blowback - unit 5

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Blowback

• A CIA term meaning, the unintended consequences of foreign operations that were deliberately kept secret from the American public.

• So when retaliation comes, the American public is not able to put it in context—to put cause and effect together.

How did 9-11 change American foreign policy?

• 9-11 gave a group of people who are committed to expansion of the American empire a reason and an opportunity to implement their plans militarily.

The Bush Doctrine

• Doctrine of foreign policy that stresses:

– Preemptive strikes against potential enemies

– Military primacy

– “Democratic” regime change

What does Gore Vidal believe the reasons were for why the US dropped the atomic bombs on Japan?

• To change the balance of power in the world

• To show off to and frighten Stalin

• To declare war on communism

What does Bill Kristol believe is the great threat for the future of the world?

• The great threat for the future is not American power; it would be American weakness or American withdrawal.

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What did President Eisenhower warn the US of in his farewell address?

• A permanent armament industry

– The Military-Industrial Complex.

The Military-Industrial Complex

• Policy and monetary relationships between the military, defense industry, congress, and think tanks.

• These relationships can include political contributions, political approval for defense spending, lobbying to support bureaucracies, and beneficial legislation and oversight of the industry.

What are some connections between US actions in the Middle East since the 1950s

and our most recent war in Iraq?

Let me tell you a little story…The Iranian people democratically elected Dr. Mohammed Mossadeqto be Iran’s Prime Minister, who’s administration nationalized the

AIOC in 1953.

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Everyone, meet Dr. Mossadeq:

the British government wasnone too pleased about this.

And neither was the government of the United States.

the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) engineered a coup to oust Dr. Mossadeq and overthrow

Iran’s nationalist government.

The CIA was successful.

A government friendly to Western interests was re-installed under the control of the Shah, who became

increasingly autocratic.

Many Iranians were none too pleased about this,

as you might be able to imagine.

The continued economic and cultural influence of the West and the repressive nature of the Shah's

regime led to the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

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What started as popular revolution against the Shah by people from all

walks of life, including everyone from communists to islamists,

eventually became co-opted by the islamists, culminating in the

establishment of an“Islamic Republic.”

The Shah was overthrown and exiled, and the new Islamic Republic of Iran was established, led by the

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Everyone, meetAyatollah Ruhollah Khomeini:

Also a jerk.

Then, starting in 1980 CE, Iran fought a war with Iraq that lasted until 1988 CE.

The US openly supported Iraq throughout the war, supplying Saddam Hussein with several

billion dollars worth of economic aid, technology, weaponry, intelligence and training.

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But…

(and this is kind of a big “but”)

the US not-so-openly supported Iran in some ways too.

(it is weird and complicated –

let me try to explain)

Before the Shah was overthrown, the US had been supplying Iran with

weaponry and intelligence.In fact, in 1979, before the Shah was ousted, the US warned Iran that Iraq

was about to invade.

Also…

(and this is the weirdest part)

the Reagan administration covertly sold arms to Iran during the war and

then secretly used that money to fund militias in Nicaragua – the Contras.

But that’s a whole other story known as the Iran-Contra Affair.

Meanwhile…

Here’s, yet, another part of the story:

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The US government and the Saudi royal family have been kickin’ it since about 1933 CE. The

two are still on relatively good terms today.

They want our money;we want their oil.

And as long as that oil is flowing…

we turn a blind eye to Saudi Arabia’s repressive government.

But there is hope, as many women are

fighting for equal rights in Saudi Arabia.

Suffice it to say, the US and Saudi Arabia have had a relatively stable

relationship.

(built entirely around oil)

So when our old buddy, Saddam, invaded Kuwait in 1990, the Saudi

royal family welcomed the US troops we stationed their to fight our old

buddy.

(A few Saudi’s were none to pleased about US troops being stationed in the holy land. We’ll come back to this later

on in the story.)

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1990 – 1991 CE, the First Gulf WarIraq wanted to annex Kuwait

(for their oil)

The US wanted to defend Kuwait(for their oil)

and also to stop Iraq so that Saddam(who used to be our buddy)

wouldn’t endanger our allies in Saudi Arabia(again, oil).

We haven’t even talked about these guys yet – Afghanistan’s mujahideen:

A pro-soviet government took power in Afghanistan in the late

1970s CE.

Many Afghans were none to pleased about this. So they organized a

resistance movement.

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At this point, the Soviets attempted to quash the resistance.

Which is when the US CIA began funding, arming, and training the

mujahideen.

We HAD to!

I mean, come on!

This war in Afghanistan lasted through the 1980s CE, and was

followed by a civil war in the 90s.

1961

1962

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2019

2019

1980s

I bet you can’t guess who was funded, armed, and trained – in part by the US CIA – during this conflict…

Yep! This dude: Osama bin Laden was from a wealthy Saudi family.

After fighting with the mujahideenhe founded Al-Qaeda.

He was a religious fellow with very extreme views.

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Remember this, the First Gulf War?

bin Laden was none too pleased when the US stationed troops in Saudi Arabia – the holy land – to

fight Saddam.

This was a formative event in his life that helped to inspire his contempt

for the West in generaland the US specifically.

So he came at us.

February 1993 truck bomb attack on World Trade Center, killed 6, injured over 1,000

August 7, 1998, US Embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya

August 20, 1998, Bill Clinton ordered cruise missile strikes on Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistanand a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan—in response to the embassy bombings

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October 12, 2000, bombing of USS Cole while refueling at a harbor in Aden, Yemen.

Iraq had nothingto do with this

And, of course, after that we invaded Afghanistan.

US War in Afghanistan,2001 CE – present.

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But we didn’t stop there!

Oh no.

The US openly supported Iraq throughout the war, supplying Saddam Hussein with several

billion dollars worth of economic aid, technology, weaponry, intelligence and training.

Dick Cheney

• Chief of Staff for Ford

• In House of Reps. from 1978-1989

• Secretary of Defense for George H. W. Bush

• CEO of Halliburton from 1995-2000

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Dick Cheney

• Chief of Staff for Ford

• In House of Reps. from 1978-1989

• Secretary of Defense for George H. W. Bush

• CEO of Halliburton from 1995-2000

• Vice President under George W. Bush from January 2001-2009

“If [people] define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”

-W. I. Thomas (1928)

The Social Construction of Reality

The process through which facts, knowledge, and truth are discovered, made known, reaffirmed, and altered

by the members of society.(Berger and Luckman, 1966)

Contested Realities: Power

• Power can be defined as being able to get what you want despite opposition.

• Power can come from the ability to control or influence the way a situation is defined or framed.

• Reality construction is not democratic!

• Powerful social actors can promote a version of reality that serves their interests.

Dominant Constructed Reality

• “America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world.”

• “We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.”

• --George Bush, Address to the Nation, 9/11/01


• “This is going to be the kind of work that will probably take years because the focus has to be not just on any one individual, the problem here is terrorism.” –Dick Cheney, Meet the Press, 9/16/01– MR. RUSSERT: …If we determine that Saddam Hussein is also

harboring terrorists, and there's a track record there, would we have any reluctance of going after Saddam Hussein?

– VICE PRES. CHENEY: No.– MR. RUSSERT: Do we have evidence that he's harboring terrorists?– VICE PRES. CHENEY: There is--in the past, there have been some

activities related to terrorism by Saddam Hussein. But at this stage, you know, the focus is over here on al-Qaida and the most recent events in New York. Saddam Hussein's bottled up, at this point, but clearly, we continue to have a fairly tough policy where the Iraqis are concerned.

• --Vice President Dick Cheney and Tim Russert on Meet the Press, 9/16/01

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• “Americans are asking, why do they hate us? …They hate our freedoms. …They want to overthrow existing governments….”

• --White House News Release, 9/20/01


• “Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax and nerve gas and nuclear weapons for over a decade. This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens, leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections, then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world.”

• --George Bush, State of the Union Address, 1/29/02


• In Secretary of State Colin Powell’s speech to the United Nations, 2/5/03, he used the phrase, “weapons of mass destruction,” in association with Iraq 10 times.

• “Ladies and gentlemen, these are not assertions. These are facts, corroborated by many sources, some of them sources of the intelligence services of other countries.”

• —Colin Powell, UN Speech, 2/5/03

Dominant Reality as of March, 2003

• “Terrorists” are an existential threat to the United States because we are free and they hate freedom

• Iraq is harboring “terrorists,” has “weapons of mass destruction,” and is connected to 9/11 in some way

• This “war on terror” will be long-term and far-reaching

We re-invaded Iraq, 3/20/03

Implications of Dominant Reality

• Cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11 = over 1.6 trillion dollars (conservative estimate)

– Between 4 and 6 trillion if you count “long-term medical care and disability compensation for service members, veterans and families, military replenishment and social and economic costs,”

--Harvard economist, Linda Bilmes

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• Over 6,800 US service members and over 6,900 contractors have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

• An unusually high percentage of young veterans have died since returning home, many as a result of drug overdoses, vehicle crashes, or suicide.

• Coalition partners have died in large numbers: approximately 43,000 uniformed Afghans, Iraqis and other allies have died as of May 2014.


• Afghan civilians killed = over 26,000

• Pakistan civilians killed = over 21,000

• Iraqi civilians killed = ?

– Deaths Data from Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies, May 2015


• The Nobel Prize-winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and other groups examined the toll from the so-called war on terror in three countries — Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The investigators found "the war has, directly or indirectly, killed around one million people in Iraq, 220,000 in Afghanistan and 80,000 in Pakistan (i.e. a total of around 1.3 million). Not included in this figure are further war zones such as Yemen. The figure is approximately 10 times greater than that of which the public, experts and decision makers are aware. ..."

• Democracy Now!, March 25, 2015

US War with Iraq (Second Gulf War)2003 CE- ?

The war with Iraq is now over(supposedly)

yet we are maintaining a force of some troops and

“private contractors”that numbers in the thousands…

plus the largest embassy in the world:

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Why?

“Unocal was one of the key players in the CentGas consortium, which attempted to

build the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline to run from the Caspian area, through Afghanistan,

to the Indian Ocean, at a time after the recent Taliban siege of Kabul in 1996.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unocal_Corporation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unocal_Corporation

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What are some connections between US actions in the Middle East since the 1950s and our most recent war in Iraq?

• 1953—overthrow of Mohammed Mossadeq in Iran by CIA• Installation of the Shah’s repressive regime in Iran• Iran’s revolution in 1979 brought the Ayatollah to power—violently anti-

American• We then supported Saddam in Iraq in his fight against Iran• This is why cynics in Washington say, “we know Saddam Hussein had

weapons of mass destruction, we have the receipts.”• Saddam invades Kuwait in 1990, we were scared he’d invade Saudi Arabia

as well• We stationed troops in Saudi Arabia to fight Saddam• Osama bin Laden resented Saudi Arabia for letting US station troops there

and despised the US for invading the holy land• Fear of losing power in Saudi Arabia led to more desire to take out

Saddam to ensure control over Iraq’s oil supply (second largest reserves)

What are Think Tanks?

• Organizations that conduct research and engage in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues.

• Most think tanks are non-profits, but some are funded by the government, advocacy groups, or businesses.

What was one major influence the think tank, The Project for a New American Century, had on US foreign policy?

• They were designers of and advocates for the Bush Doctrine long before G. W. Bush was president

Remember this dude?Bill Kristol

The great threat for the future is not American power;it would be American weakness or American withdrawal.

What were the reasons given by US political leaders for why the US needed to invade Iraq?

• Weapons of Mass Destruction

• Involvement in 9-11

• Liberation of Iraqi people

Were US political leaders entirely honest about their reasons?

What landmark event took place on February 15, 2003?

• Largest international protest in world history

• Over 10 million people from all over the world protested the US going to war with Iraq before the war even began

blowback - unit 5

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