Al Qaida: Mission Accomplished as West Strips Itself of Fundamental Freedoms

When I heard the news today, I had to remember a song from Roger Waters' album "Amused to Death". History is really going in circles.

In his song "Perfect Sense", Waters, the ex-head of Pink Floyd, says:

"And the Germans killed the Jews
And the Jews killed the Arabs
And the Arabs killed the hostages
And that is the news
And is it any wonder
That the monkey's confused"

And that made me remember how much of an influence way beyond their century the German voters of the year 1933 really probably had. I woke up to the thought whether the ferocious so called "War on Terror" would be all that ferocious, had it not been for the Nazis forcing the sense of an urgent need to defend against everyone under any circumstances as part of Israel's DNA. What would a world without Hitler have been like? Probably the Middle East map would look pretty much the same as it does today, maybe not. There would not be an example for the hatred against the Jewish community upon which a lot of the Israeli-Arab conflict stands rock solid, seemingly for eternity.

Almost inevitably, the politics of almost racial segregation and the construction of fortifications around some parts of Israel that even belittle the pre-1989 Berlin Wall, does nothing to defuse this conflict. Israel's attack on a weakened Lebanon has done little to generate peace in the region either. The seeming tranquility in the region is one controlled with a crop, not one that is a chosen solution for all partners in what should be a dialogue in the region. Do the Jews kill the Arabs? Sorry folks, I am German and could and would not go as far as to subscribe to Waters' statement here. Be that as it may, certainly Israel has not been treating the humanitarian war conventions with a great deal of respect lately - and it is pretty irrelevant whether certain parts of its military have simply declined political supremacy or whether the rank and file actually sponsored its behavior during the 2006 assault on Lebanon.

Anyhow, the Arab's kill the hostages. And office workers on 9/11/2001. An epic with which we have had to cope with for the better part of six years now. Since then, it seems the world has reversed into full gear towards a new Dark Age. Yes, some 3,000 people were killed by the September 11 attacks. Civilian deaths, American deaths, heroic deaths. But then again: According to iraqbodycount.org, at least 56,468 Iraqui civilians were killed since the beginning of the hostilities which were initiated by the US under false allegations. Arguably, Iraqis are worse off now than they were under the Hussein regime. So, is one American life worth 18.82 Iraqi lives? Where do we find the certainty that we are allowed to do this? Where does the Bush Administration find it?

And that is the news.

Or is it? The more I look into this process, the more haunting the perspectives become to me. Look at it this way: What is the Western world willing to give up in terms of freedom - or rather which totalitarian powers is it willing to put into the hand and at the mercy of an administration which was caught a red handed liar? Set aside minor things like unwarranted wiretapping or secret dark camps (formerly called Konzentrationslager in Nazi jargon), freedom itself seems at stake. Since yesterday, the Rule of Law is no longer a valid category for the US-government. It reserves the right to define whichever foreigner as a hostile fighter, detain him indefinitely, put him before tribunals, and guarantee him zilch rights. Not that recent reports about police brutality inside the United States put whole groups of US-citizens in a better position. However, not even the pretence of a Rule of Law is now being sought by the Bush administration. Instead, it reserves the right to define who, if foreigner, becomes a second class object of torture, indefinite detention, and who becomes entitled to plane flights in unmarked white Boeings around the world.

The self perceived hostages kill their own freedoms? Possibly yes. There can be little doubt that the United States have begun sliding down a slippery slope of erosion of human and basic rights. The terrorists have a 100% mission accomplished. They have achieved their ultimate goal: The West was moved to set aside its very principles, its unique selling proposition if you will, that made it worth to struggle for. Civil liberties. Bin Laden and others need not drop a single bomb, because the West is caught in its cramp of fear and overreaction. Just like an organism, with its immune system gone berserk into the permanent red alert condition of an autoimmune disease, the US will pay a heavy price. Some of them might be too glad to pay it, and it is probably not too speculative to say that members of the Bush administration will be amongst them.

What they overlook is that, just like Germany is paying a heavy price for the Hitler-regime to this day, just like Germany has never again produced so many Nobel Prize winners in science after World War two as before, the US is set for an unpleasant surprise from here in about 15 or 20 years. Even if it was the Grail of advance and freedom in a now seemingly long gone era, Zeitgeist is moving away from the US. Intimidated intellectuals will not seek entry, they will simply stay away.

Where is Zeitgeist going to move?

Keep watching Scandinavia and maybe China for answers in the near future.

Without Hitler, the world would really be a better place, even as we speak.