Surreal Dominoes
The Iraq and Vietnam wars have made a mockery of American idealism. The sadism and depravity displayed in both countries by U.S. troops symbolized everything that is wrong with America’s unchecked aggressive military policy. A surreal policy that has to be closely reexamined. John Adams, the second U.S. president, said: “Great is the guilt of unnecessary war.” The responsibility, guilt and reckoning of sending men and women into an unnecessary war has to be shouldered by We the Apathetic People, not just the commander-in-chief. Something has gone terribly wrong with America’s system of checks and balances.
The Vietnam and Iraq wars are rationalized with the same “domino theory”. In Vietnam, America’s policy-makers worried that Vietnam’s neighbors would fall under the influence of communist regimes, one after the other, just like dominoes if America didn’t go to war. In Iraq, they hope to spread democracy to Iraq’s neighbors, one by one, just like dominoes. The fact is Iraq, like Vietnam, is a crusade, not a domino game, and crusades have tarnished America’s moral authority. America’s military and moral might do not give it the right to abuse and violate basic human rights under a political guise.
Just as the Cold War blinded U.S. policy-makers to the realities in the field in Vietnam, the war on terrorism appears to have had the same effect on Bush administration policy toward Iraq. “Like the Cold War, the war on terrorism is potentially unlimited in scope and time. And in Iraq, it has too frequently followed the excesses and failures of the Cold War script that saw the most egregious manifestations in Vietnam,” Mark Philip Bradley, an associate professor of history at Northwestern University, correctly concludes.
Was Vietnam a necessary war? Scholarly appraisals of U.S. decision-making suggest it was not. Yet the logic of the Cold War appeared to make it so. The same can be said about the logic of terrorism and the war in Iraq.
The U.S. foreign policy apparatus run at the outset of the Vietnam War was run by the Christian fundamentalist Dulles brothers: Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and CIA Director Allen Dulles. John Foster Dulles refused to even shake hands with China’s Foreign Minister, Zhou Enlai, at the 1954 Geneva Armistice talks on Vietnam because Chou was a “godless man”.
The Bush Christian fundamentalist White House is on the same surreal moral and religious crusade in Iraq. Faith-based wars have always been costly in lives, resources and moral stature. Under Bush, Iraq has become the theoretical playground and employment agency for right-wing Christian fundamentalists. Bush’s family members, friends and financial backers have secured lucrative contracts even though they were unqualified. For example, Thomas Folley, a Connecticut businessman and Republican fund-raiser, got the top post for private-sector development, even though he had no relevant experience. He was succeeded by Michael Fleischer, the brother of former Bush spokesperson Ari Fleischer. He was also unqualified for the post.
Any wonder Iraq is in such a mess and America’s intentions are questioned? “The U.S. went to Mars, yet has failed to repair electricity in Iraq after a whole year. I can’t believe that they are inept. It must be intentional,” Abdal Karim Hani, a former government minister imprisoned by Saddam Hussein, said, echoing the sentiments of many of his countrymen. America’s crusade in Iraq is the terrorists’ best recruitment tool.
Jihadists can easily justify their accusations that America is godless and depraved by pointing to the humiliations of Abu Ghraib, which was no different than what the Vietnamese did with the atrocities at My Lai.
Vietnam and Iraq were religious and economic wars of America’s choice. America’s moral and geopolitical credibility has suffered greatly as a result. The Iraq War was supposed to banish the ghosts of the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, unless America changes course, Iraq will be worse than Vietnam. Iraq will become America’s Algeria. In the Algerian war of independence, 1954-1962, cities not jungles also played a central role in the fighting. The same lawlessness and use of excessive force we see today in Iraq prevailed – to no avail! Look at Algeria today – a country run for decades by a military dictatorship because extreme fundamentalists were poised to win the parliamentary elections.
The Vietnam and Iraq wars are rationalized with the same “domino theory”. In Vietnam, America’s policy-makers worried that Vietnam’s neighbors would fall under the influence of communist regimes, one after the other, just like dominoes if America didn’t go to war. In Iraq, they hope to spread democracy to Iraq’s neighbors, one by one, just like dominoes. The fact is Iraq, like Vietnam, is a crusade, not a domino game, and crusades have tarnished America’s moral authority. America’s military and moral might do not give it the right to abuse and violate basic human rights under a political guise.
Just as the Cold War blinded U.S. policy-makers to the realities in the field in Vietnam, the war on terrorism appears to have had the same effect on Bush administration policy toward Iraq. “Like the Cold War, the war on terrorism is potentially unlimited in scope and time. And in Iraq, it has too frequently followed the excesses and failures of the Cold War script that saw the most egregious manifestations in Vietnam,” Mark Philip Bradley, an associate professor of history at Northwestern University, correctly concludes.
Was Vietnam a necessary war? Scholarly appraisals of U.S. decision-making suggest it was not. Yet the logic of the Cold War appeared to make it so. The same can be said about the logic of terrorism and the war in Iraq.
The U.S. foreign policy apparatus run at the outset of the Vietnam War was run by the Christian fundamentalist Dulles brothers: Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and CIA Director Allen Dulles. John Foster Dulles refused to even shake hands with China’s Foreign Minister, Zhou Enlai, at the 1954 Geneva Armistice talks on Vietnam because Chou was a “godless man”.
The Bush Christian fundamentalist White House is on the same surreal moral and religious crusade in Iraq. Faith-based wars have always been costly in lives, resources and moral stature. Under Bush, Iraq has become the theoretical playground and employment agency for right-wing Christian fundamentalists. Bush’s family members, friends and financial backers have secured lucrative contracts even though they were unqualified. For example, Thomas Folley, a Connecticut businessman and Republican fund-raiser, got the top post for private-sector development, even though he had no relevant experience. He was succeeded by Michael Fleischer, the brother of former Bush spokesperson Ari Fleischer. He was also unqualified for the post.
Any wonder Iraq is in such a mess and America’s intentions are questioned? “The U.S. went to Mars, yet has failed to repair electricity in Iraq after a whole year. I can’t believe that they are inept. It must be intentional,” Abdal Karim Hani, a former government minister imprisoned by Saddam Hussein, said, echoing the sentiments of many of his countrymen. America’s crusade in Iraq is the terrorists’ best recruitment tool.
Jihadists can easily justify their accusations that America is godless and depraved by pointing to the humiliations of Abu Ghraib, which was no different than what the Vietnamese did with the atrocities at My Lai.
Vietnam and Iraq were religious and economic wars of America’s choice. America’s moral and geopolitical credibility has suffered greatly as a result. The Iraq War was supposed to banish the ghosts of the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, unless America changes course, Iraq will be worse than Vietnam. Iraq will become America’s Algeria. In the Algerian war of independence, 1954-1962, cities not jungles also played a central role in the fighting. The same lawlessness and use of excessive force we see today in Iraq prevailed – to no avail! Look at Algeria today – a country run for decades by a military dictatorship because extreme fundamentalists were poised to win the parliamentary elections.
posted by Peter de Krassel's Custom Maid Politics at 4:33 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home