HELIOLITH

From Dahr Jamail at Znet comes this perspective on Fallujah: “Strong anti-government reactions have set in already as reports come in from Fallujah of bombed hospitals, high civilians casualties and denial of access to medical care. The political fallout could fall far beyond Iraq.” I am interested in discovering an international index of global opinion on U.S. policy as a linear graph over the years. From the news I read (albeit mostly international and domestic progressive sources) it would seem that global perception of us is at an all-time low.

I’ve attempted to fathom the conservative argument that we shouldn’t change because of what others think of us –implying that we have the moral high-ground and that peer-pressure is a debasing influence. If–as critics contend– we are actually unilateral expansionist aggressors, then global opinion might be the mirror by which we realize the error of our ways. In the worst case scenario that we continue to attack, and world opinion of our actions continues to plummet, what will happen? We spend on our military annually approximately as much as the rest of the world combined, so who would have the power to challenge us really?

I wonder every day how many of the so-called “insurgents” are common folk who are defending their homeland. Can you imagine how lets say Texans would react if some foreign country was decimating their population under the guise of “liberation from insurgency”? Is it not patriotic to defend your country when after ousting your dictator, a foreign country continues to attempt to beat all of its citizens into complete submission?

In spite of wide patterns of violent solidarity by anti-occupation forces in other areas of Iraq, Marine Lt. Col. Jim Rainey urged them to, “protect civilian lives but give no quarter to insurgents. Given those constraints, kill everything that you can kill,” (Chicago Tribune) So how exactly do you differentiate?

…being a ‘civilian’ is a relative thing in a country occupied by Americans. You’re only a civilian if you’re on their side. If you translate for them, or serve them food in the Green Zone, or wipe their floors - you’re an innocent civilian. Just about everyone else is an insurgent, unless they can get a job as a ‘civilian’.

- Riverbend, an Iraqi civilian girl, author of the blog Baghdad Burning via Truthout