles by Dr Ruhs:
The Secret Police may be
watching you so don't think,
act or believe like a free person
by Herb Ruhs, MD
The end is at hand
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When spinach becomes a matter of life and death
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And now for something completely different
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We are all prisoners on home supervision
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There is no war but class war
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Meanwhile, back on Lifeboat Earth
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Is anyone willing to think about America’s dismal health statistics?
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A plague of criminals
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On facing adversity with courage and good humor
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Bush's death toll will vastly exceed Hitler's
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Truth and Reconciliation Commission
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Who "Them" are:
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