【中文題目】奧巴馬2012年國情咨文：美國瞄準中國
【來 源】http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2012/01/28/president-obama-2012-the-us-targets-china.html
【發表日期】2012年1月27日
【原文作者】Richard Becker 理查德·貝克爾
【譯 者】紫川
【校 對】車幹
【聲 明】譯文為原創，轉載務必注明譯者及出處“獨家網dooo.cc”。
【摘 要】美國學者理查德·貝克爾無情解剖奧巴馬2012年國情咨文，對奧巴馬國情咨文中提到的伊拉克戰爭、中美關系、伊朗核武器、美國金融犯罪等政策進行餓了深度解讀，稱這份國情咨文是披著自由主義華麗外衣的軍國主義。
【譯 文】
自由主義華麗外衣下的軍國主義——評奧巴馬政府2012年國情咨文。
“如果我們不得不使用武力，那是因為我們是美國，我們是責無旁貸的國家。我們站得高、因而比其他國家看得更遠。”美國國務卿瑪德萊娜•奧爾布萊特，1998
“美國仍然是國際事務中責無旁貸的國家——只要我仍在任，我將讓美國繼續保持這個地位。” 總統奧巴馬，國情咨文，2012
奧巴馬總統2012年的國情咨文是當代美國的階級政治中的一部活教材。奧巴馬三年前在一波希望和掌聲中當選，非常明確地傳遞出這個國家種族主義的辛酸史以及他將要取代被輕視的前輩——喬治•W•布什的事實。
過去的三年以及這份演講中加以確認的是，無論美國的未來總統有著什么樣的秉性特點，美國總統可以被如此定義：帝國主義統治階級的領導者。
對軍國主義和民族主義來說，伴隨著那些空洞的大講自由主義的措辭，奧巴馬總統的2012年的國情咨文很打動人心。那些自由民主黨派的諸如MoveOn.org-一個所謂的反戰團體等毫無批判力的言論只是再次提醒著2012年的總統大選。
總統上任初始對伊拉克戰爭持擁護態度，然而，他當初在競選總統時是反對伊拉克戰爭的。而那個時候，億萬群眾稱奧巴馬為“和平使者”，這也是他獲選勝利的一個重要原因。
“上個月，我去安德魯斯空軍基地，對在伊拉克戰爭中我們最后一個部隊中的幸存士兵們發起了歡迎回家的召喚。”奧巴馬說，“我們一起向著這個數以萬計美國人民為之戰斗的軍旗行了最后的、引以為豪的軍禮，我們牢記，在這場戰爭中幾千人為國捐軀。今晚，我們團聚在這里，也要明白是這一批英雄讓美國成為世界中更安全更受到尊重的國家。”
真的嗎？
事實上，美伊戰爭中，對美國毫無傷害的伊拉克受到了極為嚴重的毀壞。數以百萬的伊拉克人民被殺戮、傷害以及被迫流亡，他們的家園被徹底摧毀。不僅僅是成千上萬的美國士兵在這次借口荒謬的戰爭中戰死沙場，更多的士兵們遭受了更為嚴重的身體的甚至心靈上的創傷。此外，美伊戰爭的總耗資將要超過3萬億美元。
奧巴馬將阿富汗戰爭描述為另一個即將來臨的成功：“塔利班的勢頭已受重創。”甚至是他的高級顧問也把這場戰爭視為僵局——即使是已向阿富汗發起沖突、造成嚴重毀壞超過30年的美國也不能取得軍事上的勝利。
他贊美北大西洋公約組織推翻了利比亞的政府，并預測在敘利亞也會有類似的結果。不可忽視的是，統治沙特阿拉伯以及其他石油富國的君主專制體制收到的不是一點點的批評指責。
在他的凱旋之旅中繼續說道：“伊拉克戰爭的結束引起了我們的民眾的罷工。從巴基斯坦到也門，基地組織殘留的工作人員正在掙扎著，他們知道無法逃避得將要達到美國。”
美國瞄準中國
“很顯然，美國是一股在太平洋的勢力。”美國在亞洲建立軍事力量的初始目標是中國。反華勢力同樣在經濟領域中滋長：我們把貿易帶到中國的增長率是前任政府的接近兩倍。今晚我要宣布“貿易執法組織”，這份文件是針對調查諸如中國那樣在國際貿易中有不平等交易習慣的國家的。
在他的發言接近尾聲的時候，奧巴馬總統贊頌了“暫時嚴厲制裁”對伊朗人民的壓制，再次以軍事襲擊為由威懾伊朗，威脅中同樣也包含了核武器的使用：“（原文如此）美國堅決防止伊朗得到核武器，我將會不遺余力得達到這個目標。”
考慮到中東地區唯一實際擁有核武器的國家，奧巴馬總統宣稱：“我們對以色列的安全承諾意味著我們這兩個國家歷史上最緊密的軍事合作。”而對本應例行提及的巴勒斯坦卻無只言片語。
在帝國主義國際公告中，奧巴馬對國內失業者以及被高利息貸款所累的學生們的生活困難表示遺憾，他同時呼吁雇主們、大學以及國會將工作做得更好更完善。奧巴馬花費了相當的時間提倡一個更加公平的稅收制度。遺憾的是，他并沒有出臺一個實際的新方案。
提起石油巨頭，是一個非常不同的局面：“我正帶領著我的團隊開發75%以上的潛藏著的石油和天然氣資源。”此外，他對“水力壓裂法”表示了明確的支持，水力壓裂法是指用大量的水和化學制品通過爆炸將天然氣從地下泥質巖中分離，而這種分離是一種極具破壞力的方式。水力壓裂法已經污染了供水源，導致很多人生病，近期也在非地震帶的地區引起地震。
一方面呼吁一個“全面移民改革”以及一些聽上去不切實際的法案，同時，他吹噓著說要增強與墨西哥邊境的軍事化，他說道：“這就是為什么政府在邊境大增的軍備力量。”
金融犯罪走向免于處罰
在經歷了華爾街和大型銀行所做的一些列事情導致的金融/經濟危機之后，對忠誠的民主人士來說，最激動的莫過于奧巴馬總統的一份聲明：“我們將會建立一個由受過嚴格訓練的調查專家組成的反金融犯罪組織，以此來鎮壓那些大規模的經濟詐騙犯罪，從而保護人民的資產。有些經濟公司正是由于沒有對重復犯罪的處罰而大肆違反了反詐騙法。”
但這份聲明以引發了很多疑問。民眾中有諸如“為什么這么長時間仍然沒有結論？”以及“什么，根本就沒有對違法反詐騙法的金融公司的真正的懲治措施”的疑問。
奧巴馬總統在自二十世紀三十年代經濟大蕭條以來最嚴重的經濟危機發生的時候就職。無數的剖析經濟犯罪、尤其是高達幾萬億美元的銀行抵押業務的文章和專著出版。事實上，那些從經濟領域通過手段攫取巨大利益的人們并沒有被送進監獄，他們的財產也沒有被剝奪。而最著名的例外是伯納德麥道夫的詐騙案，他操作的騙局從富人那里獲取了大量利潤。
沒有理由去相信，三年之后“反金融犯罪組織”的簡歷會是一個選舉手段。在資本主義制度下，并不是所有在法律面前是平等的。所謂的司法制度其實就是富人統治窮人的手段。
奧巴馬回應美國前總統克林頓在位時的“戰爭販子”國務卿（1997至2001在任）奧爾布賴特的言論，說道：“美國仍然是國際事務中責無旁貸的國家——只要我仍在任，我將讓美國繼續保持這個地位。這也就意味著，其他所有的國家都是可有可無的。”
【原文】
Militarism mixed with empty liberal rhetoric: Obama’s State of the Union Address in 2012
“If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future.” Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, 1998
“America remains the one indispensable nation in world affairs—and as long as I’m President, I intend to keep it that way.” President Barack Obama, State of the Union message, 2012
President Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union message is an object lesson in contemporary U.S. class politics. Obama came into office three years ago on a wave of progressive hopes and even euphoria, very understandable given the bitter history of racism in this country and the fact that he was taking the place of his widely despised predecessor, George W. Bush.
What the last three years as well as this speech have reaffirmed is that, regardless of the particular personality or characteristics of the person assuming the U.S. presidency, it is a job that comes with a specific job description: CEO of the imperialist ruling class.
For militarism and chauvinism, combined with empty liberal rhetoric, President Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union message would be hard to beat. That it was lavished with uncritical praise by liberal Democratic Party units like MoveOn.org—an allegedly “anti-war” group—was just another reminder that 2012 is an election year.
The president began by hailing the U.S. war on Iraq, a war he supposedly opposed when he was candidate Obama in 2008. Back then he was perceived by millions as the “peace candidate,” a critical element in his election victory.
“Last month, I went to Andrews Air Force Base and welcomed home some of our last troops to serve in Iraq,” said Obama. “Together, we offered a final, proud salute to the colors under which more than a million of our fellow citizens fought—and several thousand gave their lives. We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected around the world.”
Really?
In fact, the war in Iraq largely destroyed a country that posed no threat whatsoever to the U.S. Millions of Iraqis were killed, wounded or forced into exile and its society torn to shreds. Not only did thousands of U.S. soldiers die in a war fought on entirely false pretenses, hundreds of thousands more suffered severe physical and psychological wounds. The total cost of the war will exceed $3 trillion—$3,000,000,000,000.
Obama portrayed the Afghanistan war as another impending success: “The Taliban’s momentum has been broken. …” Even his top advisers, however, view the war as a stalemate, one where the U.S.—despite more than three decades of inflicting devastation on Afghanistan—cannot achieve a military victory.
He lauded the NATO overthrow of the government in Libya and predicted a similar outcome in Syria. But, of course, not a hint of criticism of the absolute monarchies that rule Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich countries in the Gulf.
Continuing his triumphalist world tour: “Ending the Iraq war has allowed us to strike decisive blows against our enemies. From Pakistan to Yemen, the al-Qaeda operatives who remain are scrambling, knowing they can’t escape the reach of the United States of America.”
US targets China
“We’ve made it clear that America [sic] is a Pacific power.” The primary target of the U.S. military buildup in Asia is China. The anti-China campaign is economic as well: “We’ve brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration. Tonight I’m announcing the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit that will be charged with investigating unfair trade practices in countries like China.”
Near the end of his remarks, Obama celebrated the damage that “crippling sanctions” are having on the Iranian people, and once again threatened Iran with military attack, including the use of nuclear weapons: “America [sic] is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal.”
Regarding the only country in the Middle East that actually possesses nuclear weapons, the president declared: “Our iron-clad commitment to Israel’s security has meant the closest military cooperation between our two countries in history.” Not even the usual ritual mention of the Palestinians this time around.
In between his imperialistic international pronouncements, the president lamented about the difficulties of life for workers without jobs and students burdened by high-interest debt, and called on employers, universities and Congress to do better. He spent a good deal of time advocating a “fairer” tax system. But he projected no actual new programs.
When it came to helping Big Oil, it was a very different story: “Tonight I’m directing my administration to open up more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources.” In addition he expressed unambiguous support for “fracking,” the extremely hazardous extraction of gas from underground shale rock by blasting it apart using massive amounts of water and chemicals. Fracking has polluted water supplies, has sickened many people and recently has caused earthquakes in non-quake-prone areas.
While on the one hand calling for “comprehensive immigration reform” and something like the Dream Act, he boasted of stepping up the militarization of the border with Mexico: “That’s why my administration has put more boots on the border than ever before.”
Financial crimes go unpunished
Following more lamenting about bad things done by Wall Street and the big banks that led to the financial/economic crisis, what seemed to excite loyal Democrats more than anything else was this announcement by Obama: “We will also establish a Financial Crimes Unit of highly trained investigators to crack down on large-scale fraud and protect people’s investments. Some financial firms violate major anti-fraud laws because there’s no real penalty for being a repeat offender.”
But these two sentences raise more than a few questions, starting with, “What took so long?” followed by, “What—there is no real penalty for financial firms that repeatedly violate major anti-fraud laws?”
President Obama took office as the biggest financial/economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s was breaking. Countless articles and whole books dissecting widespread fraud, particularly in the multi-trillion-dollar mortgage banking business, have been written. Virtually none of those who reaped immense profits from these fraudulent operations have gone to jail or even lost their fortunes. The famous exception is Bernie Madoff, who made the mistake of stealing mainly from the rich.
There is no particular reason to believe that three years later, the“Financial Crimes Unit” is anything but another election ploy. Under capitalism, all are not equal before the law. The “justice system” is administered by the rich against the rest.
Echoing the words of Madeleine Albright, President Clinton’s war-mongering secretary of state from 1997 to 2001, Obama thundered: “America remains the one indispensable nation in world affairs—and as long as I’m President, I intend to keep it that way.” The implication, of course, is that all other countries and nations in the world are … dispensable.
「 支持烏有之鄉！」
烏有之鄉 WYZXWK.COM
您的打賞將用于網站日常運行與維護。
幫助我們辦好網站，宣傳紅色文化！
注：配圖來自網絡無版權標志圖像，侵刪！
聲明：文章僅代表作者個人觀點，不代表本站觀點——烏有之鄉
責任編輯：利永貞
歡迎掃描下方二維碼，訂閱烏有之鄉網刊微信公眾號
