Tuesday 31 January 2017

Paul Craig Roberts: ‘The Left is Self-Destructing’

Posted on January 30, 2017
[ Ed. note – The above video shows protestors at JFK Airport protesting Trump’s ban on travelers from certain countries. But of course one wonders: why weren’t these people out protesting when Obama was in the White House spending his days bombing Libya, supporting terrorists in Syria, carrying out drone strikes in Pakistan, or waging what seems to be an endless war in Afghanistan? What is worse, refusing to allow refugees from war-torn countries into the US–or starting the wars which turn them into refugees in the first place? This is the point Paul Craig Roberts makes, and it’s a rather good one.
Another good point, and one which Roberts fails to make, is why wasn’t Saudi Arabia included in Trump’s ban? But then Roberts seems to be rather reserved when it comes to voicing criticisms of the new president, or at least so far he’s been. But consider the list of countries to which the travel bans apply: IraqIranLibyaSomaliaSudanSyria, and Yemen. Conspicuously absent is Saudi Arabia. If you’re going to have such a list to begin with, would it not make sense to include the very country that is the epicenter of the takfiri religious ideology–an ideology which declares people of all other faiths, including other Muslims, as infidels–and which has been a major source of funding for terrorists in Syria? A country which, by the way, also has invaded Yemen, where it is waging war against the Houthi Ansurallah rebels, who, as in the case of Assad in Syria, have been one of the principle forces opposing Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists in their region?
So what to make of all this? Well, perhaps it’s simply another case of “Trump the chameleon.” On the other hand, readers might be interested in an article published a few days ago by the Jerusalem Post under the headline “Meet the Top Jewish Officials in the Trump Administration.” The article names eleven in all. You can read about it here. One thing is for certain, though, as Roberts correctly points out: there is a great deal of “mindlessness” in the left today. ]
The Left is Self-Destructing
The mindlessness is unbearable. Amnesty International tells us that we must “fight the Muslim ban” because Trump’s bigotry is wrecking lives. Anthony Dimaggio at CounterPunch says Trump should be impeached because his Islamophobia is a threat to the Constitution. This is not to single out these two as the mindlessness is everywhere among those whose worldview is defined by Identity Politics.
One might think that Amnesty International should be fighting against the Bush/Cheney/Obama regime wars that have produced the refugees by killing and displacing millions of Muslims. For example, the ongoing war that Obama inflicted on Yemen results in the death of one Yemeni child every 10 minutes, according to UNICEF. Where is Amnesty International?
Clearly America’s wars on Muslims wreck far more lives than Trump’s ban on immigrants. Why the focus on an immigration ban and not on wars that produce refugees? Is it because Obama is responsible for war and Trump for the ban? Is the liberal/progressive/left projecting Obama’s monstrous crimes onto Trump? Is it that we must hate Trump and not Obama?
Immigration is not a right protected by the US Constitution. Where was Dimaggio when in the name of “the war on terror” the Bush/Obama regime destroyed the civil liberties guaranteed by the US Constitution? If Dimaggio is an American citizen, he should try immigrating to the UK, Germany, or France and see how far he gets.
The easiest and surest way for the Trump administration to stop the refugee problem, not only for the US but also for Europe and the West in general, is to stop the wars against Muslim countries that his predecessors started. The enormous sums of money squandered on gratuitous wars could instead be given to the countries that the US and NATO have destroyed. The simplest way to end the refugee problem is to stop producing refugees. This should be the focus of Trump, Amnesty, and Dimaggio.
Is everyone too busy hating to do anything sensible?
It is very disturbing that the liberal/progressive/left prefers to oppose Trump than to oppose war. Indeed, they want a war on Trump. How does this differ from the Bush/Obama war on Muslims?
The liberal/progressive/left is demonstrating a mindless hatred of the American people and the President that the people chose. This mindless hatred can achieve nothing but the discrediting of an alternative voice and the opening of the future to the least attractive elements of the right-wing.
The liberal/progressive/left will end up discrediting all critics, thereby empowering those to whom the liberal/progressive/left are most opposed.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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