archive2003

2 April 2003

Analogies, historical or otherwise, are tricky things. I never did well on those SAT questions. You know the ones, "Fly is to paper as mouse is to ..." Magazine? Book? Trap? Cardboard? That said, I'll try on a few analogies in light of this War on Iraq, and the suddenly diminished "War on Terror". So hang in there with me for a minute.

A number of years ago the Chinese government invaded Tibet, hell-bent on ending the spiritual and political influence of Tibetan Buddhism in general, and the Tibetan lamas in particular. After invading the country, they ransacked the monasteries and committed any number of unspeakable crimes against these peaceful people. Oil-free as Tibet is, the American government remained pretty much silent about this. No saber rattling in that case. No talk of "liberating Tibet". Not a peep.

So what was the outcome of this campaign to rid the country of this Buddhist influence? Many of the lamas (I believe there are about twenty four in all), including the Dalai Lama, escaped from Tibet. And now these lamas have traveled throughout the world, and have spread their beliefs in non-violence, and spiritual liberation through non-attachment throughout the world. Their work highlights the injustices of the Chinese government, and bears witness to their struggle for freedom. The Chinese campaign was an abysmal failure, as many Tibetans continue to hold fast to their traditions and beliefs.

In 1992 I had the good fortune to do some work with an Olympic athlete at the Barcelona Games. You might recall that was when the so-called "Dream Team" competed in the basketball competition. Led by Michael Jordon and a panoply of NBA stars, there was little, if any, doubt about the outcome of the medal round. Members of the European Olympic Federation were questioned about their support for this decision. They said that they knew by agreeing to have these all-stars participate, their teams would be battling for the silver and the bronze medals. But they also said something that revealed their longer-term view of the situation. They said that for them the most important thing was for Europeans, especially young people, to see European teams competing on the same floor with the best team in the world. That is what would be remembered. Not the score. Not the so-called "defeat", but the fact that they were in the same game on the same court with these superhuman athletes.

At the risk of making the obvious perfectly clear (something I'm told I'm particularly good at), allow me to connect the dots.

Because we decided to declare war on al Qaeda instead of looking at their behavior as criminal, we fragmented an already decentralized organization, almost certainly making efforts to eradicate this organization even less likely now than before. And their deadly messages filled with hatred and revenge will find fertile ground among many disenfranchised throughout the world. One can only hope that the good works of the lamas will offset some of these messages.

And now we come to "Saddam vs. the Dream Team". He will not win, but he already has achieved more than he could have imagined. He is on the same battlefield with the best in the world, and his henchmen have managed to make this cakewalk into a real war. In the face of so much humiliation that the Arab world has experienced, no doubt many young people will see this in a very different light than Americans and British do. Every day these brutal men are able to lure American and British forces into killing civilians, Saddam is achieving some of his ends. Those young people who have seen so many Arab casualties their whole lives see every coalition casualty a bit differently.

I see one possible future unfolding so clearly. This war will end slowly, sloppily and raggedly. No surrender on a great battleship. This war will "end" the way the Afghan war didn't end. Americans come in as "liberators". Soon enough (it is happening already) they need to defend themselves from these liberated people. Eventually the Iraqi people will be seen as the potential enemy, and later as possible "terrorists", or "suicide bombers". In time America will find itself in the same quagmire that the Israelis find themselves in Palestine. It will be reminiscent of how Jefferson looked on problem of slavery in America - he said it was a bit like holding a wolf by the ears, impossible to hold on to it forever, but too dangerous to let it go.

And then here in America the social fabric will continue to coarsen. Individuals (including me) will become even more positioned. More violence will be visited upon this country. More repression in the name of freedom. More lies in the name of truth. More war in the name of peace.

The political is personal to me. So even with this pessimistic vision I am nagged by a number of questions. Is this the only possible outcome I can envision? If so, why is that? Am I so invested in my disdain for these leaders on all sides that I see no hopeful signs on the horizon? What would have to change in me in order for me to see any other possibilities? Just how much of the political is personal to me?

Maybe the hopefulness I am looking for lies in one of the analogies above. In the infinite long run (as my Jesuit teachers used to say) maybe the best bet is on the Tibetan lamas.

Put a candle in the window until the troops come home and until the poor, desolate Iraqi people come to know some of the peace and joy that many of us used to take for granted.

Be careful out there.

Edd

PS If you feel so inclined, please feel free to forward this to friends and colleagues. But once you have received a forwarded HigherPortal and you would like to receive future dispatches, please contact me via e-mail (address below). I'd like to have some idea as to who is receiving these. Thanks.

PPS If you are receiving this and do not wish to be on the list, my apologies. Please let me know and I'll take you off the list right away.

econboy@earthlink.net

Some good reads:

Tinderbox, U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism, by Stephen Zunes
Common Courage Press, 2003
This is one of the most thorough analysis of American Middle East Policy I have encountered. Professor Zunes is an associate professor of Politics and chair of the Peace and Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco.

Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You, by Norman Soloman and Reese Erlich, Context Books, 2003
A pretty good read. It has a very good discussion of depleted uranium and its use in modern American ordinance. It lacks any footnotes, which is a severe limitation in my mind.

In the Presence of Fear, Three Essays for a Changed World, by Wendell Berry
The Orion Society. 2001
Berry is a wonderful writer, and this little book is crammed with thought provoking nuggets.

Bin Laden, Islam and America's New "War on Terrorism", by As ad AbuKhalil
Seven Stories Press, 2002
In less than 100 pages the author crams more astute analysis than in books I've read three times as long. Well thought out and carefully footnoted.)

Poems for Refugees, edited by Pippa Haywood
Vintage 2002
(I got this at the airport in London. Not sure if it is in the US yet. A fabulous anthology of poems selected by various artists, poets, actors and so forth.)

If you have any "good reads", send them my way and I'll get the word out.

Thanks

Links:

Iraq: The quagmire begins?
The Daily Star Lebanon | Shafeeq Ghabra
An Arab perspective about quagmire building.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/opinion/02_04_03_c.asp

No Way Out
Every likely outcome of this war is a disaster
Guardian UK | George Monbiot
Some possible outcomes to the ear that are even more pessimistic than my own.
http://www.monbiot.com/

Volunteers still lining up for Iraq as first local victim is laid to rest
Baath party in baalbek begins registering names
The Daily Star Lebanon | Alia Ibrahim
Thousands of bin Ladens to follow in the footsteps of these volunteers?
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/02_04_03/art2.asp

Practice to Deceive
The Washington Monthly | Joshua Micah Marshall
"Chaos in the Middle East is not the Bush hawks' nightmare scenario--it's their plan."
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0304.marshall.html

Mark Twain's "War Prayer"
Every prayer that pleads for God to take one side is also a plea for God to abandon the other. Twain was an opponent of what became known as The Spanish American War - a war that is eerily like this one. He wrote this story/prayer after that war. It was not published until after his death.
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/making/warprayer.html

What Is the Geneva Convention?
Slate.com | Brendan I. Koerner
Good analysis of the Geneva Conventions and its relevance to this war.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2080617/

The Quiz

The Geneva Conventions has garnered more signatures (189) than any other treaty except one. Which one has more signatures?
A. The Kyoto Accords
B. The Convention on the Rights of the Child
C. The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty
D. The Rio Treaty
E. The International Monetary Fund Agreement

Bonus question:
Only two countries did not sign this treaty. Which two?
1. United States
2. Iraq
3. Somalia
4. Iran
5. North Korea

Last Quiz:

Who said, "We have put a shingle outside our door saying, 'Superpower lives here'"?
A. W
B. Cheney
C. Powell
D. Rumsfeld
E. Wolfowitz

Answer: C Powell (After the invasion of Panama.)