Denying Bolivian president Evo Morales air space was a metaphor for the gangsterism that now rules the world, writes John Pilger. Oliver Stone says the world is in danger with the tyranny of the US.
Imagine the aircraft of the president of France being forced down in Latin America on "suspicion" that it was carrying a political refugee to safety – and not just any refugee but someone who has provided the people of the world with proof of criminal activity on an epic scale.
The forcing down of Bolivian President Evo Morales's plane - denied airspace by France, Spain and Portugal, followed by his 14-hour confinement while Austrian officials demanded to "inspect" his aircraft for the "fugitive" Edward Snowden - was an act of air piracy and state terrorism. It was a metaphor for the gangsterism that now rules the world and the cowardice and hypocrisy of bystanders who dare not speak its name.
The French - having squealed about Washington spying on their every move, as revealed by Snowden - were first off the mark, followed by the Portuguese.
Pilger shows the media no mercy.
Those paid to keep the record straight have played their part with a cat-and-mouse media game that reinforces the Godfather's lie that this heroic young man is running from a system of justice, rather than preordained, vindictive incarceration that amounts to torture - ask Bradley Manning and the living ghosts in Guantánamo.
Historians seem to agree that the rise of fascism in Europe might have been averted had the liberal or left political class understood the true nature of its enemy. The parallels today are very different, but the Damocles sword over Snowden, like the casual abduction of Bolivia's president, ought to stir us into recognising the true nature of the enemy.
Oliver Stone blasted Barack Obama for his "George Bush-style eavesdropping techniques", calling them a "disgrace".
To me, Snowden is a hero, because he revealed secrets that we should all know, that the United States has repeatedly violated the Fourth Amendment. He should be welcomed, and offered asylum, but he has no place to hide because every country is intimidated by the United States. ... Everyone in the world is impacted by the United States' Big Brother attitude toward the world.
"The world is in danger with our tyranny", Stone said.
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