Melville CookeMelville Cooke
'We're burning all illusions tonight'
Bob Marley and the Wailers
THE SUPPOSED handover of power to the supposed interim Government in Iraq was as funny as Elizabeth Taylor getting married again. You see something that has all the trappings of legitimacy the speeches, the smiles, the glowing reports yet you know you are looking at a farce. And those who are perpetrating the farce know that the onlookers know they are looking at a farce, yet they expect you to hold the act in high esteem and will accuse you of being out of line if you do not.
Or, if you are in Iraq and decide to fight against the occupation of your country, they call you an 'insurgent'.
In other words, it is the illusion that is the reality, not the reality that is real.
Actually, the handover of power is a fascinating large-scale demonstration of the power of advertising, of image making.
So here we have a government in Iraq which was not elected by the people they rule, which is hosting an army beyond its control, which will be staying an 'interim' government for as long as it takes to 'stabilise' the country and hold elections and, make no mistake, the country will not be deemed stable until the 'interim' government is absolutely assured of winning any election that may take place.
ARMED ATTEMPTS
Henceforth, any armed attempts at ousting the appointed not elected leaders and the foreign army it hosts will be construed as 'insurgents' fighting against the government. It will be rammed home to us over and over and over again, so much so that the origin of the government will be forgotten or, which is much the same thing, cease to matter.
And already we have seen that the illegitimate rulers of Iraq are intent on crushing all resistance to their rule. As the Associated Press reported yesterday, "the Iraqi government issued a long-anticipated package of security laws Wednesday to help crush insurgents, including a provision allowing interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to impose martial law. 'The lives of the Iraqi people are in danger, they are in danger from evil forces, from gangs of terrorists,' said Human Rights Minister Bakhityar Amin, who compared the new law to the U.S. Patriot Act."
As if we need a proliferation of Patriot Acts across the world.
BASIC FACT
Whatever happens from now on, do not forget this basic fact. The Iraqis who are in control in Iraq are not elected leaders; they are co-operating with the foreign occupiers of their own country.
As simple and straightforward as that may seem it bears repeating, as it is a fact that will be lost in a deluge of stories about the 'Iraqi government'.
As silly as the farce is, it does have its funny moments. Like the U.S. handing over control to their hand-picked team two days earlier than the June 30 deadline, to prevent planned attacks from happening on that day as they strongly suspected was planned. Now, how does that help stem violence? June 30 comes two days after June 28, no matter what, right? And if attacks were planned, then they would be carried out, no matter what, right?
Remember the illusion? Well, it is critical to maintaining the farce that some bright spark can write five years from now that the day of handover of power was peaceful, this, by innuendo, connoting that the people of the country were quite fine with what took place.
The violence would be written as coming after the handover, making it even more an act of 'insurgency'.
These elements of an illusion bear examination. You have to know when your mind is being moulded like when you see the fast food sign and smell the fries and cannot comprehend quite how that automatic association was implanted in your brain.
Speaking of brain, I cannot resist passing on this juice of a quote from 'Bush the Brilliant' (this coming in the face of the findings to the contrary of the Sept. 11 Commission.)
"The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al-Qaida is because there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida."
There is a point when the creator of an illusion begins to believe it, a point nicely called disconnection from reality.
I call it madness.
By choice or design
My mind is mine
Cherry Natural
Melville Cooke is a freelance writer.
