Civilized Vs. Uncivilized?
Think back to Viet Nam. Turmoil at home and tragedy abroad. The domino theory. The Embassy roof. Consciencious objectors. Draft exemptions. Kent State. Flags and draft cards burning.
Do you think next time the politicians and generals will be able to decide if a cause is not only just but also winnable?
Sad to say, Iraq is a lost cause. It was from the very beginning. One cannot "win the hearts and minds" of a nation, especially one as culturally retarded as Iraq.
Flying body parts. What of it? Suicide bombers go to heaven. Boys beating something with a stick, hanging something from a bridge. Human beings reduced to less than nothing.
How many of us believe these things could have happened in America? Or in France, or Mexico, or Brazil.
It is a pity that Iraq’s culture has been damaged by repressive dictatorship and religious fundamentalism. And it is a horror that innocent Iraqis will continue to suffer unimaginably.
But it is impossible to change a culture. The hubris of an adolescent nation drives us to support this myth.
"Clockwork Orange" re-programming might work. But imagine the logistics of brainwashing every soul in Iraq. Or we could set up massive re-education centers as the Red Guard did in China during the Cultural Revolution.
Maybe send in an equal number of Jewish and Christian progressives to talk sense into the Muslim fundamentalists.
Or an equal number of fundamentalists from the other camps; they might all cancel each other out.
But an army of theologians and social scientists would make no difference in Iraq.
Reasons for the hatred and insanity can be enumerated repeatedly. But even if we withdrew support of Israel in favor of Palestine, the hatred and insanity would go on. By now they are inbred.
Many thousands of Americans are dead, and uncounted maimed. With Viet Nam we stopped before we reached 57,000. Add all the the victims of terrorism over the last dozen years, along with the innocent Iraqi civilians, and we’re over that mark already.
Surely it would be wrong to abandon a misbegotten project, as we did in Viet Nam. But it may be time to do the less wrong thing once again.
Do you think next time the politicians and generals will be able to decide if a cause is not only just but also winnable?
Sad to say, Iraq is a lost cause. It was from the very beginning. One cannot "win the hearts and minds" of a nation, especially one as culturally retarded as Iraq.
Flying body parts. What of it? Suicide bombers go to heaven. Boys beating something with a stick, hanging something from a bridge. Human beings reduced to less than nothing.
How many of us believe these things could have happened in America? Or in France, or Mexico, or Brazil.
It is a pity that Iraq’s culture has been damaged by repressive dictatorship and religious fundamentalism. And it is a horror that innocent Iraqis will continue to suffer unimaginably.
But it is impossible to change a culture. The hubris of an adolescent nation drives us to support this myth.
"Clockwork Orange" re-programming might work. But imagine the logistics of brainwashing every soul in Iraq. Or we could set up massive re-education centers as the Red Guard did in China during the Cultural Revolution.
Maybe send in an equal number of Jewish and Christian progressives to talk sense into the Muslim fundamentalists.
Or an equal number of fundamentalists from the other camps; they might all cancel each other out.
But an army of theologians and social scientists would make no difference in Iraq.
Reasons for the hatred and insanity can be enumerated repeatedly. But even if we withdrew support of Israel in favor of Palestine, the hatred and insanity would go on. By now they are inbred.
Many thousands of Americans are dead, and uncounted maimed. With Viet Nam we stopped before we reached 57,000. Add all the the victims of terrorism over the last dozen years, along with the innocent Iraqi civilians, and we’re over that mark already.
Surely it would be wrong to abandon a misbegotten project, as we did in Viet Nam. But it may be time to do the less wrong thing once again.
posted by John Marsh at 6:17 AM
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