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Blowback
• A CIA term meaning, the unintended consequences of foreign operations that were deliberately kept secret from the American public. • So when retaliation comes, the American public is not able to put it in context—to put cause and effect together.
How did 9-11 change American foreign policy? The Bush Doctrine
• 9-11 gave a group of people who are • Doctrine of foreign policy that stresses: committed to expansion of the American – Preemptive strikes against potential enemies empire a reason and an opportunity to – Military primacy implement their plans militarily. – “Democratic” regime change
What does Gore Vidal believe the reasons were for What does Bill Kristol believe is the great why the US dropped the atomic bombs on Japan? threat for the future of the world? • To change the balance of power in the world • The great threat for the future is not American • To show off to and frighten Stalin power; it would be American weakness or • To declare war on communism American withdrawal.
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What did President Eisenhower warn the US of in his farewell address? The Military-Industrial Complex • A permanent armament industry • Policy and monetary relationships between – The Military-Industrial Complex. the military, defense industry, congress, and think tanks. • These relationships can include political contributions, political approval for defense spending, lobbying to support bureaucracies, and beneficial legislation and oversight of the industry.
What are some connections between US actions in the Middle East since the 1950s and our most recent war in Iraq?
Let me tell you a little story… The Iranian people democratically elected Dr. Mohammed Mossadeq to be Iran’s Prime Minister, who’s administration nationalized the AIOC in 1953.
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Everyone, meet Dr. Mossadeq:
the British government was none too pleased about this.
And neither was the government of the United States.
A government friendly to Western interests was re-installed under the control of the Shah, who became the American Central Intelligence increasingly autocratic. Agency (CIA) engineered a coup to oust Dr. Mossadeq and overthrow Iran’s nationalist government.
The CIA was successful.
The continued economic and Many Iranians were none too cultural influence of the West and pleased about this, the repressive nature of the Shah's as you might be able to imagine. regime led to the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
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What started as popular revolution against the Shah by people from all walks of life, including everyone from communists to islamists, eventually became co-opted by the islamists, culminating in the establishment of an “Islamic Republic.”
Everyone, meet Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini: The Shah was overthrown and exiled, and the new Islamic Republic of Iran was established, led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Also a jerk.
Then, starting in 1980 CE, Iran fought a The US openly supported Iraq throughout the war, supplying Saddam Hussein with several war with Iraq that lasted until 1988 CE. billion dollars worth of economic aid, technology, weaponry, intelligence and training.
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the US not-so-openly supported But… Iran in some ways too.
(and this is kind of a big “but”) (it is weird and complicated – let me try to explain)
Before the Shah was overthrown, the US had been supplying Iran with weaponry and intelligence. Also… In fact, in 1979, before the Shah was ousted, the US warned Iran that Iraq was about to invade. (and this is the weirdest part)
the Reagan administration covertly sold arms to Iran during the war and then secretly used that money to fund Meanwhile… militias in Nicaragua – the Contras. Here’s, yet, another part of the story: But that’s a whole other story known as the Iran-Contra Affair.
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The US government and the Saudi royal family have been kickin’ it since about 1933 CE. The two are still on relatively good terms today.
They want our money; we want their oil.
And as long as that oil is flowing…
we turn a blind eye to Saudi Arabia’s But there is hope, as many women are repressive government. fighting for equal rights in Saudi Arabia.
So when our old buddy, Saddam, Suffice it to say, the US and Saudi invaded Kuwait in 1990, the Saudi Arabia have had a relatively stable royal family welcomed the US troops relationship. we stationed their to fight our old buddy. (built entirely around oil) (A few Saudi’s were none to pleased about US troops being stationed in the holy land. We’ll come back to this later on in the story.)
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Iraq wanted to annex Kuwait 1990 – 1991 CE, the First Gulf War (for their oil)
We haven’t even talked about these The US wanted to defend Kuwait guys yet – Afghanistan’s mujahideen: (for their oil) and also to stop Iraq so that Saddam (who used to be our buddy) wouldn’t endanger our allies in Saudi Arabia (again, oil).
A pro-soviet government took Many Afghans were none to pleased power in Afghanistan in the late about this. So they organized a 1970s CE. resistance movement.
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Which is when the US CIA began At this point, the Soviets attempted funding, arming, and training the to quash the resistance. mujahideen.
We HAD to! I mean, come on!
This war in Afghanistan lasted through the 1980s CE, and was followed by a civil war in the 90s.
1961
1962
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2019
2019
1980s
I bet you can’t guess who was funded, armed, and trained – in part by the US CIA – during this conflict…
Yep! This dude: Osama bin Laden was from a wealthy Saudi family.
After fighting with the mujahideen he founded Al-Qaeda.
He was a religious fellow with very extreme views.
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Remember this, the First Gulf War?
bin Laden was none too pleased when the US stationed troops in Saudi Arabia – the holy land – to fight Saddam.
This was a formative event in his life that helped to inspire his contempt for the West in general and the US specifically.
So he came at us.
February 1993 truck bomb attack on World Trade Center, killed 6, injured over 1,000
August 20, 1998, Bill Clinton ordered cruise missile strikes on Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan—in response to the embassy bombings
August 7, 1998, US Embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya
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October 12, 2000, bombing of USS Cole while refueling at a harbor in Aden, Yemen.
Iraq had nothing to do with this
US War in Afghanistan, 2001 CE – present.
And, of course, after that we invaded Afghanistan.
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But we didn’t stop there!
Oh no.
The US openly supported Iraq throughout the war, supplying Saddam Hussein with several billion dollars worth of economic aid, technology, weaponry, intelligence and training.
Dick Cheney
• Chief of Staff for Ford • In House of Reps. from 1978-1989 • Secretary of Defense for George H. W. Bush • CEO of Halliburton from 1995-2000
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Dick Cheney
• Chief of Staff for Ford • In House of Reps. from 1978-1989 “If [people] define situations as real, • Secretary of Defense for they are real in their consequences” George H. W. Bush • CEO of Halliburton from 1995-2000 • Vice President under George W. Bush from January 2001-2009 -W. I. Thomas (1928)
Contested Realities: Power
The Social Construction of Reality • Power can be defined as being able to get what you want despite opposition. The process through which facts, • Power can come from the ability to control or influence knowledge, and truth are discovered, the way a situation is defined or framed. made known, reaffirmed, and altered by the members of society. • Reality construction is not democratic! (Berger and Luckman, 1966) • Powerful social actors can promote a version of reality that serves their interests.
Dominant Constructed Reality Dominant Constructed Reality
• “This is going to be the kind of work that will probably take years • “America was targeted for attack because because the focus has to be not just on any one individual, the we're the brightest beacon for freedom and problem here is terrorism.” –Dick Cheney, Meet the Press, 9/16/01 – MR. RUSSERT: …If we determine that Saddam Hussein is also opportunity in the world.” harboring terrorists, and there's a track record there, would we have any reluctance of going after Saddam Hussein? • “We will make no distinction between the – VICE PRES. CHENEY: No. – MR. RUSSERT: Do we have evidence that he's harboring terrorists? terrorists who committed these acts and – VICE PRES. CHENEY: There is--in the past, there have been some activities related to terrorism by Saddam Hussein. But at this stage, those who harbor them.” you know, the focus is over here on al-Qaida and the most recent events in New York. Saddam Hussein's bottled up, at this point, but • --George Bush, Address to the Nation, 9/11/01 clearly, we continue to have a fairly tough policy where the Iraqis are concerned.
• --Vice President Dick Cheney and Tim Russert on Meet the Press, 9/16/01
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Dominant Constructed Reality Dominant Constructed Reality
• “Americans are asking, why do they hate us? • “Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime …They hate our freedoms. …They want to has plotted to develop anthrax and nerve gas and overthrow existing governments….” nuclear weapons for over a decade. This is a • --White House News Release, 9/20/01 regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens, leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections, then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world.” • --George Bush, State of the Union Address, 1/29/02
Dominant Constructed Reality Dominant Reality as of March, 2003
• In Secretary of State Colin Powell’s speech to • “Terrorists” are an existential threat to the the United Nations, 2/5/03, he used the United States because we are free and they phrase, “weapons of mass destruction,” in hate freedom association with Iraq 10 times. • Iraq is harboring “terrorists,” has “weapons of • “Ladies and gentlemen, these are not mass destruction,” and is connected to 9/11 in assertions. These are facts, corroborated by some way many sources, some of them sources of the • This “war on terror” will be long-term and far- intelligence services of other countries.” reaching • —Colin Powell, UN Speech, 2/5/03
Implications of Dominant Reality
• Cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11 = over 1.6 trillion dollars (conservative estimate) We re-invaded Iraq, 3/20/03 – Between 4 and 6 trillion if you count “long-term medical care and disability compensation for service members, veterans and families, military replenishment and social and economic costs,” --Harvard economist, Linda Bilmes
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Implications of Dominant Reality Implications of Dominant Reality
• Over 6,800 US service members and over 6,900 • Afghan civilians killed = over 26,000 contractors have died in the wars in Iraq and • Pakistan civilians killed = over 21,000 Afghanistan. • Iraqi civilians killed = ? • An unusually high percentage of young veterans have died since returning home, many as a result of drug overdoses, vehicle crashes, or suicide. – Deaths Data from Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies, May 2015 • Coalition partners have died in large numbers: approximately 43,000 uniformed Afghans, Iraqis and other allies have died as of May 2014.
US War with Iraq (Second Gulf War) Implications of Dominant Reality 2003 CE- ? • The Nobel Prize-winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and other groups examined the toll from the so-called war on terror in three countries — Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The investigators found "the war has, directly or indirectly, killed around one million people in Iraq, 220,000 in Afghanistan and 80,000 in Pakistan (i.e. a total of around 1.3 million). Not included in this figure are further war zones such as Yemen. The figure is approximately 10 times greater than that of which the public, experts and decision makers are aware. ..." • Democracy Now!, March 25, 2015
plus the largest embassy in the world: The war with Iraq is now over (supposedly) yet we are maintaining a force of some troops and “private contractors” that numbers in the thousands…
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Why?
“Unocal was one of the key players in the CentGas consortium, which attempted to build the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline to run from the Caspian area, through Afghanistan, to the Indian Ocean, at a time after the recent Taliban siege of Kabul in 1996.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unocal_Corporation
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What are some connections between US actions in the Middle East since the 1950s and our most recent war in Iraq?
• 1953—overthrow of Mohammed Mossadeq in Iran by CIA • Installation of the Shah’s repressive regime in Iran • Iran’s revolution in 1979 brought the Ayatollah to power—violently anti- American • We then supported Saddam in Iraq in his fight against Iran • This is why cynics in Washington say, “we know Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, we have the receipts.” • Saddam invades Kuwait in 1990, we were scared he’d invade Saudi Arabia as well • We stationed troops in Saudi Arabia to fight Saddam • Osama bin Laden resented Saudi Arabia for letting US station troops there and despised the US for invading the holy land • Fear of losing power in Saudi Arabia led to more desire to take out Saddam to ensure control over Iraq’s oil supply (second largest reserves)
What was one major influence the think tank, The Project for What are Think Tanks? a New American Century, had on US foreign policy?
• Organizations that conduct research and • They were designers of and advocates for the engage in advocacy in areas such as social Bush Doctrine long before G. W. Bush was policy, political strategy, economics, military, president and technology issues. • Most think tanks are non-profits, but some are Remember this dude? funded by the government, advocacy groups, Bill Kristol or businesses. The great threat for the future is not American power; it would be American weakness or American withdrawal.
What were the reasons given by US political What landmark event took place on leaders for why the US needed to invade Iraq? February 15, 2003? • Weapons of Mass Destruction • Largest international protest in world history • Involvement in 9-11 • Over 10 million people from all over the world • Liberation of Iraqi people protested the US going to war with Iraq before the war even began
Were US political leaders entirely honest about their reasons?
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