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<h1 id="title-index">Politics-Conspiracies-Project</h1>
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<h2>plrspawn</h2>
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<p>PLAYERS AND PAWNS: THE PERSIAN GULF WAR</p>
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<p>By JACOB G. HORNBERGER</p>
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<p>For the greater part of this century, the United States
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government has plundered, looted, and terrorized the American
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people through the Internal Revenue Service. It has
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surreptitiously stolen people's income and savings through the
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Federal Reserve System. It has brutally enforced--through
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fines and imprisonment--rules and regulations governing
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people's peaceful economic activities. In a very real sense,
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ours is a government which has been--and is--waging a terribly
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immoral and destructive war against its own people.</p>
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<p>Yet, Americans continue to delude themselves. Harkening back
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to their high-school civics classes, they continue to believe
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that America is the land of the free--that the welfare-state,
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planned-economy way of life was formed in 1787--and that their
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government is founded on moral and benevolent principles. Like
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the cancer patient who undergoes a denial stage upon being
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told of his disease, Americans refuse to face the truth: that
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they are not free--that they have abandoned the principles of
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limited government, private property, and unhampered markets
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on which this nation was founded--and that our government is
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now based on evil and morally degenerate principles.</p>
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<p>But many Americans who know the truth have concluded that our
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kakistocracy, through its liberation of Kuwait, miraculously
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reformed itself into a good and honorable government. Let us
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review the record.</p>
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<p>Among the panoply of reasons given by the U.S. government to
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justify its intervention in the Middle East was its professed
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concern for the Kuwaiti people. But the evidence establishes
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that our government has even less concern for the well-being
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of foreign citizens than it has for its own citizens.</p>
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<p>For many decades, our government has used money which has been
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plundered and looted from the American people to give foreign
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aid to brutal tyrants--knowing that such money would be used
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to tyrannize the people who lived under such tyrants. Ours is
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a government which delivered millions of dollars to the Shah
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of Iran--despite its knowledge that the money was being used
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to torture and kill the Iranian people . . . which actively
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supported Saddam Hussein--despite its knowledge of his
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aggressive acts against Iranians and his murderous conduct
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against his own people . . . which embraces Mikhail
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Gorbachev--despite its knowledge of his aggressive acts
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against Lithuanians and the murderous acts of this barbaric
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communist against his own people . . . which willingly shakes
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one of the bloodiest hands in the Middle East--that of Hafez
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Assad of Syria--despite its knowledge of his aggression
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against the Lebanese and the brutal killing of thousands of
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his own people . . . and which feels right at home with the
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savage, communist tyrants of China--despite their long-time
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aggression against the Tibetans and their murderous conduct
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against their own citizenry.</p>
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<p>And Americans have yet to confront another uncomfortable
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reality: that the same evil, immoral, and tyrannical
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government which reigns supreme in our domestic affairs has
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omnipotent power over our lives and fortunes in foreign
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affairs as well. Remember--the President sent hundreds of
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thousands of American troops into war without seeking
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congressional approval. (Many Americans do not realize that a
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military blockade is an act of war.) By the time congressional
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approval was sought, the President had already--by placing
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American troops in harm's way--effectively cornered the
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Congress and the American people into supporting his
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unilateral decision. The subsequent debate concerned only the
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method by which the war was to be waged--not whether or not
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the war would be waged. Moreover, the President made it
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abundantly clear that the congressional vote was, in any
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event, only window dressing--that he would order an attack on
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Iraq regardless of the outcome of the vote.</p>
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<p>Why is all of this important? Because the American people must
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be made to realize what they have wrought for their children,
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and their children's children, who will probably have to pay
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the price: a nation whose ruler has the same omnipotent powers
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over the lives and fortunes of the citizenry as those
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exercised by the most powerful dictators in history.</p>
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<p>During the Persian Gulf crisis, the U.S. government preached
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the importance of the rule of law. But our government itself
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violated the rule of law by ignoring the U.S. Constitution,
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not only with respect to waging war without a Congressional
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declaration of war, but also by exercising a power--policing
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the world--that the Constitution does not authorize.</p>
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<p>And our government also failed to explain how the rule of law
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is supposed to be followed in international affairs. Was the
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U.S. government following the rule of law when it mined
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<span class="NORP">Nicaraguan</span> harbors? If so, why did the World Court enter a
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monetary judgment against our government for what it adjudged
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to be an illegal act? And if our government does have such a
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principled devotion to the rule of law, why then has it
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refused to comply with the World Court's judgment?</p>
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<p>The simple truth is that there is no mechanism by which
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international disputes among non-consenting, independent,
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sovereign nations can be adjudicated. (And the United Nations
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is not a judicial body designed to resolve such disputes; the
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Persian Gulf crisis showed that its votes are delivered in the
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same way as those in the U.S. Congress--to the highest bidder
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for cash or other consideration.) Does the lack of such a
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mechanism justify aggression against another nation-state--
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whether it be our government's invasion of Panama or Iraq's
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invasion of Kuwait? No. But it does show two things: that for
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the foreseeable future, nation-states (including the U.S.)
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will continue to resolve their disputes through military
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force, and, second, that the U.S. government's moralizing
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on the importance of following the rule of law in
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international affairs only evidences its own hypocrisy.</p>
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<p>The opportunity to serve as the world's policeman is a dream
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come true for the military-industrial complex--that is, those
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who are dependent on military welfare. With the collapse of
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communism in Eastern Europe, the military welfare-recipients
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were in a state of panic. How could they now justify the
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tremendous tax burden associated with a huge, standing
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military force? This concern and panic were best evidenced by
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the Pentagon's eagerness to involve itself in the government's
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"war on drugs"--after years of refusing to do so.</p>
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<p>But to be able to serve as the world's policeman--especially
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in the Middle East--now guarantees total political and
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bureaucratic control over the lives and fortunes of the
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American people for the indefinite future. Why? Because war
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and the threat of war always and inevitably entail omnipotent
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power over the citizenry. Moreover, brutal foreign tyrants
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against whom such wars can be waged are never in short supply
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--and especially not in the Middle East! And what better place
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(from the standpoint of the military-industrial complex) to
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have the mission of establishing peace and stability than in a
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part of the world which has never known peace and stability?</p>
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<p>By becoming the world's policeman whose primary beat is the
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Middle East, those who are on the military dole have ensured
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themselves perpetual existence--and perpetual control over the
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lives and property of the American people.</p>
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<p>And, of course, it is the American people who are the pawns in
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all of this. Innocently believing that their government
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miraculously has become good and moral overnight, they
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ardently support its omnipotent power over their own lives and
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fortunes--the same way they have done in their government's
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futile and destructive wars on poverty, illiteracy, and drugs.
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But Americans ignore two important things: first, their role
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as pawns and, second, that pawns can and will be sacrificed
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whenever the political and bureaucratic chess players in
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Washington deem it necessary for the "international good."</p>
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<p>Is there an answer to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait based on
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principles of individual freedom and limited government? Yes.
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And it is an answer which is also based on the principle of
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individual responsibility.</p>
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<p>The power of our government to intervene in both domestic and
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foreign affairs should be strictly constrained through express
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constitutional limitations. In domestic affairs, this means
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the end of the welfare-state, planned-economy way of life. In
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foreign affairs, this means the end of foreign aid, the end of
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our government's ability to wage trade wars, and the end of
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its role as the world's international policeman. The power of
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our government should be constitutionally limited to three
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primary functions: protecting the American people from
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domestic criminals, defending the United States from foreign
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attack, and resolving disputes which arise in this nation.</p>
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<p>And the American people? They should be free to travel and
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trade all over the world without the permission and
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interference of their own governmental officials . . . and to
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donate their own lives and fortunes to oppose tyranny and
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oppression anywhere in the world. Does this mean that the
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American people would have to take responsibility for their
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beliefs and convictions? Of course--but isn't that the type of
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society which we desire?</p>
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<p>Freedom for Americans is possible in our lifetime. But it will
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only come when they finally realize that people are not free--
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and can never be free--under either a welfare state or a
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warfare state. And when the American people finally make their
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own freedom their highest political end, they will discover
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what only a select few in history have discovered: that true
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personal pride and self-esteem come from the achievement of
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one's own freedom--not vicariously through the military
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conquests of one's government.</p>
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<p>Mr. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of
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Freedom Foundation.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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From the July 1991 issue of FREEDOM DAILY,
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Copyright (c) 1991, The Future of Freedom Foundation,
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PO Box 9752, Denver, Colorado 80209, 303-777-3588.
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Permission granted to reprint; please give appropriate credit
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and send one copy of reprinted material to the Foundation.
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</p>
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