A Pilgrim’s Digression

Okay, so I bought another peppermint mocha this morning. I’ll give ‘em up for Lent.

This morning, as the bus brought me to work, I thought to myself, “The city sure is peaceful this morning.” I had been thinking just before about Fallujah, trying to imagine what was happening there. The bus was stopped at a red light on C street NE, beside the reflecting pool with a clear view of the north face of the Capitol. I think this is the side of the capitol one often sees in Fox News’ cut scenes as they are going to commerical break.

The bus route has changed twice in the past couple months because of security. Streets around the Capitol are blocked with concrete barriers and gates that vehicles have to pass through after an inspection. There is one on New Jersey Avenue NW, which is the street the bus turns up to get on to Constitution Avenue and Capitol Hill. It’s a very roundabout way to get there, let me tell you, considering the bus used to have a straight shot up First Street NE. When the bus stops at the checkpoint on New Jersey Avenue, a Capitol police person is supposed to climb aboard, walk the length of the bus, and exit out the back. Sometimes they just take a peak in the front door. Sometimes they actually walk the length of the bus. What they are looking for, I don’t know. To me, it doesn’t look like they are looking for anything anymore. I imagine the whole routine has become an unthinking habit.

Yet despite the apparent fear of violence, as displayed by these Police State-like checkpoints everywhere, I still thought, “What a peaceful city.”

There is something incongruous about the peace we have enjoyed since September 2001 compared with the destruction we have brought to Iraq. I don’t include Afghanistan in the equation because I really have no problem with what we did in Afghanistan. In fact, I think if we had concentrated on building a democracy in that Middle Eastern country rather than in Iraq, too, we would be much better off today. Afghanistan has been relatively peaceful compared to Iraq.

Reports from Fallujah are that we are in control of 70% of the city. Yesterday I read that resistance had been unexpectedly light in some places, and I read that again today in the Washington Post. None of the reports I’ve read speculate about why resistance has been lighter than expected. It seems to me the obvious conclusion to draw is that the insurgents have known this was coming and many of them simply melted away to fight another day. Yet we will kill however many of them remain and call it a victory. Like cockroaches, the guerillas will return.