A Pilgrim’s Digression

Those who believe that peace can be obtained through war deny the facts of history. I say that not as an anti-war statement. Looking strictly at the facts of history, war leads only to more war. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 led to World War I, which led to World War II, which led to the Cold War, Korea, and Vietnam. The Gulf War I and II could probably also trace their genealogy back to the World Wars, or at least the division of the Middle East by colonial powers such as England in the aftermath of the World Wars. Who knows how far you could go back beyond the Franco-Prussian war to trace out the family tree of the present conflict. Perhaps in the end all wars can be traced back to that one war for a beautiful woman, captured by a band of turks and carried off to fabled Ilium. Certainly, the current war between East and West finds its antecedent in the Trojan War.

Here is the link to that Raspberry article; I don’t know how long it will remain active. Hawks and Hornets

I think it is becoming clearer that Iraq is perhaps merely the whetstone on which the Bush Administration is sharpening the long knives to be used against Iran and Syria. A William Raspberry editorial in the Washington Post today raises the theory that the Bushies have adopted a strategy similar to beating a hornets nest in order to draw the hornets out into the open and destroy them. The idea is that war with Iraq will be so unpopular among Muslims that the result will be a broader war in the Middle East, which the U.S. and its allies will win. I suppose the hope is that after destroying the institutions of government which breed anti-Americanism, we and our allies will shape the Mid-East in our own image and thus at one blow clear out all the ‘hornets’ that have made peace in the region an impossibility.

I am addicted to the news. However, the news these days alternates so wildly between triumphalism and defeat, I wonder how long we will be able to ride the emotional rollercoaster. I think the real reason our modern wars must be short is to keep the public from burning out too quickly. I often feel like Winston Smith at the end of 1984, after he has been tortured and broken. Smith sits in a café drinking rancid gin and worrying about recent military setbacks for Oceania. The ever-on telescreen has been forecasting disaster for the Oceanic forces in Africa for several days. Then suddenly trumpets blare! Victory! Oh glorious victory! Oceania is triumphant after all. Tears stream down Smith’s cheeks.

I read the on-line versions of the Washington Post and New York Times. I like Internet news because I can choose the stories I read. When watching TV, one has to suffer through whatever boring material the networks decide to serve up to fill space in between major developments. I go home at night and watch the news until I find myself nodding off well past dark. Last night I alternated between CNN and MSNBC. I also flipped over to the Newshour on PBS. I was shocked and awed to discover that Jim Lehrer was covering the defeat of Bush’s tax cut plan, rather than the war. After about two seconds of the economy, I turned back to CNN and the elaborate battlefield map on the newsroom floor, on which a retired general stood, explaining troop movements and forecasting the battles for the next few days. Old soldiers never die; they just find themselves a six figure job as a commentator for CNN.

We are finally getting our official government-issue gas masks. I have to go Monday morning for training in “emergency preparedness.” These gas masks look like large baggies … I guess they are going to show us how to put a bag over our heads and breath. Just one of the many perqs of working for the federal government: a free method of suicide in case of chemical, biological, or nuclear attack!