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During the August "dog days" of news reporting, we were treated to extended "discussions" of the wisdom of unilaterally invading Iraq in order to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Although there is much speculation that this debate is being staged or has ulterior motives hidden from the public, one thing is abundantly clear: History is moving far to fast for the likes of Bush, Cheney and the rest of "warriors" in the current administration.It has become a cliché that actual warriors...generals, colonels or ordinary foot soldiers...those who have actually experienced the horror of combat...are much more cautious about advocating warfare to solve political problems than their civilian counterparts. So it is with the Bushites as well. Generals Colin Powell, "Stormin'" Norman Schwartzcoff, General Snowcroft and General Zinni have all weighed in on the side of caution. The latter even pointedly questioned why is it that those who have never fired a shot in anger are so ready to commit the lives of our youth to battle?
It was not always this way. During World War II, Willy...as a typical American boy...played with toy soldiers, aircraft and tanks...and envied those who got to actually experience the wonders of war, got to kill "dirty Japs and Krauts." He was thus shocked to discover how few returning veterans shared this vision. Most did not wish to discuss their experiences at all, especially not with a nine year old child. Those that did talk often cursed those, like F.D.R. and Churchill, whom they felt got us into that war in the first place. In no case did they relish ever doing what they had done again.
During the election of 1952, Gypsy was a nine year old in New York City. That area heavily favored the election of Adlai Stevenson in the Presidential race, but one of Gypsy's young friends' parents were proudly voting for General Eisenhower. When Gypsy voiced the "common knowledge"...at least among liberals...that he was a warrior and likely to get us into yet another conflict, her friend responded, "My parents say that BECAUSE he is a general, that he will know NOT to get us into war!" That point of view prevailed, and President Eisenhower withdrew us from the disastrous conflict then underway in Korea.
History is definitely moving too fast for Vice President Cheney. Last week, in his duties as the "real" president shoring up the feeble intellectual talents of the man actually elected to that post, Cheney gave a couple of speeches urging a preemptory strike against Iraq. His audiences, definitely the choir to this administration preacher, were veterans groups. Note that these groups are NOT generally peopled by veterans that have been converted to antiwar sentiments by their experiences, but rather those who wish to meet regularly to lift a few drinks and lament the loss of manhood in contemporary society. Because of societal pressure to keep quiet...it's called solidarity by those who rule...treason if you disagree...most veterans eschew both those veterans groups and any public discussion of their experiences. Only the Vietnam war...probably because of its notorious pointlessness and viciousness...has produced ANTI-war veterans groups, notably Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
But, times have changed. At the start of the Vietnam conflict, 85% of Americans favored the intervention, mostly following the administrations'...several of their...anti-communist lines. Similarly, at the beginning of the War on Terrorism, 75% of Americans favored some action against Iraq, on the grounds that Saddam had materially and spiritually contributed to the terrorists. It took nearly a decade for our citizens to realize the folly of the Vietnam adventure. It has taken less than a year for a more informed and skeptical public to lower their support for the Bushite personal vendetta against Saddam to about 50%...and falling...despite the events of 9/11 and our "success" in defeating the Taliban and rooting out the terrorist camps in Afghanistan.
Another change. Before committing massive numbers of troops to Vietnam, the Johnson administration waited for a "defining event," in that case the Tonkin Gulf "attack" of North Vietnamese boats on our ships. Like many such events that have triggered wars in the past, subsequent investigation revealed that it was certainly exaggerated, perhaps even manufactured. Still, these events served to mobilize the public to the side of the warriors. On the other hand, Cheney definitively stated in his recent speeches that Saddam Hussein "is known" to possess weapons of mass destruction and that it is "certain" that he will use them against us and our friends. But generals Powell, Schwartzcoff, Snowcroft and Zinni...among many, many others...ask, "Where's the evidence?"
What has changed? In a word, the Internet. This fabulous realization of the concept of freedom of speech has put pressure on all layers of society and on all other media to be skeptical of political rhetoric, to question "common knowledge." Hundreds of Web sites serve no other purpose than to question statements...to discover lies and evasions...in the print and broadcast media, often "planted" there by government officials.. Thousands of "Web loggers"...or just "Bloggers" for short...like us, for example...regularly deconstruct the language and emotional arguments of the ruling classes. What has always been true of Washington...that it is bad at keeping secrets...that it leaks like a sieve...has become a torrent. That is, it appears that no level of secrecy is sufficient to keep controversial subjects from getting a public hearing. We welcome this with open arms...or more importantly, with open minds.
For, make no mistake. What is at stake here is not the control of congress, the health of the American economy or a test of the power of the "only remaining superpower" to regulate affairs in the world. Nor is it a test of American patriotism. What Cheney et al are suggesting is a sea change in the way world affairs are carried out. Long established policy is that, no matter how dangerous the rhetoric or apparent hostility of a foreign regime appears, until or unless it actually unleashes harm against other nations, it is to be left alone.
Yes, this policy risks...at it did prior to W.W.II when the Germans and Japanese were gearing up for war...that many innocent people will be at risk, including you and we. Saddam may indeed be planning to do all those heinous things that Cheney alleges he will do. Twenty-twenty hindsight affirms that this was indeed true vis a vis Hitler and Tojo. But, Iraq is not nazi Germany or imperial Japan and this is not 1935. The same forces that constrain our administration from pulling the wool over our eyes, restrain Saddam from doing the same. Our allies understand this. Why don't we?
Don't worry. We Americans are sometimes a little slow...but we will figure it out.
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