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Meanwhile, "Pirates around the Indian Ocean vowed revenge," the New York Daily News chimed in, letting us know that we could have an exciting new war on our hands, as speculation continues that at least one of the old ones will be cancelled (someday). And if you think this sounds kind of like reality TV, well, it is. E! Online reported that "Spike TV has closed a deal with the U.S. Navy to chronicle pirate-hunting special forces in a new reality show, ‘Pirate Hunters: USN.'"
So fasten your seatbelts, America. This is why we maintain an annual defense budget of more than half a trillion dollars - to protect ourselves from "heavily armed but untrained and antsy youths," as Defense Secretary Robert Gates described them. The War on Pirates: an idea that's win-win-win. Military recruitment will soar; the dying media will rejuvenate (or at least go into remission) as it reports the play-by-play; and a depressed, fragmented nation will reunite around an enemy it can probably beat.
"It was," according to the Daily News, "something Hollywood could have scripted: three sharpshooters on the fantail of a destroyer, wearing night vision goggles as dusk settled over the sea, each drew a bead on one of the three teenage pirates standing 100 feet away in a pitching lifeboat aiming weapons at a bound (Capt. Richard) Phillips."
Excuse me, Hollywood?
The consensus reporting of this small but complicated crisis was transparent on this particular point. Hollywood not only could have but might as well have written this script. The plot is formulaic: a context (war) waiting for a pretext (outrage). The forces of inappropriate, mutually beneficial collusion are always churning, and the pirate story allowed them to consummate an unholy marriage in the nation's media outlets, which are ever prepared to pander for profit.
Here's my rule of thumb: Whenever the defense and entertainment industries seem to join hands - whenever the blood of dead Third Worlders is publicly cheered without restraint or the least compunction, and the activity is called patriotism - the only flag we ought to be waving is a red one.
One reason why war is a nonsensical "solution" to almost every problem the world is grappling with is that these problems tend to be interconnected and deeply tangled up at their roots. To bring serious firepower to bear on a random manifestation of this tangled mass of trouble does nothing but make matters worse.
A responsible media would have investigated and reported on some of the causes of Somalian piracy and given us a far more troubling story: the story of a country whose people became vulnerable to the world's worst predators - us, the civilized First World - after its last legitimate, or quasi-legitimate, government collapsed in 1991.
"Its 9 million people have been teetering on starvation ever since - and many of the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country's food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas," Johann Hari wrote recently on Huffington Post.
Consider that, shortly after the devastating tsunami of December 2004, a United Nations report noted that people along Somalia's northeastern coast had begun suffering from "far higher than normal cases of respiratory infections, mouth ulcers and bleeding, abdominal hemorrhages and unusual skin infections," according to a story in the Times of London from March 2005. These were diseases "consistent with radiation sickness."
Two European companies, it turns out - one in Italy, one in Switzerland - had "contracted" with local Somalian warlords to dump the toxic waste of Europe into Somalia's waters. The industrial and hospital garbage included radioactive uranium, lead, cadmium and mercury, the Times reported. The companies paid the warlords $8 a ton for dumping privileges; in Europe, proper disposal and treatment of such waste would have cost as much as $1,000 a ton.
When the tsunami hit, the waves ripped open the leaky barrels of toxic waste and the Horn of Africa became an environmental disaster site. Starving, desperate Somalians - who had already seen fishing rights in their waters sold on the international market, depriving them of food and income - now inherited a toxic hell Europe would never have bequeathed on itself. And the world community didn't give a damn. Some Somalians, having run out of options, turned to piracy to survive, and perhaps extract a little revenge.
But none of this matters, right? The script is already written, the contract is signed and production is about to begin. Let's go to war, boys! Arrrrr . . .
30 Comments so far
Show AllGo long on steel! They're hiring already in Connecticut! We're going to build another carrier battle group! New enemy!
Steel could be put to more constructive purposes such as repairing the public water and transportation infrastructure.
This sounds like a wonderful idea for a TV show. I have had it up to here with the same old same old survival and CSI type shows. This will be like a breath of fresh air and highly entertaining. I just hope they can have somebody like Ollie North host the show.
Thank you conservatives for keeping us entertained.
What's new? Violent action films get a higher rating where as most social films don't. Even a romance/love film gets no say unless it has a lot of action-packed violence in it. And the news media is even worse in its misreporting.
If it's possible to shoot someone in the head, it should have been possible to sink the boat with some shots. This 'War on Piracy' is going to be next debacle. Too bad our species doesn't seem to be able to learn from past mistakes.
Thanks Robert Koehler, this was a great article for American introspection. Lots of good posts.
Entertainment has always been pretty much about getting the bad guy, us against them, good versus evil. Everyone wants to be a hero. This is the egoic mind, the perpetual dominance of the human ego. Christianity has added to this mindset with its' theories of redemptive violence.
Capitalism has been made a lot of money preying on the human ego. That is their greatest secret in making money. Madison Avenue and Hollywood are pretty much about witchcraft, making big bucks by exploiting the human ego.
The history of war, hatred and violence is all about satisfying the egoic mind. Nations are greatly unified by seeking others to hate, and this is called scapegoating. After 9/11, it was about thrashing out for scapegoates. It is how you justify the ambitions of Empire. Humankind loves to scapegoat others, rather than recognizing the timber in one's own eye.
The ego is the sin of humankind. This is what the eating of the apple in the garden of Eden was all about.
How do you transcend the egoic mind? With more Democracy! With meditation, contemplation, embracing the opposites, a synthesis for truth, justice and wisdom. It is an act of the human spirit. Only those who recognize their own power of the human spirit will see this. It is the highest form of the human nature. It is the evolutionary destiny of humankind for the survival of the human species.
It has been said, in 100 years, there will be only atheists and mystics.
The chaos in the world is nothing less than a war between the material and the spiritual. There will be peace only when the spiritual overcomes the material.
p.s. i wish to add, Oprah Winfrey elevated the human consciousness of many people in the U.S. with her having Eckhart Tolle on her program, with his book New World, all about the domination of the human ego. Buddhism has always recognized the power of the ego as any introduction to Buddhism begins with "First, You" are the problem..
Sioux Rose
Excellent post, Mr. Riley. As you know I frame the duality as one that exists metaphorically between Mars (the ego, and its violent self-centered actions) and Venus (the urge to merge and share everything from intimate unions to social contracts with larger groups of persons). We see how OFF the cosmic balance scales are when obscene sums go to war and the making of Goddess knows how many different types of weapons and related delivery systems, and how little goes the way of public funding for the arts. Every time I see public television begging for donations so they can sponsor an opera or play I think of the WASTE thrown at the military, or Mars' claim upon our society's riches.
Until this balance is understood and addressed, society will reinforce ego and leave the higher aspect of human nature to wilt. The tragic irony of this asymmetrical reality is that with investments IN Venus, we'd have less need or use for Mars. That is, (and many have pointed this out) if our nation used all the $ it wastes on killing to instead help build water desalination plants overseas, or instead of ripping off indigenous farmers with domestic trade subsidies enacted fairer bases for transactions... there would be genuine good will. We know (what passes for) terrorism arises out of desperation. Were the US a force for PEACE (Venus) in the world, rather than the tough cop that loves to abuse those unfortunate enough to cross his path, the whole raison d'etre behind war/militarism would certainly fade.
The story in the Daily News that the shooting of the Somali teenager by the Navy SEALS "was something Hollywood could have scripted" is certainly borne out by Carl Boggs' and Tom Pollard's book very relevant book The Hollywood War Machine: U.S. Militarism and Popular Culture which details how American films dating back to the silent era would, for the most part, attempt to sway the emotions of Americans by appealing to their patriotic nature. As Robert Koehler correctly points out, one should not be surprised to see U.S. filmmakers once again attempt to cash in by playing the patriotism card while paying little attention, if any, as to why the Somalis have acted in the way that they have. Have the Somalis killed any hostages in the past? No. Was the Somali gun that was trained on the captain loaded? No. Unfortunately, as so often happens with Americans, the course of action is to usually shoot first and ask questions [if any] later.
Sorry, you can't turn violent criminal pirates into victims. You can't make their theft, kidnapping and murder into some protest about the west. They are simply theives and criminals.
Nothing more, nothing less.
This writers intent is transparent. To mention that these were "teenageers" as if that somehow excuses this. I don't care who it is, left or right, BS is BS and its not too hard to discern. This is the same as my Republican friends trying to make something out of the Right Wing Terroists report by DHS. Nothing to it.
I detest dishonesty and this type of BS is dishonest.
There is nothing further to say about this.
You have this habit of declaring moot the discussion of so many issues. When you say "There is nothing further to say about this.", is assume that it is you who have nothing further to say. The point is that there is a lot of disinformation on the subject of Somalia which is worthy of a lot more discussion. I think this is one of Koehler's better articles, and has nothing to do with excusing a bunch of seafaring Somalian gangbangers. As indicated by a number of articles coming out lately, there is a lot more to this story than we are led to believe by MSM talking heads. There are a number of good posts on this subject, and I will refer especially to the above posts by Rush Limbaugh's taint and Logansafi, concerning the relationship of U.S., Ethiopia, and Somalia.
How is this BS? You don't like it when the West's dirty laundry is aired? You are a real hypocrite aren't you?
Nothing further to say? Incorrecto!
Who is the real thief, the corporation who steals the peasant's land or the peasant who steals because he is hungry?
You don't see a relationship between the theft of healthy coastal waters and hungry people being driven to crime?
BS? Dishonest?
"It was a way we had of living with ourselves over here. We would cut them in half with a machine gun and give them a band-aid. It was a lie, and the more I saw of it the more I hated lies."---Captain Willard
I did not expect Obama to be a messiah, but I expected better than this. Maybe he will yet prove to be a great president, right now the odds in favor of that don't look good.
Exactly my take on it. Just as the Romans rounded up Christians and midgets and wild animals and gloated over their misery in the Coliseum, we stage highly scripted productions like Desert Storm and that other obscene mini-series, the Taking of Baghdad or whatever, largely for our own sick amusement. Bottling up and butchering a helpless population in a place like Gaza is no more a real war than a turkey shoot or a bullfight. It just has to be promoted that way so we will feel less like cowardly perverts for doing it.
Sioux Rose
VOX: I agree with you and PENELOPE (above) to a point. Shouldn't we be careful using the pronoun "we." I certainly do not find any need for violence as entertainment, nor do I condone military "solutions." The whole point of our shared human journey is to wake up and transcend these martial impulses. Unfortunately the vile amongst us have learned to profit greatly from these devastating spectacles (that are all too real in terms of the pain, loss, and lethally polluted zones they leave behind) and now they own major media. The two work lockstep to march the UNEVOLVED masses towards the same redundant dramas and outcomes. I would think many in our forum are capable of flying over this cuckoo's nest. Thus as to we, how about using the word "some" to replace that broad-stroke conjecture, or should I say castigation.
Siouxrose
I use the word "we" advisedly, since I don't feel personally exempt from the influence of the dark impulses that drive the human project. I realize that many of us, including you and I, have perhaps evolved to the point of recognizing and refusing to fuel or take part in cruelty or belligerence in its many disguises. But much evil has also sprung from self righteousness, from the complacency and lack of vigilance that go with it. Look at the holy land today. The finger of blame is always pointing away from themselves, at somebody else. I share your contempt for vile behavior, but a lot of it, perhaps most of it, is done by reasonably nice people who don't bother to think or to look at themselves and see what they are doing. They are unconscious people who allow their unconscious devils to define their world and set their agenda. I truly believe that the seeds of evil (be they the ego, instinctual aggressions, or actual imps) are in every one of us, and that we will never be rid of them. At best we will become civilized in spite of them.
Sioux Rose
VOX: I agree up until your last sentence. Are they "seeds of evil" or are you witnessing the rebound of centuries of conditioning that's been based upon pitting person against person, fueling antipathy between the genders, between races, religions, etc. Each of us is a product of time personalized and on a collective scale. What we see is largely drawn from conditioning, and elites that forced conformity to cruel standards.
I see the human more through the prism related by Wilhelm Reich. That each of us operates on 3 levels. The first is basic primal urges, the 2nd is the social conditioning that forces "a taming of the beast," and the 3rd is the veneer placed over the tensions produced by these "tectonic plates." Reich argued that a society that didn't force obedience and turn persons against their basic instincts (sexuality being high on that list) would be a less violent one. How many examples of that ideal exist on this wounded planet?
Given the trafficking in armaments and the inevitable losses that will result from playing fast and loose with weapons of destruction, the cycle of violence may not be yet at its end point. There are those, I saw this grace among Vietnamese interviewed on a "60 Minutes" show a few years ago, who CAN forgive. If only more practiced what all the spiritual masters recommend. You and I see the same things, recoil from the darkness, and while it is a component perhaps in each individual, many of us have worked it largely through. What then we seek to create are social conditions that facilitate that process in others, and eventuate in a world where violence becomes the rarity, not the reflex.
Exactly Sioux Rose, we seek personal transformation in ourselves, then by our example, we encourage personal transformation in others.
RLT was right to mention that this was a 'good article, except no mention that somalia is actually the "third front" in the GWOT (sorry, contingent overseas operations). the US used a proxy army, Ethiopians, to destroy the Somali gov't, w/all the attendant slaughter and refugees.'
YES, Somalia as part of the US GWOT has largely remained unmentionable because so many liberals have fallen into the trap of calling for US African interventionism instead of opposing it. Many Democratic Party liberals continue to support interventionism is Afghanistan, too, but Sudan is where they want troops to be sent in.
These liberal Democrats are very supportive of fighting 'good' wars chosen by themselves, instead of the 'good' wars chosen by Republicans. So then...ssshhhh... don't mention Somalia too much, PLEASE Don't... is the DP line. To mention Somalia too much is to wound their DP politicians' push for yet more 'humanitarian' wars to be called just ahead. Instead, if Somalia does get mentioned at all?, they want to spin a new script about 'Pirates' and such. Right, Obama?
. . . "heavily armed but untrained and antsy youths"
I think this describes the post-Reagan United States and Long John Barry more than the Somali pirates.
The Hollywood angle to this pirate thing is so sick and twisted.
We can easily believe, though, that there are Americans who would willingly watch people die for their pleasure.
They already do.
The Roman Circus is on T.V. now had been taken to new extremes.
What won't we tolerate? Where is the limit to our appetite for killing?
Unmanned drones with cameras are being sent over there (Afghanistan, Pakistan, pirates in the Indian Ocean) to kill civilians and teenagers, just like a video game. Teenagers killing other teenagers. Hmmmmm. That sounds awfully familiar.
No surprise T.V. would be the next expansion beyond the video war "games" and the drones with cameras have a trigger happy teenager sitting at the controls.
The military must really be celebrating.
More recruitment commercials can be planted in between segments of this new "show"!! More products to consume can be pushed.
We are all addicts. Addicted to the deadliest of blood sports. War.
I am sharing this article with EVERYONE I know.
good article, except no mention that somalia is actually the "third front" in the GWOT (sorry, contingent overseas operations). the US used a proxy army, Ethiopians, to destroy the Somali gov't, w/all the attendant slaughter and refugees.
who heard a peep about somalia in the MSM or most of the "progressive" news outlets? (one irreplaceable exception is chris-floyd.com).
but the bloodlust over this issue...the wsj editors basically said the captain's life was expendable as long as obama got to show his manly steel chestnuts.
most americans don't have a clue what's going on, but the consciousness that our politicians and media are trying to project into and develop in our population is utterly reprehensible. the pure, unbridled gangsterism of our leaders is becoming ever clearer.
Or we may see the first real revolt since the War Between the States. Heaven knows, it's long overdue.
A good companion piece to the single payer health plan story.
Whether they are called warlords in Somalia or politicians in the US, no country belongs any longer to the people who live in it---only to the thugs with the guns, chains and whips, or, what is equally repressive, a corrupt legal system.
I just watched Democracy Now about the corrupt prison system. No arm of government is responsive to the people it ostensibly serves.
Obama has changed very little. It now appears that the crimes of Bush Inc. will not only go unpunished, the current President will relinquish none of the power illegally appropriated by Bush for the Executive branch of government.
Meanwhile, the wishes of the people---legalized pot, single payer health care, domestic expenditures, are a joke to the President---WHEN they are mentioned at all.
I think maybe it's over. The corporate strangle hold on the government will continue to squeeze the last shreds of rights and the last penny of wealth from the from the growing ranks of the poor.
Sioux Rose
NIETZSCHE: Excellent post. From the spiritual perspective, the raw lust for blood that the Romans stirred in their infamous Roman Arena spectacles has not been allowed to be transcended. Every age and its rulers have made use of this weakness in human nature to rouse populations to turn on their brothers, to make war.
Today it would seem Hollywood has become "the devil's playground" in that far too many productions feature displays of violence, suitable to sating the blood lust of more "primitive" populations. In other words, the most unevolved aspect of human nature has been fed to retain it. Media might have been used to teach lessons of unity, to celebrate diversity, to champion how persons work together sometimes across racial/ethnic/religious lines to solve crises or produce works of grandeur. Instead, this great gift of motion pictures has largely been used like the Roman Arena.
What a debt the West owes to these Somalis for poisoning their waters and food supply. The depravity that seems to have been let out of Pandora's Box continues to surprise me for the lengths and depths it goes to in taking from other what is not meant for one's self.
There are many Biblical tales that equate cycles of extreme corruption with "God" sending a plague or flood or other device intended to wash the slate clean. Seems a whole lot of people are courting that outcome. The sick irony is that their own behavior in rebellion to spiritual law insures eventual karmic blowback; but they take that blowback for God's will, not seeing it as a direct result of their own heinous actions. Free will... interesting concept, too bad it's not worked out that well on a planet where leadership constantly uses resources to spur the worst, rather than best in human nature.
You are on FIRE, Sioux. Even Rod Serling lamented the direction television was going back in the early 60s.
It seems to me, our society is being squeezed between Orwellian fear-mongering on the one hand, with 'Brave New World' banality on the other.
Sioux Rose
O.P. Thanks! I couldn't log on for two days, so thought I'd catch up today. The spirit in this forum is a great thing. I think most of us return to it because we learn from each other's perspectives, and even hone our own arguments in the process. It's good practice for me as a writer.
Word perfect. I wouldn't argue with any of this! Highly accurate, incisive and balanced as an article.
Cheering for the deaths of the "pirates" and wrapping themselves in the American flag to do so was disgusting. The flag is supposed to be symbol of democracy-sadly, it is a symbol of rank imperialism and violent death.
The "fighting keyboardists" were thrilled with alL of it-of course. They applauded the use of the military and the deaths of the teenagers from the safety of behind their keyboards naturally-and they wouldn't have it any other way! "What fools these mortals be!"
The military industrial media complex planned it this way.
The US has always used war as the stimulus of last resort. Today it is the first choice in stimulus, as Snobama's actions as president have repeatedly demonstrated.