"Darkness will be preferred to light, and death will be preferred to life,

And the good man will be punished as a criminal"

I am including this excerpt from the "Hermetic Dialogue between Hermes and Aesklepios", written in the fourth century, as a way to illustrate for our Muslim friends and readers some of the conditions which prevail in my land, as well as mentioning a few of the arguments being used by those who are behind the assaults undertaken against the Muslim lands and peoples. I am inclined to believe that the author of the above excerpt had a prophetic vision of the times we are now experiencing.

We are constantly told that Muslims "hate us for our freedoms". Irrespective of the fact that those in government who tell us this are the very same ones who are engaged in a wholesale assault against the rights mentioned in our Constitution. And, they ignore the fact that relations between Muslims and the US were in general friendly before 1948. If the above statement were really true, then Muslims must have hated us far more in decades and centuries past, when most Americans enjoyed far more liberties than they do now. But, they didn't. I guess that when the day comes when those who favor war between us and the Muslim peoples have deprived us of the last of the liberties bequeathed to us by our ancestors, then Muslims won't have any reason to hate us at all.

We are also constantly reminded that the actions of our government in the Mideast are for the purpose of "spreading democracy". Tanks, missiles, an infantryman's rifle-are a strange way to introduce a political system to the people of another land, some of us who value democracy might think that it springs from the people, themselves, rather than being introduced by an occupying army at the point of a gun. Or that democracy might include a concern for the health and well being of all the nation's citizens, instead of being used as window dressing to mask the wholesale plunder of their resources by politically connected corporations.

Truly, there have been few other times in history when so few have made out so well as now, with a deliberately contrived and endless war, a "War on Terror", against so many. And when so many have suffered so grievously from the actions of these same few. And what motivates these makers of war? Hubris and greed. Perhaps such has always been the way of those who, without conscience, would subject the innocents of the world to the horrors of war. Today, we are faced with a never-ending war, a war which can never be won because it is against a tactic. A war which has no shortage of potential enemies, because "he who is not with us is against us". A war which cannot be won because it was never designed to be won. Rather, it is a reason to justify, to the American people, the theft of the resources of others. And, a way to ensure a never-ending flow of American money, and, if necessary, lives, to benefit the war profiteers, Zionists and neoconservatives who live off the sufferings and resources of both Muslims and Americans, both. A war which benefits those who are acting to weaken, and, ultimately, extinguish the liberties of the American people, by labeling dissent as treason. A war which justifies torture in the name of victory, which fattens the coffers of war profiteers, one which gives the poverty stricken and destitute from America's slums, barrios and ravaged heartland a new lease on life as occupiers of other's lands. All the while those who profit from it all, who have never served or faced risk as members of the armed forces pose in front of cameras and microphones as benefactors of humanity.

This is the passing of an entire nation through Alice's looking glass. When reality is exactly the opposite from what our politicians and mainstream media venues tell us. We are told we live in a time of prosperity, when jobs are being outsourced overseas, when the predictions made over a decade ago by Ross Perot have come to pass(he predicted the loss of American jobs if "free trade" policies were adopted by the US government). We are assured of present and future prosperity while the homeless sleep on the streets in every major US city. We are lectured about progress, while living standards are in decline, literacy rates are falling and over 40 million Americans lack health insurance. And democracy is touted while elections are stolen and the Patriot Act is the law of the land. And today the rulers of our land have the temerity to lecture others about their practice of democracy and human rights? "If thou would remove the mote from thine neighbors eye, first, remove the beam from thine own" so says the Bible. Instead we see religious texts used to justify aggression. The proud and greedy are not noted for being an introspective lot.

There was a time when calling a man in public life a "war profiteer" was one of the worst and most damaging accusations that could be made against him. And, during these innocent times it was considered unseemly to flaunt one's wealth or good fortune in front of those of fewer means. Those days are no more. Today, war profiteers comprise the leading councils of the land, while acquisition of more, not faith, not culture, not family, not nation, is seen as the summum bonum of all existence. Not only this, but those who would question this absurd, topsy-turvy, upside down state of affairs are subject to ridicule, condemnation and censure. In today's America the proud and the greedy have proved Abraham Lincoln wrong. You really can fool all of the people all of the time.

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By Vindix September 29, 2006 vindix@crescentandcross.com All contents copyright 2006+ by Mark Glenn, unless otherwise stated. The website this article is published on is by Rick Rajter. http://www.crescentandcross.com/printer_friendly.php?page=articles&author=miscellaneous&subpage1=glass1