Evil vs. Evil (caught in the crossfire)
by Jim Matus

The first song on our last album ‘Private Power’ is titled Evil vs. Evil. It is based on an arrangement around a sample of The Master Musicians of Jajouka, one of my favorite groups from Morocco. The concept is to set two radically different styles of music up against each other – one, an ancient form dating back thousands of years; the other, relatively modern, which builds around it, hopefully supporting it and allowing it to dig deeper into the ear than it normally would in its pure form.

Our intention was also to set up a musical metaphor for the relationship between the first and third world. But on yet another level, it is meant to illustrate the battle between the West, with its cruel globalization policies, and fundamentalist Islam, with its twisted interpretation of a prophet’s vision, both looked at as ‘evil’ forces at war with one another. For me, this has sadly come true as of September 11, 2001.

As a musician who tries to incorporate my political views into my work, I feel that I should share my views about what it’s like to live in the U.S. which is under attack, while I disagree with our government’s foreign policy, particularly its decision to go to war. As I stated on the cover of ‘Private Power’: “I stand slack jawed in horror in view of the dramatically increasing domination of the wealth and resources of the planet by a smaller and smaller segment of the population. This coupled with the almost complete disappearance of functioning democracy as a result of new international structures of finance and trade has systematically lowered the standard of living for the majority of people. The Western world of patriarchy, technology and militarism is holding a gun to the head of the third world. The third world is on its knees and blindfolded. In the next 25 years, this imperialist system may destroy every last remnant of indigenous culture.”

What I failed to realize in my safe, sheltered American life is that the third world is not as defenseless as I thought. Terrorism, while relatively marginal two years ago, has taken its place as a military force that rivals the monstrously omnipotent U.S. Military around the world. As a pacifist, a left-progressive and an environmentalist, I can hardly support any of my country’s actions around the world, especially while we have a President who stole the election and does not represent the views of the majority of Americans. At the same time, we are under attack by ghostly invisible forces that want me dead. They don’t care if I disagree with the sanctions against Iraq, or our occupation of Saudi Arabia, or our lack of support for a Palestinian State. These are bad guys and they want to kill everybody dead! So I’m caught in the crossfire of two ideologies with which I disagree.

There is a third way: the ‘Anti-globalization Movement.’ It was becoming more and more visible with the demonstrations in Genoa, Quebec City, and Seattle and hopefully, it’s only suffered a temporary setback. The movement strives for an interconnected world based on respect for human rights and the environment, while providing a more equal distribution of wealth, not by means of Socialism (as we are accused), but by means of a capitalist system that is democratically regulated by the voices of all people.

Bush’s rejection of the Kyoto Treaty, expansion of NATO, refusal to recognize the South African Summit on Racism, and his backing off the ABM treaty while insisting on a unilateral Missile Defense system, was gaining him the reputation as an arrogant leader of a ‘‘rouge superpower.’’ All that seems to have conveniently evaporated with this new ‘’War on Terrorism,’’ which has suddenly given him carte blanche to attack anyone and anywhere in the world under this banner. Just as in the “War on Drugs,” it will be used for expanding U.S. hegemony and destroying any resistance to Western corporate power.

In a public military document (“Vision for 2020”) outlining the U.S. goals in space technology it was acknowledged that: "In the coming century, due to globalization, there will be a growing gap between the rich and poor all over the world which will result in increasing unrest. It will become necessary for the U.S. to protect its economic interests with a complete domination of space by laser and nuclear weapons.” This is the real reason for the missile defense shield that will be pushed even harder as a result of the attack on the WTC. Also being pushed is a rollback of civil liberties, coupled with the public’s willingness to do whatever the government tells us, leading down a path to what may become an “Imperial Presidency.”

Osama bin Laden and his followers are criminals and human rights violators and should be brought to justice through international legal systems that have existed since the Geneva Convention. Unfortunately, the U.S. is also caught in a crossfire. Our government cannot abide by international law and must use the only arena in which we have a superior advantage: war. If we obeyed international law, every living U.S. president and their administrations would be guilty of war crimes and sentenced to life in prison (not death). Also, for the last 50 years the CIA has supported murderous dictators, overthrown democratically elected governments and dealt in the drug trade to support their cover actions. All this is a matter of public record. How can we expect anyone in the world to take America seriously unless we hold a military or economic sword over their heads? Why do people hate us? Gee, maybe because we suck?

So here is the task: everything is off-balance now and undergoing drastic realignment. There are openings in the general discussion, and in America, we are getting a crash course in international politics. So we “peaceniks” have to be shrewd and use this to our advantage, being careful not to offend our friends who are waving flags. We must slowly emerge with the facts about a global crisis that goes way beyond this particular battle of two evils. A crisis of overpopulation, environmental degradation, and economic injustice driven primarily by a corporate-government nexus based in the United States whose tentacles have spread virtually everywhere in the world. We must look to create a world based on peaceful negotiations, justice and the rule of law, not the rules of war.