War Bulletin 6-13-2003
WAR BULLETIN
The war in Iraq went well, if such can be said of any war.
Our well equipped, well trained forces have captured all the significant cities, centers of government, oil facilities and museums. Our captured soldiers have been liberated. The leaders of the country have been killed, taken prisoner, or disappeared. The stores, palaces and institutions have been looted of everything of value. Many needy natives saw the war as an opportunity for a local shopping splurge with no need to pay for the merchandise, or a chance to get even with their government for its failure to take care of them. So they took what they could find.
This is the time we should be celebrating our victory. But, I don’t hear any horns blowing, bells ringing or people dancing in the street. People are glad our soldiers did their job well, but they don’t feel like bragging about the victory. The odds were not even enough to class it as a great victory. We could do the same thing to a number of other small countries, but we would not feel good about it.
If we had found a plant that was building nuclear weapons or Anthrax or the other terrible things we heard about it would be a different story and people would feel a greater sense of pride about it. But as government agencies are now telling us that they did not have reliable evidence that such weapons existed or that we were in imminent danger of being attacked the people are wondering how many of the facts told us as reasons for rushing into a war to destroy Iraq were fabrications used to justify going to war. Now as we are being assured that the Weapons of Mass Destruction will be found it is fairly easy to assume that our government might consider fabrication of evidence needed to prove the existence of the non-existent weapons.
We won’t tell the local population of Iraq we are sorry for killing so many people or for destroying their buildings and factories. We are slow in providing potable water or electricity.
Food and medical supplies are slow in arrival and distribution. War rubbish is blocking
streets, garbage is piling up and sewers and sewerage processing plants that were demolished have not been repaired. The cities were without police with looting and other crimes completely out of control. Fitting into this picture are our military leaders trying to persuade the people that they should be happy to be rid of Saddam and thanking us for freeing them from that tyrant. But, instead of celebrations and expressions of gratitude we are seeing massive protests against America.
Our leaders have told us that we just wanted to remove Saddam and establish a democratic government to run the country. They tell us that the local population should run the country. They assure us that we did not go to war to get control of their oil. But this is hard to believe when we learn of the huge contracts awarded [without competitive bidding] to contractor friends of the administration to manage the reconstruction and operation of the oil resources of the country. This surely looks like a simple war of conquest with the spoils going to the victors.
I would like to say "Now that the war is over we can----." However, the war our president started is not over and the end is not in sight. The nature of the war will be quite different, involving armies that may not visible or that may be working in the kitchen, office or public services. Their methods of fighting will be strange and puzzling. We learned a lot about guerrilla warfare in Veit Nam and Korea but the experiences of those war is only a shadow of what we will see in Iraq and around the globe because of this war. Our leaders haven’t yet admitted that they were not smart enough to recognize the festering distrust and hatred that led to 9-11 and that what they did see was beyond their understanding. They have learned much since that attack but we cannot be assured that our Intelligence forces and others in the Administration have the knowledge or skill needed to protect our troops overseas or our citizens at home.
Such thinking leads us to consider the wisdom of the slogan "Speak softly, but carry a big stick." We have always thought of that slogan as advice to us regarding our striving to live peaceably with other nations, but still maintaining a well trained and adequately equipped army in case our striving for peace failed. Well, the time has come when our president appears to have dismissed the idea of speaking softly and chosen to rely solely on the big stick as the way to solve our foreign relations problems. I have not heard why Mr. Bush didn’t want to employ diplomatic efforts to the full in striving for world peace. It may be his inexperience in world affairs, lack of confidence in his diplomats, or his extreme distrust of other world leaders. It may be his disdain for the United Nations as an institution or his distrust of its members.
For whatever reason, the president’s actions are contrary to long established principles of the United States foreign policy and can lead to years of unhealthy relationships with the majority of the nations of the world, including many who have been our trusted friends for many years. Losing these friendships is unfortunate and will be difficult to re-establish. The president’s announcement of our right to enter into war on a preemptive basis further alienates our former friends and creates distrust among nations around the world. I am sure there are many nations who would be happy to get rid of a neighbor and take over its valuables. Some of those nations have the power to wipe out such neighbors but are deterred by a lack of moral justification. Following our action in Iraq those nations may fabricate facts to support their justification. In such a situation our influence and leadership toward diplomatic efforts is reduced to nil.
President Bush has painted the United States as a Bully in the eyes of the world. He has given credibility to critics who accuse him of wanting to be a dictator seeking full control over a large segment of the world and its resources. With so many nations already distrusting us, we can look forward to a long period of hate and distrust in any proposals we make in world affairs. This "Going it alone" stance will serve as confirmation of the "Bully" and "Dictator" image in the eyes of a large segment of world opinion.
If a nation has a sufficiently big stick it may have its way in a particular situation. Certainly, in Iraq we have a stick big enough to keep on killing as long as we please. However, its use in Iraq will surely lose many friends. And one day the conscience of America will speak up and say "Stop". That day may be a long way off, but the longer the killing continues, the larger and longer lasting will be the stain on our national reputation growing out of this preemptive war on Iraq.
It is my opinion that the world is too small and the conduct of business and social affairs too complex to isolate ourselves and use the big stick in a "go it alone" policy.
Jeremiah
The war in Iraq went well, if such can be said of any war.
Our well equipped, well trained forces have captured all the significant cities, centers of government, oil facilities and museums. Our captured soldiers have been liberated. The leaders of the country have been killed, taken prisoner, or disappeared. The stores, palaces and institutions have been looted of everything of value. Many needy natives saw the war as an opportunity for a local shopping splurge with no need to pay for the merchandise, or a chance to get even with their government for its failure to take care of them. So they took what they could find.
This is the time we should be celebrating our victory. But, I don’t hear any horns blowing, bells ringing or people dancing in the street. People are glad our soldiers did their job well, but they don’t feel like bragging about the victory. The odds were not even enough to class it as a great victory. We could do the same thing to a number of other small countries, but we would not feel good about it.
If we had found a plant that was building nuclear weapons or Anthrax or the other terrible things we heard about it would be a different story and people would feel a greater sense of pride about it. But as government agencies are now telling us that they did not have reliable evidence that such weapons existed or that we were in imminent danger of being attacked the people are wondering how many of the facts told us as reasons for rushing into a war to destroy Iraq were fabrications used to justify going to war. Now as we are being assured that the Weapons of Mass Destruction will be found it is fairly easy to assume that our government might consider fabrication of evidence needed to prove the existence of the non-existent weapons.
We won’t tell the local population of Iraq we are sorry for killing so many people or for destroying their buildings and factories. We are slow in providing potable water or electricity.
Food and medical supplies are slow in arrival and distribution. War rubbish is blocking
streets, garbage is piling up and sewers and sewerage processing plants that were demolished have not been repaired. The cities were without police with looting and other crimes completely out of control. Fitting into this picture are our military leaders trying to persuade the people that they should be happy to be rid of Saddam and thanking us for freeing them from that tyrant. But, instead of celebrations and expressions of gratitude we are seeing massive protests against America.
Our leaders have told us that we just wanted to remove Saddam and establish a democratic government to run the country. They tell us that the local population should run the country. They assure us that we did not go to war to get control of their oil. But this is hard to believe when we learn of the huge contracts awarded [without competitive bidding] to contractor friends of the administration to manage the reconstruction and operation of the oil resources of the country. This surely looks like a simple war of conquest with the spoils going to the victors.
I would like to say "Now that the war is over we can----." However, the war our president started is not over and the end is not in sight. The nature of the war will be quite different, involving armies that may not visible or that may be working in the kitchen, office or public services. Their methods of fighting will be strange and puzzling. We learned a lot about guerrilla warfare in Veit Nam and Korea but the experiences of those war is only a shadow of what we will see in Iraq and around the globe because of this war. Our leaders haven’t yet admitted that they were not smart enough to recognize the festering distrust and hatred that led to 9-11 and that what they did see was beyond their understanding. They have learned much since that attack but we cannot be assured that our Intelligence forces and others in the Administration have the knowledge or skill needed to protect our troops overseas or our citizens at home.
Such thinking leads us to consider the wisdom of the slogan "Speak softly, but carry a big stick." We have always thought of that slogan as advice to us regarding our striving to live peaceably with other nations, but still maintaining a well trained and adequately equipped army in case our striving for peace failed. Well, the time has come when our president appears to have dismissed the idea of speaking softly and chosen to rely solely on the big stick as the way to solve our foreign relations problems. I have not heard why Mr. Bush didn’t want to employ diplomatic efforts to the full in striving for world peace. It may be his inexperience in world affairs, lack of confidence in his diplomats, or his extreme distrust of other world leaders. It may be his disdain for the United Nations as an institution or his distrust of its members.
For whatever reason, the president’s actions are contrary to long established principles of the United States foreign policy and can lead to years of unhealthy relationships with the majority of the nations of the world, including many who have been our trusted friends for many years. Losing these friendships is unfortunate and will be difficult to re-establish. The president’s announcement of our right to enter into war on a preemptive basis further alienates our former friends and creates distrust among nations around the world. I am sure there are many nations who would be happy to get rid of a neighbor and take over its valuables. Some of those nations have the power to wipe out such neighbors but are deterred by a lack of moral justification. Following our action in Iraq those nations may fabricate facts to support their justification. In such a situation our influence and leadership toward diplomatic efforts is reduced to nil.
President Bush has painted the United States as a Bully in the eyes of the world. He has given credibility to critics who accuse him of wanting to be a dictator seeking full control over a large segment of the world and its resources. With so many nations already distrusting us, we can look forward to a long period of hate and distrust in any proposals we make in world affairs. This "Going it alone" stance will serve as confirmation of the "Bully" and "Dictator" image in the eyes of a large segment of world opinion.
If a nation has a sufficiently big stick it may have its way in a particular situation. Certainly, in Iraq we have a stick big enough to keep on killing as long as we please. However, its use in Iraq will surely lose many friends. And one day the conscience of America will speak up and say "Stop". That day may be a long way off, but the longer the killing continues, the larger and longer lasting will be the stain on our national reputation growing out of this preemptive war on Iraq.
It is my opinion that the world is too small and the conduct of business and social affairs too complex to isolate ourselves and use the big stick in a "go it alone" policy.
Jeremiah
posted by Jeremiah | 9:49 PM
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