"White Man's Burden' and the Iraq War"

Every facet of the war in Iraq has been painstakingly dissected like a murder victim at an autopsy. Every facet, except one. The only topic that continues to remain off-limits is race, and the racist theology that drove the country to war. It's odd, in a country where so much of the history is steeped in the blood of chauvinistic wars, that Americans are still hesitant to examine the reflection in the mirror. Wasn't the nation shaped by a genocidal assault on Native Americans; killing upwards of 10 million indigenous people and decimating their culture? Or was that simply a demonstration "Manifest Destiny"; God's sordid will expressed by dispatching people of color to their immortal reward?

The same could also be said of slavery; the odious transformation of people into chattel to augment the wealth of a few plantation owners. That crime was vindicated under the rubric of "states rights", a moniker that justified 200 years of methodical brutality and exploitation. Yes, these crimes always have their attendant rationalization.

Full Article : smirkingchimp.com