By Christopher Hitchens
"Hating the United States—which funds Islamabad’s army and nuclear program to the humiliating tune of $3 billion a year—Pakistan takes its twisted, cowardly revenge by harboring the likes of the late Osama bin Laden. But the hypocrisy is mutual, and the shame should be shared."
Read More (Vanity Fair)
8 comments:
I want you bad!
This was an insightful read. I have always been aware of the stories that tell of rape as sentence/punishment rather than being a crime in certain islamified nations. It's interesting for Mr Hitchens to say that these sorts of atrocities occur in tribal areas & kangaroo courts. It made me wonder how widespread these violations are. Who could sanction such a 'verdict'? Whom would be ordered to carry out the delivery of such a barbarous punishment? Instinctively, I'm inclined to believe that such disgracful deeds must be rare, or in such areas that are rarely reported. That does not alter the bile inducing reaction to them.
The essay floored me. It has such impact. I read it aloud to my girlfriend & she too was mesmerised. Hitchens is at the very top of his game with this one. In my unimportant opinion, it's the most compelling political piece he's published in the past year.
Is comment moderation the same as biblical redaction. Is that censorship. Is writing bullshit? Is Mr Chris, just a modern day Elgarian? People pay for Sheen and people pay for editors. What does Mr Chris really write? Prior to the edits. The coolest thing about Mr. Chris is this, he's one less moron to teach on religion. What's fucked up is seeing someone who parades at being as smart as Mr Chris, just sophisticated for the moment I guess, and then having to watch them teach about religion.
Superb article, Mr Hitchens.
Incredulously naive assessment of a country with about 175million people. The crimes described are, at best, rare. Citing individual incidents in a generalist garb is serving no more than playing up the nescience of American population at large.
Such incidents are not uncommon in Mr. Hitchen favourite, India; and vernacularly 'traditional' to his newly found friends in Afghanistan.
More to be ashamed of is this new war culture being exported by the US. It is the assymetry in power and demographics that takes the US to war with such countries as Afghanistan and Iraq (All Realpolitik, so fair enough).
With the likes of Iran and Pakistan, it is speech acts that 'securitize' the situation in these countries. Perhaps the only thing the US can do. An overt invasion is hardly on cards, for it may lead to worse consequences than Vietnam and Iraq in a much shorter time frame.
Yes, americans should be ashamed, but only for being hare-brained enough to unquestioninlgy believe everything their masters want them to. For listening and udubitably buying into every narrative pushed down their throats.
"Incredulously naive assessment of a country" indeed. Contrary to the popular belief held by foreigners not all Americans are "hare-brained enough to unquestioningly believe everything their masters want them to." There are those who believe everything the ultra conservative, right-winged Republicans say who support the war effort with an annoying fervor (these people are usually also fervently Christian, go figure) and then there are Americans like me who are pissed off and sick of it. Sick of the war in Iraq, sick of the war in Afghanistan, and now in Libya and another African country...it's ridiculous. It's our nation's politicians ignoring what half of the people are saying and continuing these war "efforts" anyway, even creating new ones. Only they're usually called "police actions" because that way they think the American public will be more accepting of it. Unfortunately half of my nation is perfectly fine with wasting our money, time, and lives while simultaneously making the United States look even more like the power-hungry egotistical maniac that every other country thinks we are. And sometimes I am ashamed of being an American, but for completely different reasons. Because we are statistically one of the dumbest nations in NATO despite being the richest, most powerful nation in the world. Our people are stupid and don't value education, most of Americans STILL don't believe in evolution, we are the most religious nation among the super-powers.... I am ASHAMED of this, but motivated to be the one American woman from a small, overtly Christian, conservative town in east Texas who gets an education, who gets her doctors degree, who studies science with a fervor she's seen wasted on other endeavors, who makes it to the CDC and actually tries to HELP people of other countries by finding vaccines for viruses and ways to beat malaria.
There are intelligent Americans here, you just have to look through all our media and bullshit to find us.
http://levantinetimes.blogspot.com/2011/07/six-plus-six-persian-ten-year-plan.html
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