Intellectual Loneliness in a "Post 9/11" World

I'm suffering from what I can only describe as "intellectual loneliness" these days.

Allow me to explain why.

I was raised in Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s. This was a period during which Ireland was enduring intense economic and political difficulties.

The conflict in the six counties, which were gifted to the UK in a botched deal hammered out after the War of Independence, was in full swing.

Terror attacks and civil rights abuses dominated the news headlines.

The full might of the Imperial British Armed Forces was brought to bear on a movement which was pushing for a better deal for the Catholic minority who had suffered decades of oppression and disenfranchisement at the hands of an establishment dominated by wealthy elites who were loyal to the crown, and who for many years boasted of having a "Protestant Parliament and a Protestant State" (Sir James Craig, Unionist Party, then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, 24 April 1934). Northern Ireland, or "the six counties", as many Republicans refer to the statelet, was the most heavily militarized area in Western Europe.

During the conflict, atrocities were committed by all sides, by British Crown Forces, by the RUC and by Loyalist and Republican paramilitaries. 

Cases related to "terrorism" were tried in what were known as "Diplock Courts", courts which had a judge, but no jury, and thousands of innocent Catholics were routinely rounded up without charge and kept in "internment camps". Militant suspects were "disappeared" by state forces, and "informers" and "collaborators" were "disappeared" by Republican militants. 

In the UK, members of the Irish community were singled out for harassment by the police and intelligence agencies, and some were locked up for decades for crimes they didn't commit.

So, my formative years were spent in a country in which issues such as terrorism, civil rights, justice, sectarianism, equality and the rule of law were regular topics of debate on TV, in the local pub and in the village grocery shop.

As a result, I observe world events through a lens which is tinted with a strong belief in sovereignty and self determination, anti-Imperialism, justice and a yearning for peace.

For years I found myself surrounded by people who shared my outlook. My worldview could have been described as "mainstream", by Western European standards. In fact, the Irish Republican movement was viewed sympathetically by many Europeans and Americans (not to mention Palestinians, Libyans etc).

Thankfully, by the mid-1990s, a peace process was underway, and by September 11th, 2001,  it was already clear that, at least for the time being, armed conflict would have no meaningful part to play in the politics of my country.

After 9/11, as we all know, everything changed. The images of planes flying into the Twin Towers, and of a gaping, smouldering hole in the Pentagon, were looped over an over again on TV. 9/11 was an intensely traumatic event for people around the world, and especially for Americans.

However, instead of trying to minimize the impact of this trauma, governments and the media set out to nurture and capitalize upon the grief, fear and paranoia engendered by the attacks. The biggest culprits were the governments of the United States and Britain, who worked hand in glove with the corporate owned media to beat out a war march which would result in the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, and in the rise of National Security States in both countries.

The trauma of the 9/11 attacks was further exploited to erode civil liberties at home and to justify war crimes, illegal kidnappings, illegal detention, torture and extra-judicial killings across the globe.

In the beginning, most right-thinking people targeted their ire at the Bush administration and its associated cronies. Most of the people I spent time with during the Bush era shared my views on the "war on terror" , though there were always the die-hards who felt that the "sand-niggers" in the Middle East deserved whatever they got.

By the time the campaign for the 2008 US presidential election got off the ground, the majority of US citizens were crying out for change, and with the arrival on the scene of new kid on the block, Barack H. Obama, their prayers appeared to have been answered. 

Obama campaigned on a platform of "change", "hope" and a can-do attitude. He promised to restore peace to the Middle East and to shut the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in the US-occupied part of Cuba. He would, he said, bring the troops home.

The Obama brand was like nothing I had ever seen before. The man had his own logo, he had youth brigades, he had legions of US citizens hanging on his every word and chanting, as if under an hypnotic spell, the campaign slogan "yes we can, yes we can, yes we can". Almost everyone I knew loved brand Obama. Young, old, black, white, asian, American and non-American - they couldn't get enough of it. What I believed at the time was that the world was witnessing the rise of a cult of personality.

Now a cult of personality is a dangerous thing, since the tendency is for people to always give the personality in question the benefit of the doubt, and to interpret criticism of the dear leader's policy as criticism of the dear leader himself, which should obviously be dismissed out of hand. 

With the Left and the anti-War movement firmly onside (and effectively neutralized), Obama took over as President & Commander in Chief of the United States of America. However, instead of bringing the troops home, Obama escalated the conflict in Afghanistan, and increased the frequency of illegal drone strikes on Pakistani soil to three times the frequency of drone strikes under Bush. US troops remain in Iraq (where recent protests against the government have been brutally suppressed using live ammunition), and in the past couple of months, Obama has waged an illegal war on the sovereign nation of Libya, commandeering the country's Sovereign Wealth Funds and arming and training former Mujahideen fighters in the east of the country.

What has this chain of events meant for Obama's supporters? Well, many of them have decided to trade their ideals and beliefs for a simple allegiance to Brand Obama.  Such is their infatuation with this brand, that they turn a blind eye to issues which, under Bush, saw them take to the streets to voice their anger.

The recent raid on a compound in Abbottabad, in which around 70 heavily armed Navy Seals took on a single armed guard, and executed the world's most wanted man (along with several others) in front of his 12 year-old daughter, has been a milestone in the development of Obama's brand allegiance. 

Watching TV, reading Facebook status updates and chatting to friends, it has become clear that large numbers of people who would only a few years ago have been considered "Liberal", or Left Wing, or whatever you want to call it, have become ardent fans of extra-judicial killings. They tacitly approve breaches of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions. They blindly support a campaign in Libya which involves the use of depleted uranium munitions in civilian areas and support for militants who had previously waged Jihad in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Former Yugoslavia.

So this is why I'm feeling somewhat "lonely". I find it difficult to converse about world affairs with people who now appear to believe, amongst other things, that:

• Invading sovereign nations and overthrowing their governments, without even seeking approval from the national legislature, is OK.
• Tracking people (including US citizens) down and summarily executing them, instead of arresting them and trying them in court, is just fine.
• Providing support for terrorists (including Jundullah in Iran and former Mujahideen in Libya), so as to destabilize their governments, is a great idea.
• Locking up and torturing whistle blowers who expose war crimes and corruption, is reasonable.

And the funny thing is, while people are focused on the war on terror overseas, at home, Obama's America is becoming less free and much less tolerant. If you want to hit the streets and wildly celebrate the execution of a national enemy, fine. However, if you want to hit the streets to protest or just to have fun, that's another story.

Over the weekend, police in full riot gear, along with SWAT teams and the Department of Homeland Security, attacked revelers at the the annual University of Illinois Block Party with tear gas, mace, batons, attack dogs and sound weapons.

I reckon it's time that people began to wake up to the fact that Brand Obama does nothing like what it says on the tin.