Press Action ::: Super Patriot, Ward Churchill

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Super Patriot, Ward Churchill

By Rosemarie Jackowski

From Scarborough Country to the Spin Zone, the attacks on Professor Ward Churchill are coming across the airwaves. Near Hamilton College in Clinton, New York the hills are alive with the sound of fascism.

In a statement released on January 31, 2005, Churchill says, ”...The bottom line of my argument is that the best and perhaps only way to prevent 9-1-1-style attacks on the U.S. is for American citizens to compel their government to comply with the rule of law. The lesson of Nuremberg is that this is not only our right, but our obligation. To the extent we shirk this responsibility, we, like the “Good Germans” of the 1930s and ‘40s, are complicit in its actions and have no legitimate basis for complaint when we suffer the consequences. This, of course, includes me, personally, as well as my family, no less than anyone else..."

Please notice that Churchill does not exclude himself and his family from responsibility. The argument that all of us share in the guilt for the actions of our government is seldom accepted, yet can not be ultimately denied. For centuries, the most respected scholars have postulated that any government derived from the will of the populace requires the active and willing participation of its citizens. When the bloated, nihilistic, self-absorbed populace denies its responsibility for the firm entrenchment of a defacto royal family, known as the Bush dynasty, our commitment to the basic tenets of the US Constitution, and humanity everywhere, is poorly served. But let’s not be too harsh on the Bush dynasty. Much has happened under the Clinton and other administrations.

Churchill explains that it is the actions of the US that brought about 9/11. That is such an obvious and simple fact that it is remarkable that there is anyone left who still doesn’t get it. It is simple and obvious. It is not rocket science. It is Blowback. Blowback is a term coined by the CIA many years ago because those in the CIA knew that US policies would result in blowback. Anyone who did not know that there would be some retaliation against the US was not paying attention.

Remember May 12, 1996, when Madeleine Albright was asked on 60 Minutes about the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children. Her answer was, “...we think the price is worth it.” That should be the focus of the national discussion. Were those 500,000 deaths plus the deaths of the additional 100,000 slaughtered Iraqi civilians worth the price that we may eventually have to pay? Until that national discussion takes place, we are a nation in denial, a dysfunctional nation divorced from reality. Those who control the major means of communication do not have the right to prevent that discussion. The time has come for us, the people, to take control of the airways, which we already own.

There should have been a great national debate before the Gulf War. US Ambassador April Glaspie gave Saddam the go ahead for his invasion into Kuwait and then the US used that as an excuse for the Gulf War. That was a case of bait and switch, which resulted in the slaughter of thousands. Then came the deaths of the 500,000 Iraqi children and the official statement that it was worth it.

I propose a series of great national debates. On one side there could be experts such as William Blum, Ward Churchill, John Perkins, Ralph Nader, Mickey Z., Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, and/or Gore Vidal. There are too many who are well informed to list them all here. The opposing side would pick experts. The debate question is, Were the deaths of the 500,000 children worth it, or should there be a change in US Foreign Policy. Let the debate begin.

The members of the uninformed Press would have us believe that the attack on the Twin Towers was just a coincidence… that there was no logical reason why those two buildings were selected out of the millions of tall building that exist on the planet. Unfortunately, the uninformed behind the microphones, don’t know what they do not know. Yet they continue to mold public opinion. The news broadcasters don’t have a sufficient understanding of the effects of US foreign policy, to enter in to a discussion. They have to resort to ad hominem attacks on Ward Churchill and anyone else who questions or criticizes the government.

Meantime the doomsday clock is ticking away and other attacks, similar to 9/11, are predicted unless we learn the lessons that Churchill is teaching. He says, “...the best and perhaps only way to prevent 9-1-1-style attacks on the U.S. is for American citizens to compel their government to comply with the rule of law.” Churchill is trying to protect his fellow citizens. He is a humanitarian, a super patriot, and a gifted scholar. We would all be much safer if he was appointed National Director of Homeland Security or, better yet, Secretary of State. Come to think of it, I like the sound of President Ward Churchill.

Rosemarie Jackowski is an advocacy journalist living in Vermont. She can be reached at dissent@sover.net.

More from Rosemarie Jackowski