Pacific Free Press was launched in March 2007 by Dutch-Canadian Richard
Kastelein of V.O.F. Expathos, in the Netherlands along with Chris Cook- CFUV radio journalist and Editor in Chief of Pacific Free Press. Cook is based in , Victoria, British Columbia.
The site is a sister to Atlantic Free Press and Brick Ogden an American Expatriate in Amsterdam has been a key supporter of this project.
The mission of Pacific Free Press is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from
the slag-heap of lies, ignorance and witless diversion that has buried
public discourse today. Pacific Free Press provides a new venue for
disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based analysis of the
harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the mainstream press.
Remaking the World the Neocon Way
by Jack Random As Pakistan joins the list of American allies on the verge of implosion, let us remember and pay homage to the Neocon dream – the dream of Wolfowitz, Perle, Cheney, Frum and Rumsfeld.
Let us remember when the dream was painted in the glowing colors of freedom and democracy.
JAZZMAN CHRONICLES - DISSEMINATE FREELY
Let us recall the remarkably insensitive pronunciation of
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as the bombardment of Israel rained
down on southern Lebanon: “The birth pangs of a new Middle East.”
Remember
when our president – the little man with an ego as large as the
national debt – lectured Vladimir Putin that Russia ought to move
toward a democracy like Iraq.
Contrary to rumor, the Neocon
dream, torn and tarnished, is not dead. It is alive and well in the
presidential candidacies of Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney and
Hillary Clinton.
The Neocons have had a makeover and are making a comeback.
There
was a time when the world listened when America spoke. There was a
time when the world was willing to believe that America was a
benevolent power. For though our actions were often destructive, the
world wanted to believe that our intentions were honest and virtuous.
We
laid waste to Southeast Asia but we genuinely thought the Red Menace
was the supreme threat to world stability. We supported dictators and
overturned legitimate governments because we believed the end would
justify the means. We supported extremists that would later turn
against us with a vengeance because we suffered from a lack of
foresight.
Under the tutelage of the Neocons, the
administration of George W. Bush has exterminated all good will the
world once invested in us. The American dream is now defined by the
Neocon nightmare.
Imagine a world where the unpatriotic are
imprisoned at will. Imagine a world where criminals, lowlifes and
sinners are not protected by a bureaucracy of lawyers. Imagine a world
where an out of control media dominated by anti-American propaganda,
could be shut down overnight.
Imagine a world where rowdy protesters
in the streets can be mopped up, swept away like the trash they
represent, or mowed down to make way for a new order. Imagine a world
where there is no troublesome judiciary, no rule of law, no
constitution, no bill of rights, no balance of powers – nothing to
interfere with the forward march of security, order and victory.
Welcome to Pakistan, America’s ally in the war on terror! All hail, Generalissimo Musharraf!
The
tepid response of America’s leaders and leading media is a disgrace to
every soldier dead or alive who fell for the line about remaking the
world for freedom and democracy. Politicos and pundits, contenders and
commentaries tell us we are naïve to believe that we could withdraw our
support for the Generalissimo.
On the positive side, maybe
we’ve heard the end of the Neocon ravings about stopping the Hitler’s
of our time – Hussein, Ahmadinajad, Chavez. Musharraf is the ruler of
a true nuclear power, a dominant force in the region. Compared to
Musharraf, Ahmadinajad is a boy scout. Compared to Pakistan, Iraq is
Panama.
Take a good look at what is happening in Pakistan.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has been dismissed, the court
disbanded. Attorneys have been rounded up and detained without charge
for standing up to military rule, for claiming a stake in the rule of
law. Dissent has been outlawed and whatever press is allowed to
function must only report the government’s point of view. Freedom of
speech, freedom of assembly and the right to be secure in one’s person
and property have been banished.
There is no more freedom in
Musharraf’s Pakistan; democracy was just a dream and the titular head
of the free world would like to encourage the Generalissimo to take off
his uniform and schedule phony elections somewhere down the line.
Other
nations learn by our example. Just as the Burmese government is
reportedly water boarding Buddhist monks (reassured that such
techniques wear the American stamp of approval), other nations are
learning that our aid and assistance is dependent solely on strategic
value. Democratic values and human rights do not factor in the
equation.
Lebanon and Palestine have already learned. Electoral victories by Hamas and Hezbollah were greeted by bombs and invasions.
Just
as the Neocons were lining up to take credit for the “success” in Iraq,
just as they pressed their case for war with Iran, another turn of
events reveals the depth of catastrophe under Neocon policies.
Have
we forgotten that Turkey is counting the hours until it begins an
assault on northern Iraq? Do we really think we have solved the
problem by condemning the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) as terrorists?
Our “friends” in Kurdistan are allied with the PKK and the Kurdistan
they envision goes well beyond Iraqi borders.
Have we
forgotten our war dance at the gates of Tehran? Did anyone notice that
the Iranians are dancing with Russia and China now?
While we
were playing war games in Anbar Province, did anyone notice that
Afghanistan was disintegrating before NATO’s weary eyes?
While
we were encouraging the Cuban people to revolt, did anyone notice that
the democratic movement in Latin America has continued its trend to the
left?
I have no doubt we will continue to hear the stale
jargon of international pragmatism: We have no choice. We must
support Musharraf.
No, we do have a choice. There is always a
choice. There are always lines we dare not cross and Musharraf has
crossed most of them.
In the wake of the Bush travesties, we
confront a solemn choice. If we continue on the Neocon path, the path
of obsession and fear, a path that yields all guarantees of liberty to
all promises of security, we will soon enough face the same sort of
society we now see unfolding in Pakistan.
We must never make
the mistake of believing it cannot happen here; it can. The only
distinction between Pakistan and us is that we have further to fall.
That we are currently falling is apparent to most who still cherish
democratic values. We have already lost the sanctuary of liberties so
many have fought so long to build. The very core of democratic justice
is compromised.
No earthly authority should possess the power
to arrest and detain any human being without due cause and process. No
earthly power possesses the moral authority to torture any living being
for any reason.
There are serious questions within our own
democracy regarding freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom
of assembly, freedom of the press, the right to vote and the right to
proportionate representation.
As we become more capable and
information becomes more available, we should be finding ways to move
closer to the democratic ideal; instead, we find ourselves moving
steadily away. Many believe we have already lost our passion for
freedom. Many are convinced there can be no freedom without security
first.
These are the reasons why we cannot be secure in the
conviction that what is happening in Pakistan cannot happen here.
Guided by our fears, we have lost our way and the road of recovery is
always more treacherous than the path of least resistance.
Jazz.
JACK
RANDOM IS THE AUTHOR OF THE JAZZMAN CHRONICLES (CROW DOG PRESS) AND
GHOST DANCE INSURRECTION (DRY BONES PRESS). THE CHRONICLES HAVE BEEN
POSTED ON NUMEROUS CITES OF THE WORLDWIDE WEB, INCLUDING THE ALBION
MONITOR, BELLACIAO, PACIFIC FREE PRESS, BUZZLE, COUNTERPUNCH AND
DISSIDENT VOICE. SEE WWW.JAZZMANCHRONICLES.BLOGSPOT.COM
Writings 
As Pakistan joins the list of American allies on the verge of implosion, let us remember and pay homage to the Neocon dream – the dream of Wolfowitz, Perle, Cheney, Frum and Rumsfeld. 
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