Bjork Says Americans Can't Be "Completely Surprised" By 9/11
2 years ago by return2ozma to c/mildlyinteresting
She's not wrong that most foreign terrorist threats the US faces were radicalized by our own political and military involvement in other regions
A (very simplified) timeline of US intervention in the middle-east.
Iran democratically elected a secular leader, but he wanted to use iranian oil for iran. So the CIA instead helped the Shah into dictatorial power, who would sell the drilling rights to american and british companies. He opressed his populace so bad, that they turned to Ayatollah Khomeni and his religious extremists to get rid of him. The religious zealots have been in power ever since.
To fight against the Ayatollah Regime that drove out western oil companies, the US illegally bypasses a weapons embargo to arm a neighbouring dictator called Saddam Hussein. He wages the first Gulf War on Iran for 8 years, which results in ~750.000 dead. The poison gas attacks happen with the knowledge of the US.
Russia invades Afghanistan, the US arms local resistance fighters, a group called Al Quaeda under one Osama bin Laden. To help the islamists against the godless Russians, thousands of mercenaries and religious extremists from muslim countries are recruited by the CIA and brought to Afghanistan, they become the Taliban. More than a million civillians die.
Saddam Hussein, seeing no win against Iran instead invades the absolutist, slavetrading monarchy of Kuwait. Kuwait had opened it oil-wells to western companies, so with the help of the CIA and an american PR-agency, the daughter of Kuwaiti ambassador pretends to be a nurse and lies about Iraqi soldiers ripping babies out of incubators. The world is shocked. What follows is the second Gulf War. More than a million dead civillians again.
Following this second gulf war, american troops are stationed in the gulf region protecting "western values" (the oil wells). The religious extremists in Afghanistan are not amused, the sheer existence of nonbelievers on holy ground is blasphemy to them. Al Quaeda (formerly funded by the US and the House of Saud) begin their campaign against the west.
Following September 11 2001 the US invades first Afghanistan, then Iraq and don't really bother with the long-term stabilizing of a region they so effectively destabilized. From the chaos rises the Islamic State.
To be fair, I grew up with this shit too, and while I refuse to denigrate public education, the degree to which our curriculum is manipulated to tell a particular story from a particular point of view is hard see as anything other than indoctrination in hindsight. It takes a while to mentally pull oneself out of that sort of thing, particularly when it occurs in our formative years.
But also: there have been a number of disclosures and revelations about the history enumerated in the post you replied to in the last decade - for example, the whole saga around the Iran Coup, and how it was largely instigated by BP (of deepwater horizon fame) and essentially occurred because the Tehran CIA station chief basically stopped listening to orders from DC to back down and yolo’d the fucking thing. That’s not to say the government at large is blameless in that particular case, but it was WAY more complicated and fucky than most people realized until very recently.
We invaded Iraq (2nd time) after dubious claims from a dissident that they had WMDs. Germany even told us not to listen to this guy.
Oh you! Fellow Bjork fan
Curious. Do you have a source for this? I feel I am lacking context.
It’s a reference to her song, Army of Me. Great song
It's always fascinating when leaders and analysts end up echoing Ramzi Yousef's speech at his trial.
No oil. Not worth the effort.
Do they have oil?
Brb, working on a lava-powered gas guzzler.
They don't have an army, true, but the reason they don't need one is that they are a part of NATO, and are exempt from the requirements of contributing to NATOs standing forces in return for providing facilities and land to the alliance.
So Björk is being at bit disingenuous. It's not like the Icelanders are a shining beacon of pacifism and diplomacy, they're just part of a big military alliance.
Well yeah, it happened 23 years ago. It's old news at this point.
It's just a reminder on the anniversary of 9/11
Also, this post from Tom Morello
Can we have a screenshot? I don't want to sign up to Instagram.
Maybe reflect that in your title with the word "said" instead of "says" which deceptively makes it seem like a current/recent event?
She's gotta meet more Americans (or don't, I get it), we're fucking morons over here.
Seriously. Saying "we're fucking morons" for being surprised by the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center might be hyperbole, except the same group tried the same thing in 1993! They were just bad at it. Instead of being a KIND OF A REALLY BIG HINT, that incident just kind of disappeared down the memory hole.
In the American mindset, their own wars are fought by the poor people and in faraway countries. Both unrelatable on a personal level, both expendable for political rhetoric and engaging news entertainment.
"Fought by losers (and no one I know) in countries that deserve it."
~ Trump probably, but with worse structure.
Maybe initially, but the vote balance actually seems pretty fair now
It's exactly like how kids get bullied and bring a gun to school. If you hit someone, don't cry about it when they hit you back because you aren't getting any sympathy. If you treat someone unfairly, is it out of line when they hit you below the belt?
This is a myth. Many school shooters are actually also bullies.
There's this long standing myth going back to Columbine that school shooters are outcasts and weirdos and bully victims, but that was based on nothing. There's not really a school shooter "type".
They can be bullies, bullied, popular, outcasts, it doesn't really matter.
Sure fucking seemed like it
@lemmy.world
This is for strictly mildly interesting material. If it's too interesting, it doesn't belong. If it's not interesting, it doesn't belong.
This is obviously an objective criteria, so the mods are always right. Or maybe mildly right? Ahh.. what do we know?
Just post some stuff and don't spam.
go to feed...
@lemmy.world
This is for strictly mildly interesting material. If it's too interesting, it doesn't belong. If it's not interesting, it doesn't belong.
This is obviously an objective criteria, so the mods are always right. Or maybe mildly right? Ahh.. what do we know?
Just post some stuff and don't spam.
go to feed...
She actually made an excellent point on the consequences of colonialism and war policies...
save