Belafonte Dispenses Bitter Pill
February 13, 2006
When entertainer/activist Harry Belafonte about a month ago called President Bush “the greatest terrorist in the world,” the American people, whatever their politics, overwhelmingly took it as an insult. After all, the US fell victim to the most-celebrated terrorist attack ever on 9/11. Surely, Belafonte unwisely crossed some political Rubicon with his intemperate remarks.
No surprise, the Right Wing talk radio and cable TV stations sensed red meat and went after him. This left progressives wringing their hands and folks in the middle shaking their heads. How could Belafonte think any good would come of this?
The fact is there are times when only the plain truth will do. All the spin and hype swirling around Washington has made most Americans sick. The only medicine that can help them is a good dose of plain truth, and that is what the 78 year-old Belafonte offered.
Whether “terrorist” really applies to President Bush is more a matter of semantics than fact. The facts have long been clear. So it is understandable that Americans would squirm a little in their seats if this all comes down to parsing words. After all, Bush speaks and acts in their name, and on some level what is true about Bush is true about America.
Inside the beltway, policy-makers and pundits ordinarily reserve “terrorist” for those who target civilians with violence in order to scare them into submission. It is a stretch to say Bush’s intent when he unleashes military power is to scare people into submission—with the possible exception of the “shock and awe” campaign. Bush does not rely on fear as his primary weapon, but rather bombs, and he wants less the submission of his enemies than their destruction.
Just the same, the intent of the perpetrators—Bush or Bin Laden—is of far less concern to the innocent civilians impacted on the ground than the bodily injury caused. Whether ordered by Bush or Bin Laden, the result is terrifying to those in harm's way. A look in the eyes of the victims reveals the same terror, whether perpetrated from ground level or forty thousand feet in the air.
However contemptible Americans may find Bin Laden’s intent, it is the casualties he leaves in his wake that are the real horror. It is not his thoughts that kill but the actions of his operatives. In that regard, the same can be said of President Bush. The civilian casualties the American military leaves in its wake are just as gruesome and preventable as those of Bin Laden.
Rumsfeld’s Pentagon does not count civilian casualties, because as far as it is concerned, they don’t count. They’re collateral damage. All that matters is American casualties, and only because they are politically inconvenient.
Brad Kennedy is the author of BETRAYAL: Will Stone in Vietnam. Austin, TX: Plain View Press, 2008.