Posted September 30, 2004 to GDN Headlines | Section Home | Print

The Politics of Fear

Commentary By Bill Fletcher Jr.

“… the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”
- Nazi war criminal Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

Speech after speech at the Republican National Convention, followed by remarks by both President Bush and Vice President Cheney, have together underscored one point: fear remains a palatable political weapon that can suppress any genuine discussion.

The Republican Convention, while certainly engaging in repeated Kerry-bashing, more than anything else played on the issue of 9/11 and the fear of another terrorist attack. Using this fear, and playing upon the uncertainties and confusions of so many people of the United States, the Bush campaign has been quite successful in obscuring any real debate about serious issues, both domestic and foreign.

Let’s take the question of the Iraq war. Again, in a method that would make the Sophists of ancient Greece quite proud, the Bush team linked the war against Iraq — to the extent to which it was mentioned at all — with the need to fight terrorism. Despite the lack any demonstrable connection between the Saddam Hussein regime and the Al Qaeda terrorists, the Bush team continues to repeat and imply such a connection. Thus, we are treated to round after round of tribute to the alleged leadership of the President in taking on Saddam Hussein and conducting the so-called war against terrorism, irrespective of the lies, half-truths and manipulations of the facts by the administration used to justify a war of naked aggression.

Playing again and again to our fears, the Bush team presented itself as war-time leadership that should be reaffirmed. Yet, while this band played on, issues such as the actual lies that led to the Iraq invasion; the troubled state of the U.S. economy; the increasing poverty; and the lack of a comprehensive and genuine approach to education reform were all ignored. In the interests of national security, apparently, we are all suppose to hunker down and ignore or forget that we are worse off, domestically and internationally, than we were four short years ago.

One of the many ironies of our current situation is that the Bush administration has made our lives much less secure. U.S. intelligence agencies confirm that the Iraq invasion has increased recruitment into terrorist organizations, and it is clear and evident that hostility toward the U.S.A. has been growing, not only in the Arab and Muslim world, but across Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and increasingly in Europe.

Yet, fear blinds too many of us to the realities of the day. We just want the unknown and potential threats to go away. We want to be secure, and if the man in the White House uses the right words and questions the seriousness of his opponents, then too many of us are prepared to ignore reality and grope for the shield of false hope.

Instead of coherently responding to the fear technique, the Kerry campaign has shot itself in the foot by the candidate’s ambiguous statements on the Iraq war. The war was built on a foundation of lies and the violation of international law. Why cannot this be said, and said without reservation?

Fear plus acting produces the outlines of a horror film. Playing itself out in front of the eyes of billions on this planet is the unfolding of just this drama. The question posed to us by the people of the world is whether the people of the U.S.A. will ignore the realities of the world situation and the transgressions our own government is committing. This is about far more than voting. Irrespective of who occupies the White House after the November 2nd elections, the entire fabric of the relations of the United States to the rest of the world must be called into question.

We must also realize that a permanent sense of insecurity and fear cannot be remedied by a permanent fortress America. A fortress America may seem to be a protective mechanism against terror and lawlessness, yet it can as well serve as a prison for those of us on the inside, squeezed, observed and restricted, all in the name of protecting ourselves against an evil that can always surface.

Bill Fletcher Jr. is president of TransAfrica Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit educational and organizing center formed to raise awareness in the United States about issues facing the nations and peoples of Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. He also is co-chair of the anti-war coalition, United for Peace and Justice (www.unitedforpeace.org). He can be reached at bfletcher@transafricaforum.org. •