Know Thine Enemy

S ometimes the fates line up right and you get a day that really says something about the world. March 16, 2005 was one of those days. Paul Wolfowitz, the neocon who masterminded the Iraq War, was named head of the World Bank. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced that Italy would begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq in September. The Democrats finally stuck one arm out of the grave and announced that if Senate Republicans vote to end the filibuster, the Democrats would block every piece of legislation in the chamber, essentially deadlocking the Senate. 

What these three events emphasize is that politics is about who’s on your side and who isn’t; that you’d better know the difference if you’re going to win. 

First, Wolfie to the World Bank. At first blush, it may seem bizarre to install a life-long defense theorist as the head of a development bank. What brings it back to reality, of course, is that the World Bank is as much about developing the third world as the Iraq war is about freedom. The World Bank funnels money from taxpayers to giant corporations (does it ever go the other way?) to build mostly unnecessary projects in developing countries, keeping those countries in permanent hock to the industrialized world in the process. It’s a nifty little project if you’re a multinational. 

But avoid the temptation to exhale the big sigh and exclaim, “Well, at least Wolfie can’t start any more wars.” While it is somewhat fashionable to blame the war, the occupation, and the whole damn mess on any number of things, such as Paul Wolfowitz —neoconservative, Zionist, evil genius—the fact remains that this was a war to serve Wolfie’s corporate puppet masters and it doesn’t help to confuse who holds the strings. 

On to Berlusconi’s announcement that Italy will quit Iraq come September. Did the multi-billionaire (recently certified the 25th richest person in the world by Forbes ) and multi-indicted Italian prime minister suddenly find a conscience? Hardly. Seventy percent of Italians want their three thousand troops home in the wake of a “friendly fire” incident that saw U.S. troops shoot an Italian intelligence officer who was escorting a hostage to freedom, and Berlusconi has elections to think about. 

Italian troops are coming home because the Italian people want them to and they put themselves in the streets, in demonstrations numbering in the hundreds of thousands, to demand an end to Italy’s role in the occupation. Those in the antiwar movement in the U.S. should heed this example, that massive demonstrations, getting people directly involved in politics—not cordial meetings in the halls of power—are the real way to force the hand of  governments.