Enemy of the People

George Orwell’s Emmanuel Goldstein, the enemy of the people in 1984, now haunts the United States government and its media pimps. As the U.S. demonizes figures from the Arab world in a flavor-of-the-year routine, Goldstein’s name changes conveniently from Osma bin Laden-to- Saddam Hussein-to-Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Zarqawi, the terrorist mastermind with a $25m bounty on his head.

The use of a one-name personality has a nice Hollywood ring and helps propel Zarqawi to media stardom. For an attention deficit disordered public, like Americans, who lap up 30-second bursts of CNN and Fox News reports, this is the perfect way for the few to rule the many.

A public without critical thinking skills is easily made obedient by casting for an enemy of the people. This technique is tried and true. American history is rich with examples, starting with the Salem Witchcraft Outbreak of 1692.

Zarqawi - no one's really sure where he is, or even who he is.

Lately accounts are confused, yet Zarqawi is injured in Iraq. Then there are hospital sightings, stories of the dying terrorist being smuggled across the border and the beginnings of a fight for a successor. No one knows what is true. Zarqawi has been pronounced dead before and, like a Phoenix, always comes back alive.

In the past two months only 11 senior Zarqawi aides have been arrested but still there is no trace of Iraq’s most wanted militant. This is not important. What matters is that he haunts the American psyche.

Mahmood Al-Yousif, a much respected writer from Bahrain [www.mahmood.tv], wants the world to know that when it comes to bin Laden and Zarqawi, “remember that these pricks do NOT represent the Arabs or Muslims.”

Mahmood’s response is this:

“May the fleas of a thousand desert dogs infest your arse, and may your arms grow short so you won't be able to scratch it.*

May the syphilis of 72 infected whores wilt your shriveled genitalia.

May the bugs of a hundred leprous camels flay your skin.

May the curse of eternal damnation land on your and your supporters' doorsteps.

May the cancerous cells of a million lab-rats invade your body.

May the annals of history forget your existence.

May the terror you have inflicted on Islam be your eternal companion in Purgatory.”

For Americans - and many others, the real enemies of the people are George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. Any criticism of their policies is quickly characterized as pro-al Qaeda propaganda.

Bush - no one's really sure where he is, or even who he is.