Dyer’s spin on Iraq
by Ashley Martin
the Carillon

Current affairs in a nutshell
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On a recent stop at the University of Regina’s packed Education Auditorium, renowned Canadian freelancer Gwynne Dyer shared his thoughts on the current war in Iraq, among other things.

Dyer began his discourse, “Three Projects and a Few Funerals: Islamic Empire, Pax Americana or a World of Law,” with the blunt statement: “We have an American problem.” As the Wednesday, September 29 evening progressed, Dyer backed up his opinion of the United States government.

As the U.S. have been the world’s greatest power for some 80 odd years, both militarily and economically, Dyer insists that the growth rates of other countries serve as sure proof that the U.S. will soon lose their position.

“It’s an appalling thought that we’re going to lose number one,” Dyer contemplates. “Great powers that have enjoyed that [position] tend to act badly.”

Dyer adds that, while “Americans spend a great deal of time congratulating each other on how powerful they are,” Washington knows the end is near, and they’re doing something to maintain their position as most important for a bit longer.

“[September 11, 2001] was awful, but it hasn’t happened again,” Dyer says. “Not a single person has been killed in North America in three years.” He suggests taking baths in pairs or in small groups, as we have a bigger risk of drowning in the bathtub than being attacked by terrorists on this continent.

The Bush administration, whom Dyer calls “a bunch of ignoramuses,” gives no advice to Americans save for “be frightened [of terrorists].”

Meanwhile, Dyer is convinced Al Qaida destroyed the World Trade Centre towers in a ploy to lure Americans into Afghanistan and take down the Muslim government, leaving Al Qaida, a “radical group with a warped view of Islam,” free to unite the Arab world under Islam rule and create a “super state” powerful enough to take on the hated Western world.

The American project, which was “boosted into orbit by the Al Qaida project,” is centered on the idea of Pax Americana. Pax Americana ended along with the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, because, as Dyer puts it, “Why follow the U.S. when there’s nothing to be afraid of?” Accordingly, the U.S. chose a new enemy to instill fear into the American people—Iraq, one of the rogue states.

Dyer believes Pax Americana will fail because the American public will see through it. Before it “crashes and burns,” though, it will hurt our project, because the American project requires the destruction of the United Nations. If Pax Americana remains much longer, Dyer says that other countries will likely abandon the UN.

Dyer received his PhD. in military and Middle Eastern history from the University of London, England. Since he left teaching in 1973, he has worked as a freelance journalist and has been published in over 40 countries around the world. His new book, Future: Tense, The Coming World Order, is due soon for release.