Endgame Volume I_ The Problem of Civilization - Derrick Jensen [119]
“And that time will never come. We will renew our youth at the fountain of new and glorious deeds. We will exalt our reverence for the flag by carrying it to a noble future as well as by remembering its ineffable past. Its immortality will not pass, because everywhere and always we will acknowledge and discharge the solemn responsibilities to our sacred flag, in its deepest meaning, puts upon us. And so, Senators, with reverent hearts, where dwells the fear of God, the American people move forward to the future of their hope and the doing of His work.
“Mr. President and Senators, adopt the resolution offered, that peace may quickly come and that we may begin our saving, regenerating, and uplifting work. [Recall that the resolution he wishes to adopt is for the sacking, looting, and holding of the Philippines.] Adopt it, and this bloodshed will cease when these deluded children of our islands learn that this is the final word of the representatives of the American people in Congress assembled. Reject it, and the world, history, and the American people will know where to forever fix the awful responsibility for the consequences that will surely follow such failure to do our manifest duty. How dare we delay when our soldiers’ blood is flowing?”197
Rhetoric aside, the ensuing American invasion left a large percentage of Filipinos dead. Massacres of every man, woman, and child encountered by American soldiers were commonplace, as was mass torture of combatants and noncombatants alike. The Philippines arguably continue to be, to this day, a colony of the United States.
WHY CIVILIZATION IS KILLING THE WORLD, TAKE SIX.
Fast forward to the twenty-first century. Albert Beveridge is long dead, but the imperative, old as civilization, thrives. The flag has still not paused in its onward march, and no one has yet dared halt it.
Indeed, its pace is accelerating. Recall the stated goal of the U.S. military of “full-spectrum dominance.” Or consider Michael Ledeen. The day I typed in the words of Albert Beveridge, I also came across the words of Ledeen, former consultant to President George W. Bush’s national security adviser, and special adviser to the secretary of state. Considered a leading authority on intelligence and international affairs as well as one of the most influential advisors on U.S. policy in the Middle East, he has been profiled by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. One article lauded his “deep commitment to democracy [sic],” and stated that Ledeen “is a man who has helped shape American foreign policy at its highest levels.” At least the latter is true: when Ledeen speaks, people like Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld listen and act. People in the rest of the world die.
“Creative destruction is our middle name,” Ledeen writes. “We do it automatically.” 198 He speaks of “exporting the democratic [sic] revolution,”199 which can be done through a process called “total war,” best described by his colleague Adam Mersereau: “By ‘total’ war, I mean the kind of warfare that not only destroys the enemy’s military forces, but also brings the enemy society to an extremely personal point of decision, so that they are willing to accept a reversal of the cultural trends that spawned the war in the first place. A total-war strategy does not have to include the intentional targeting of civilians, but the sparing of civilian lives cannot be its first priority. . . . The purpose of ‘total’ war is to permanently force your will onto another people. . . . Limited war pits combatants against combatants, while total war pits nation against nation, and even culture against culture.”200
How does Ledeen suggest those in power prepare themselves psychologically to force their will onto another people? In an essay entitled “Machiavelli