IRAQ: FALLUJAH

Counterpunch: Fallujah: an Iraqi Beslan

If Terrorism Isn't Video-taped, It Doesn't Exist

Fallujah is an Iraqi Beslan. The only difference is that the cameras aren't rolling.

The city of 500,000 is being held hostage by an American leadership who doesn't mind shedding the blood of innocent civilians to achieve their broader political goals. That is the very definition of terrorism.

Since, the Marines were rebuffed last April in a three week siege that killed an estimated 650 Iraqis, the military has repeatedly bombed sections of Falluja using the spurious claim of targeting terrorist "safe houses." Every incident involved the wanton destruction of personal property and the loss of innocent life.

These attacks are part of larger "psy-ops" (psychological operation) strategy that requires the long-term terrorizing of the population to make them more compliant to American wishes. Certainly, the Chechen rebels should be taking notes if they want to truly grasp the subtleties of a well-managed terrorist procedure.

If terrorism is not recorded on video, it doesn't exist. This is the "great lesson" that the Dept of Defense gleaned from our involvement in Vietnam. Nothing was learned about the moral depravity of killing 3 million people and poisoning their land in a blatant act of aggression. No, the lesson of Vietnam was simply to keep the killing and maiming off American TVs.

"CHECK IT"