Where's the Enemy?
Following the collapse of the Soviet system, Western powers were left without a credible power rival to justify their arms industry and brutality in foreign lands. Critics claimed, rightly, that a new enemy was needed by the powerful to maintain the pattern, although it was unclear at first where that might come from (many supposed that Western propagandists might engineer the idea of Africa as a possible threat). In the lyric to this song, Leon has the Commander casting about for a viable target, as if hoping madly for a bogey man to jump out at him - all of which is rooted in truth.
With hindsight of course, we know it was "terrorism" which replaced "communism" as the reason why Western powers elect to wage war on defenceless societies and impose restrictions on our own rights.
With hindsight of course, we know it was "terrorism" which replaced "communism" as the reason why Western powers elect to wage war on defenceless societies and impose restrictions on our own rights.
"The Cold War is out, the Drugs War is in. If one enemy disappears, a new one must be found - Noriega, Saddam Hussein, the enemy within. We all need an enemy, after all, even if it's only the neightbours' cat." - LR (sleevenotes to Wo Sind Die Elefanten?, 1991)
"With the end of the Soviet Union, where's the enemy? became the urgent question confronting the rulers of the world. The first to be demonised was General Noriega (see verse 2). The USA duly invaded Panama and killed around 8,000 Panamanians (since they were the poorest of the poor, their deaths went largely unreported). After that came various enemies within (see verse 3). And then Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden... but the song has too many words already." - LR (Turning Silence Into Song (songbook), p1)