Despots,
East and
West
Satya
Sagar
On
March 19,
2003
when the
United
States
initiated
its illegal
and immoral
invasion of
Iraq
I strongly
believed
that George
Bush Jr.
deserved to
be put in
the same
prison cell
as Saddam
Hussein. Two
years of war
is a long
time and I
no longer
hold that
simplistic,
emotional
view.
I am fully
convinced
now that
Bush Jr.
deserves to
be put away
in a
separate
cell of his
own. After
all he has
earned his
no-share,
single bed
place in the
global hall
of infamy so
why should
he be put in
the same
league as
some two bit
ageing Iraqi
dictator.
Seriously,
if there is
anything
truly, truly
foolish to
do in our
world – it
is to
naively
equate an
Occidental
despot with
an Oriental
one. And it
is a harsh
realization
to make for
someone from
Asia but the
simple truth
is that
there is no
comparison
at all – the
Western
demagogue or
dictator is
way more
devastating
than
anything the
East has
ever
produced (
good
ol’
Genghis
being an
exception
!).
When it
comes to
both the
scale and
sophistication
of modern
despotism,
‘the East is
East
and the West
is West, And
Never Shall
the Twain
Meet’. (One
can add
‘Except when
the East
falls at the
West’s feet’
as I will
explain
later).
Here are
some reasons
why I
believe a
Western
Despot like
Bush Jr.,
the latest
in a long
historical
line, is
much, much
superior to
his Eastern
counterparts
and deserves
a special
cell of his
own if not
an entire
prison
(preferably
privatized).
For
convenience
sake
henceforth
Western
Despots
shall be
referred to
as
WDs
and Eastern
ones as
EDs.
You know
what? The WD
is
‘invisible’,
the ED is
permanently
on your TV
screen:
You can
understand
what I am
getting at
by observing
how
difficult it
is to put an
adjective as
lovely as
‘Western’
together
with ugly
ones like
‘demagogue’
and
‘dictator’
without
provoking
many to
raise their
eyebrows way
beyond
physical or
internationally
permissible
limits.
Going by the
mythology of
mainstream
media, leave
alone
official
propaganda
(spot the
difference)
the leaders
of the
Western
world are
always,
always
democratic.
This is
because they
have an
institution
called the
‘general
election’
and every
leader
produced by
this
procedure is
naturally
democratic.
While this
is not
historically
true even in
the West
(after all
even Hitler
was
‘elected’ to
power) it is
a patent
falsehood
when one
considers
how so
called
‘democratic’
Western
governments
ran outright
dictatorships
in their
colonies
around the
world for
much of the
past few
centuries.
Just to give
one example
of colonial
crimes
against
humanity,
Winston
Churchill, (Dubya’
self-confessed
role model)
as British
Prime
Minister,
presided
over the
easily
preventable
deaths of 2
million
Indians
during the
Great Bengal
Famine of
1943. And
yet this fat
monster
manages to
get away
with a
historical
appraisal
that treats
him like a
cross
between an
action hero
and a holy
saint.
Since George
Bush Jr.
happens to
be
slithering
down the
same old
colonial
path he
needs to be
reminded
that just
because a
certain
section of
US citizens
happen to
elect him
their
President
he does not
get the
right to
take away
the lives of
men, women
and children
in faraway
countries.
The fact
that he does
get away
with mass
murder, and
does not
have even a
bad
adjective
slapped
against him,
leave alone
a prison
sentence,
shows how
the
WDs
of our world
are surely
quite an
invisible
lot except
to those
hapless
millions who
bear the
brunt of
their
despotic
deeds.
WDs
(if they
exist at
all) are
always
right,
EDs
are always
wrong:
The invasion
of
Iraq
after all
was
undertaken
on the
pretext of
preventing
Saddam from
developing
Weapons of
Mass
Destruction.
But when no
WMDs
were
discovered
it became
all about
removing
Saddam the
ED. And then
it was about
fighting the
Iraqi
resistance
painted as
the new Al
Qaeda
clones.
Finally it
turns out
that the
entire
exercise in
mass
slaughter of
Iraqis was
undertaken
to promote
‘freedom and
democracy’
throughout
the
Middle-East.
And what is
most amazing
about all
these brazen
lies put out
by the
US
rulers to
justify an
obviously
colonial
adventure is
that they
still have
takers among
those who
believe that
the invasion
was a
genuine
‘mistake’.
Some of them
even want
the
US
troops to
stay on till
they
‘finish’ the
wonderful
civilizational
mission they
are on.
Imagine a
decade and a
half ago
allowing
Saddam’s
troops to
stay on in
Kuwait-
‘to finish
the job they
started’ !
This brings
us to the
essential
difference
between a WD
and an ED-
both make
‘mistakes’
but only the
latter get
hanged for
it.
WDs
are always
cool,
EDs
are clumsy
clods:
There used
to be a
fellow in my
town in
central
India
who made
quite a name
for himself
by speaking
entire
paragraphs
that sounded
exactly like
English. All
this was
without ever
using a
single word
from the
language. It
was all
about
mimicking
the drawls,
twangs and
accent of
the native
English
speaker- in
a
Jabberwocky
sort of way-
that for
most of us
was
awesomely
like
English. So
what if it
meant
nothing.
Bush Jr. has
mastered the
same art
apparently
of saying
nonsensical
things with
a smirk, a
frown or
whatever
suits the
occasion –
all of which
sound very
important.
There are
too many
people in
the world –
except again
those losing
kith, kin or
life and
limb to
American
bombs- who
do not
really care
whether he
makes sense
or not as
long as he
sounds
confident
and
convincing.
Saddam could
never get
away with
something
like this-
because he
does not
even know
how to
imitate
‘native’
English
leave alone
speak it.
Boy, if only
Saddam spoke
English with
a British
accent, the
course of
modern
history
would have
been so
different-
who knows he
might have
still been
the Bush
family’s
best friend
and Blair
might have
been calling
him ‘Uncle’
or even
worse ‘Sir’.
WDs
kill because
they love
people,
EDs
because they
hate them:
For me the
most
symbolic
image of the
entire US
invasion of
Iraq was the
photograph
from
Falluja
last year of
a US Marine
shooting an
unarmed,
injured
Iraqi inside
a mosque out
of ‘sheer
mercy’. So
that is what
the entire
thing has
been about
all along-
‘mercy
killing’.
These
suffering
Arabs/Muslims
need to be
‘liberated’
from life
itself and
who is more
qualified to
carry out
this mission
of ‘love
and
kindness’
than the
compassionate
conservatives
of the
United
States
?
Outside
Auschwitz
is the sign
‘Work shall
set you
Free’. In
the mass
graves of
Iraq
or at Abu
Gharib
someone
should write
‘Freedom
shall give
you Life’
and maybe
‘Democracy
brings
Dignity’.
Well, thanks
folks, but I
would rather
that you
drop this
fertilizer
about
Compassion,
Love,
Freedom,
whatever and
just left us
alone to our
unbelieving
ways ?
If you don’t
I can tell
you for sure
there are a
lot of us
here who are
going start
‘Loving’ you
as much as
you ‘Love’
us. Surely
those who
run the
US
regime
realize the
age-old
truth that
when it
comes to
‘love’ you
really do
get as much
as you give-
sometimes
even more.
WDs
whatever
they do
remain
‘clean,
honest
folk’.
EDs
are always
thieves and
murderers:
WDs
stealing oil
or any
assets
thousands of
miles away
is ‘clean
and honest’
activity
especially
when these
belong to
people who
do not look
and talk
like you and
have strange
names to
boot. In
fact it is
quite a lot
of fun too,
ha, ha, ha!
But if an ED
attempts to
imitate his
WD
counterparts
and does
something as
foolish as
capturing
his
neighbouring
country’s
oil fields
that is a
very bad
thing
indeed.
Saddam’s
real problem
was not that
he was a
dictator or
a thief or a
murderer -
it was
simply that
he was a
fool. And
according to
the twisted
rules of the
imperialists
stupidity is
the gravest
of all
crimes-
surely
punishable
by
humiliation
and death.
And even
more so if
you happen
to
be a
stupid
dictator
sitting on
large pools
of precious
motor fuel.
WDs
have the
real toys,
EDs
work with
borrowed or
stolen ones:
Bigger and
better
weapons are
really what
give
WDs
the edge
over
EDs.
That is why
when the
EDs
of Iran or
North Korea
or
Libya
try
to acquire
the same set
of toys the
WDs
get hopping
mad. The ED
is forever
supposed to
fight with
bows and
arrows to
the eternal
amusement of
the WD. If
they acquire
weapons that
level the
playing
field that
is not ‘fair
play’ at all
says the WD.
Come on
fellas,
give us a
chance.
True, the
East pays
too little
attention to
the
development
of basic
science and
technology
and is still
far from
matching its
Western
peers .
But while we
play catch
up to the
West, surely
there can be
nothing
wrong with
you guys
sharing a
few toys
with us? Who
knows, we
might be
able to give
you a few of
our own some
day.
Remember gun
powder ?
EDs
are good,
only when
WDs
need them
desperately:
Marcos,
Suharto,
Sarit,
Zia-ul-Haq-
all of these
were
EDs
who survived
because of
their
utility to
the
WDs
in their
paranoid
Cold War
against the
communists.
Since direct
plunder and
pillage
through
colonial
rule had
become
difficult
the
EDs –
nurtured and
cultivated
from amidst
Eastern
elites- were
useful to
keep the
‘rebellious
natives’
under
control.
I suspect
however the
relationship
between the
WDs
and
EDs
during the
Cold War
became less
and less
like
‘patron-client’
and more
like
‘parent-child’.
When
Kissinger,
referring
some
ED or the
other,
infamously
said ‘He
might be a
son-of-a-bitch,
but he is
our
son-of-a-bitch’
that was no
ordinary
Freudian
slip. It was
really like
a wicked
mother
talking
about her
evil
offspring.
Now, having
proved my
point so
well with
all my very
convincing
arguments I
suddenly
realize that
George Bush
Jr. should
not be in
the same
cell as
Saddam for
another
reason also-
Saddam does
not deserve
such
company. For
all the
varied
crimes he
committed
during two
decades of
misrule in
Iraq
have been
far
surpassed by
Bush Jr.
within just
the past
five years.
Two
countries
bombed back
to the Stone
Age, over a
150,000
people dead,
several more
countries in
the
crosshair,
his troops
shooting
babies, old
people,
female
journalists-
Bush Jr.
really
deserves a
Pyramid-
complete
with all the
stolen Iraqi
gold by his
side. Move
over
Tutankhamen,
here comes
the New
American
Pharaoh !
Satya
Sagar
is a writer,
journalist,
video maker
based in
Thailand.
He can be
contacted at
sagarnama@...