AMERICA'S BOOGIE MAN AND LYNCH MOB: by Ghassan Kadi 4 Sept 2013

AMERICA'S BOOGIE MAN AND LYNCH MOB:
By Ghassan Kadi
4 September 2013

 A dear FB friend of mine, who is also a personal friend and like a young brother to me, is a Lebanese American.

He recently made a moving posting (in Arabic) on his wall commemorating his 28th anniversary of settling in the USA, saying among other things how grateful he is for the USA that provided him with wonderful education, the chance to succeed in business, great schooling for his young children, and best doctors in the world.

He added on saying that he has met a countless number of wonderful , humane, welcoming and caring Americans.

He ended his posting by wondering how could a great country like the United States have such a level of hypocrisy when it comes to foreign politics.

No one can deny America's wonderful achievements, all the way from the tungsten light bulb to the Internet to name a few. No one can deny the great men and women that America has treasured humanity with, all the way from Lincoln to Helen Keller, again to name a few. No one can deny the achievements of the American Revolution that actually inspired the French Revolution and European reform.

America does not have a colonialist past and heritage like some European nations. As a matter of fact, Woodrow Wilson utterly refused to take on any colonial role and trophies after the victory of the Allies in WWI. He was also instrumental in establishing the League Of Nations, which was a precursor of today's UN.

As to how America's role in the world changed after WWII is not to be discussed herein. What is more relevant is its inherited psyche of what it perceives as "National Security" and the pretext it has in its culture to achieve it.

Sadly, it seems that America continues to live under an obsession of the fear of 1) the Boogie Man, and 2) Lynch-Mob mentality.

America's Boogie Man has changed over the ages; from the Indians (ie native Americans), to witches, to Communists, to terrorists and all what comes in between.

Up until as late as late 19th Century, Indians and witches were invariably dealt with by lynch mobs. Even though the constitution and its many amendments guaranteed freedom and equality, facts on the ground remained different and African Americans did not become "free" until Martin Luther King paid for this freedom with his blood.

The argument for and against America's ability to reach domestic equity remains highly debatable. But let's go back to my friend's question in relation to its international policies.

It seems that America has taken its fear and obsession of the Boogie Man and the Lynch Mob mentality as a pretext for its international policies.

Some may rightfully argue that America is a proxy for the Israel Lobby. They argue that both of the Democrats and the Republicans are no more than Israeli tokens. Whilst there is more than meets the eye to support those arguments, facts remain that politicians on both sides of the divide have been able to rally public support under the notion and danger of the Boogie Man; aka National Security.

What complicates matters further for the alleged Boogie Man of today is that he is neither an American citizen nor protected by the constitution. He can be a very remote "enemy" half the way across the world.

For the right or wrong reasons, and history tells us that in most instances America intervened internationally after the end of WWII for the wrong reasons, different American administrations did not find it very difficult to generate enough domestic outrage, fear, and need to deal with the new Boogie Man overseas by way of Lynch Mob mentality.

With this mentality, and with ever- increasing financial problems, America has been lifting the bar on defining the Boogie Man and the Lynch Mob mentality culminating in the current status quo, in which America regards the whole world as a theatre of its operations for the ultimate objective of securing what it perceives as its National Security, and thus assigning itself as a world police in the eyes and minds of American voters who live in this fear and are keen on achieving resolutions that serve the alleged National Security.

American administrations of both Democrats and Republicans have toyed with this American fear and lynch factor to buy and bolster voters' support. They both know the weakness of their voters and their underlying and inherent mental construct, and even though they have faced a lot of opposition from free-minded Americans, they have thus far been literally able to get away with murder and even genocide by taking international stands that are in total contradiction of the lofty principles upon which the American Constitution and the Bill Of Rights have been based.

If America did not take that international course of action, if it did not render itself the world bully, if it did not waste its resources waging needless wars all over the globe, and if walked the talk, it would have had all it took to be the true world leader and police it assumes for itself.

Sadly, this seems to be the predicament of all super powers throughout history. All the while, humanity sinks in more and more in darkness as it continues to operate on the model of might is right, instead of right is might.