“This
is the core mindset now prevalent in both the U.S. and UK for hiding
their crimes from its own population and then rest of the world:
disclosure of what we did will embarrass and shame us, cause anger
toward us, and thus harm our 'national security.' As these
governments endlessly highlight the bad acts of those who are adverse
to them, they vigorously hide their own, thus propagandizing their
publics into believing that only They – the Other Tribe Over There
– commit such acts.”
“This
is exactly the same mentality driving the Obama administration’s
years-long effort to suppress photographs showing torture of
detainees by the U.S. In 2009, Obama said he would comply with a
court ruling that ordered those torture photos disclosed, but weeks
after his announcement, reversed himself. Adopting the argument made
by a group run by Bill Kristol and Liz Cheney against disclosure of
the photos, Obama insisted that to release the photos 'would be to
further inflame anti-American opinion and to put our troops in
danger.' Obama went further and announced his support for a bill
sponsored by Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman to amend the Freedom of
Information Act – a legislative accomplishment which Rep. Louise
Slaughter told me at the time had long been 'sacred' to Democrats –
for no reason other than to exempt those torture photos from
disclosure.”
“No
healthy democracy can possibly function where this warped mindset
prevails: we are entitled to hide anything we do that makes us look
bad because making us look bad harms 'national security,' and we are
the ones who make that decision without challenge.”
“But
even more threatening than the menace to democracy is the
propagandzied public this mentality guarantees. A government that is
able to hide its own atrocities on 'national security' grounds will
be one whose public endlessly focuses on the crimes of others while
remaining blissfully unaware of one’s own nation. That is an
excellent description of much of the American and British public, and
as good an explanation as any why much of their public discourse
consists of little more than proclamations that Our Side is Better
despite the decades of brutality, aggression and militarism their own
side has perpetrated.”
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