Empire

Published in El Tiempo
(Colombia) on 2 October 2014
by Ricardo Silva Romero (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Guido Montesano. Edited by Gillian Palmer.
Obama's story has finally turned to tragedy. It's clear to see that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate couldn't handle the pressure and had to resort to war.

Every president of the United States — or rather, every president — ends up sooner or later taking part in a tragedy. But none was as tragic as the recent story of Barack Obama: After six years of explaining to his country that no one benefits from using American military power at the far reaches of the earth where fundamentalists hide, and after evading — much to the chagrin of his society — the cries of those shrewd pacification fanatics ("The solution is to kill those bastards," would have said the most crude of them), has slowly become another George Bush since last Sept. 10, a dime-a-dozen president. How enlightening has it been to see him talk about "degrading and destroying" the terrorists of the fearsome Islamic State; he has said, as any tragic figure who surrenders before his gods does, that he was incapable of escaping his nation's manifest destiny.

Now that he has begun with his "irreversible plan for Syria and Iraq"* a few weeks before the right takes full control of Congress, it's obvious that Obama's defeat is the triumph of a ceaseless war. His timid proposal of depriving extremists of reasons to attack has been quashed by the will of the American empire.

I never rejected American things; I never uttered "Yankee, go home," nor have I ever thought about it, because I met American professors who stopped me from believing in stereotypes, I saw with my own eyeglasses that the brave fictions of its artists refute the exalted lies of its politicians, I noticed that the best Hollywood dramas recreate and remedy Washington's worst disasters; in short, that culture — and its immense beauty, from Mark Twain to Richard Ford, from Buster Keaton to Wes Anderson, from Art Spiegelman to Joe Sacco, from Bo Diddley to Tracy Chapman — was always close to me, as it was for every other lost soul of my generation encased in a pair of jeans. But I'm certain that today's road to the Near East is paved with the good intentions of American leaders.

In Oliver Stone's "Untold History of the United States," the filmmaker argues that his country lost its way in 1945, on the day the warmonger Truman replaced the progressive Wallace as vice president. Professor Howard Zinn, in his book "A People's History of American Empire," points out that the reactions to the 9/11 tragedy — "We committed terrorist acts to send terrorists a message" — proved that American leaders didn't learn a single thing from this 20th century of "violence reciprocated with violence."* The comedian Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" reminds us that 65 percent of Americans support the attacks, but can't find the enemy on a map. After Sept. 10, the country that was thinking of where to use its power went back to being the country that shoots before asking questions.

Obama's story has finally turned to tragedy: Squinting like Dirty Harry, much to his own chagrin, he said: "American leadership is the one constant in an uncertain world." It's clear to see that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate couldn't handle the pressure and had to resort to war. He knows that if it wasn't due to the fact that societies aren't solely made up of their governments, the only future of his beautiful country — which is also a tired empire — would be the worst kind of decadence. When he says, "U.S. intelligence underestimated the Islamic State," he's saying that he was elected for the same reasons he isn't able to rule freely. It's obvious for those of us who read between the lines why he keeps repeating that his favorite series is "Homeland": Watching it is watching the power of the secret agencies, arms dealers and spies; but on the upside, [it is the power] of a new generation that is distrustful of the old powers. The world is no longer in the hands of presidents.

*Editor’s Note: These quotations, accurately translated, could not be verified.


Imperio

Ha llegado Obama, pues, a su tragedia. Se ve que el premio nobel de paz no pudo más, y que se rinde a la guerra.

Todo presidente de Estados Unidos –es más: todo presidente– termina protagonizando una tragedia. Pero ninguno tan trágico en la historia reciente como Barack Obama. Que, luego de seis años de explicarle a su país que a nadie conviene usar la fuerza militar norteamericana en los rincones de la Tierra en donde se esconde el fundamentalismo, y después de capotear, a costa de los nervios de su sociedad, los gritos de los astutos fanáticos de la pacificación (“la solución es matar a esos bastardos”, gritó el más burdo hace unos días), desde el pasado 10 de septiembre ha estado volviéndose un George Bush: uno cualquiera. Qué esclarecedor ha sido verlo hablando de “degradar y destruir” a los terroristas del temible Estado Islámico: ha estado diciendo, como cualquier figura trágica que se rinde a sus dioses, que fue incapaz de escapar al destino manifiesto de su patria.

Ahora que ha puesto en marcha su “plan irreversible para Siria e Irak”, unas semanas antes de que la derecha acabe de tomarse el Congreso, es obvio que la derrota de Obama es el triunfo de una guerra que no cesa. Y que su tímida propuesta de dejar sin razones a los extremistas ha sido aplastada por la voluntad del imperio americano.

Yo nunca he lamentado lo gringo, no, no he gritado “yanqui: go home”, ni lo he pensado, porque he conocido profesores de allá que no me han permitido caer en los estereotipos, he visto con mis propias gafas que las valientes ficciones de sus artistas desmienten las exaltadas falacias de sus políticos, he notado que los mejores dramas hechos en Hollywood enmiendan los peores desastres montados en Washington, he tenido a la mano, en fin, esa cultura –y su enorme belleza, de Mark Twain a Richard Ford, de Buster Keaton a Wes Anderson, de Art Spiegelman a Joe Sacco, de Bo Diddley a Tracy Chapman– como cualquier alma en pena en jeans de mi generación. Pero tengo claro que de las buenas intenciones de los líderes norteamericanos está plagado el camino al Oriente Próximo de hoy.

El cineasta Oliver Stone sugiere, en su Historia no contada de los Estados Unidos, que su país perdió el rumbo el día de 1945 en el que el guerrerista Truman reemplazó al progresista Wallace en la vicepresidencia. El profesor Howard Zinn señala, en su Historia popular del imperio americano, que las reacciones al horror del 11 de septiembre (“cometimos actos terroristas para enviarles un mensaje a los terroristas”) probaron que los líderes gringos no aprendieron nada de ese siglo XX “de violencia contestada con violencia”. El comediante Jon Stewart recuerda, en The Daily Show, que el 65 por ciento de los norteamericanos apoyan los ataques pero no pueden ubicarlos en el mapa: que, desde aquel 10, el país que piensa dónde usar su poder volvió a ser el país que dispara antes de preguntar.

Ha llegado Obama, pues, a su tragedia: a pronunciar la sentencia “el liderazgo americano es la constante en un mundo incierto”, con los ojos entrecerrados de Harry el sucio, muy a pesar de sí mismo. Se ve que el premio nobel de la paz no pudo más, y que se rinde a la guerra. Que sabe que, si no fuera porque las sociedades no son solo sus gobiernos, lo que seguiría para su bello país –que es también un imperio cansado– sería la peor de las decadencias. Que cuando dice que “los servicios de inteligencia subestimaron al Estado Islámico” está diciendo que lo eligieron por las mismas razones por las que no lo dejan gobernar. Por algo ha repetido, a quien lea entre líneas, que su serie favorita es Homeland: porque verla es ver que a fuerza de agencias secretas, y de comerciantes de armas, y de espías –y para bien: de una nueva generación que no cree en los poderes de siempre–, el mundo no está en manos de los presidentes.
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

Hot this week

Pakistan: Trump’s Gaza Blueprint Unfolds

Australia: Donald Trump Is Taking Over the US Federal Reserve and Financial Markets Have Missed the Point

Thailand: Appeasing China Won’t Help Counter Trump

Poland: Ukraine Is Still Far from Peace. What Was Actually Decided at the White House?

Australia: Australia Boosts Corporate Law Enforcement as America Goes Soft

Topics

Peru: Blockade ‘For Now’

Japan: US President and the Federal Reserve Board: Harmonious Dialogue To Support the Dollar

Austria: The EU Must Recognize That a Tariff Deal with Trump Is Hardly Worth Anything

Mexico: The Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Venezuela and President Nicholás Maduro

Hong Kong: Cordial Cross-Strait Relations Will Spare Taiwan Trump’s Demands, Says Paul Kuoboug Chang

Germany: The Tariffs Have Side Effects — For the US Too*

Ireland: We Must Stand Up to Trump on Climate. The Alternative Is Too Bleak To Contemplate

Canada: Carney Takes Us Backward with Americans on Trade

Related Articles

Mexico: The Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Venezuela and President Nicholás Maduro

India: Trump vs Judiciary: Will US Power Balance Shift?

Uruguay: Yankee Imperialism

Ireland: Obama’s Silence on Gaza Makes Freedom of Dublin Award Deeply Problematic