23 January 2011 By Jacob G. Hornberger What has happened in Tunisia provides a perfect
encapsulation of U.S. foreign policy and why U.S.
officials are so angry over the WikiLeaks leaks. According to the New York Times, some of the
WikiLeaks cables "make it clear just how much United
States officials, preoccupied with the threat of
terrorism in many other Muslim countries, valued Mr.
Ben Ali's cooperation and ability to maintain order."
And who was Mr. Ben Ali? He was the dictator who
the people of Tunisia have just ousted from power in a
revolution. Yes, a dictator, one who had been in power
for 23 years. "Impossible!" American statists say. "It's just not
possible that the U.S. government would ever be
supporting a dictator! In my public schools, we were
taught — it was ingrained in us — that the U.S.
government is exceptional. It only favors democracy.
In fact, didn't the U.S. government invade Iraq to
spread democracy, well, at least after those infamous
WMDs failed to materialize?" That's the myth, one that we here at The Future of
Freedom Foundation have been piercing for 21 years.
It's one of the myths that is inculcated in American
schoolchildren from the time they're six years and
continuing regularly thereafter. The truth is that the U.S. government loves
dictatorships, especially military ones, at least when
the dictator is considered a loyal member of the U.S.
Empire. Whenever a dictator goes independent, he
immediately becomes a target for regime change, one in
which the recalcitrant dictator is replaced with a
compliant dictator, one that maintains "order and
stability" within his country, even if that means
employing terror and torture to accomplish it. Look at Saddam Hussein. He was a dictator. The U.S.
government loved him and partnered with him to kill
Iranians. But when Saddam went independent, he became
the target of regime change. Look at the Iranian prime minister, Mohammed
Mossadegh. He was democratically elected and was
independent of U.S. control. The CIA targeted him for
regime change, and the operation was successful. He
was replaced with the unelected dictator the Shah of
Iran, who maintained "order and stability" with terror
and torture against his own people. He was loved by
the U.S. government because he was a loyal member of
the U.S. Empire. That was when Iran was considered
"our friend." Look at Jacobo Arbenz. He was the democratically
elected president of Guatemala. Even though he was
adopting the socialist policies of Franklin Roosevelt,
he was independent of U.S. government control. The CIA
targeted him for regime change. He was ousted and
replaced by a string of military generals whom the
U.S. Empire loved because they provided "order and
stability." Never mind that Guatemala was thrown into
a civil war that ended up killing hundreds of
thousands of people. Look at Chilean military strongman Gen. Augusto
Pinochet. The U.S. Empire loved him and embraced his
military coup against the democratically elected
president of Chile, Salvador Allende, and supported
Pinochet's campaign of terror and torture against his
own people. In fact, the CIA even participated in the
murder of a young American journalist during the coup.
Look at Pervez Musharraf, the unelected military
dictator of Pakistan. The U.S. Empire loved him
because, again, he provided "order and stability."
Never mind that he also terrorized and tyrannized his
own people, until they ousted him from power. So, what does WikiLeaks have to do with what's
happening in Tunisia? Well, it turns out that the
WikiLeaks leaks disclosed secret cables by U.S.
officials detailing the massive corruption of the
Tunisian regime that the U.S. Empire was partnering
with as part of its grandiose war on terrorism.
According to the cables, the corruption included a
"‘lavish' dinner of the American ambassador, Robert F.
Godec, with Mr. Ben Ali's son-in-law, Mohamed Sakher
el-Materi, in his beachfront home in Hamamet. There
was ‘staff everywhere' and ‘ancient artifacts
everywhere: Roman columns, frescoes and even a lion's
head from which water pours into the pool.'" Apparently the information provided in the
WikiLeaks leaks was the straw that broke the camel's
back. Upon reading the Wikileaks cables, the people of
Tunisia revolted against the U.S.-supported
dictatorship, and Mr. Ben Ali fled the country. What does the U.S. government say about the ouster
of its war-on-terrorism friend and ally, the 23-year
dictator Mr. Ben Ali? Oh, it's playing the game.
Empire officials are celebrating his ouster, changing
their chameleon colors to "pro-democracy," thereby
maintaining the myth that is inculcated in the
American people from the time they're six years old.
Ostensibly supporting the pro-democracy crowd that
succeeded in ousting his buddy from power, President
Obama said, "I applaud the courage and dignity of the
Tunisian people." One thing's for sure though: Obama isn't praising
the courage and dignity of Bradley Manning, Julian
Assange, and WikiLeaks, whose leaks triggered the
ouster of the U.S.-supported Tunisian dictator Mr. Ben
Ali. Obama is still going after them with the same
vengeance that his friend and ally Mr. Ben Ali
employed against the Tunisian people during 23 years
of brutal dictatorship. Jacob Hornberger is founder and president of The
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