A Samuel L. Bronkowitz Production
By Michael LeStrange
Words are flowing out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind
Possessing and caressing me
-John Lennon
Well, I guess it's pretty clear to everyone that there is no
alternative to war with Iraq. I keep hearing from this administration over
and over that "no one wants war" and that "war is the last resort". The
image they keep trying to portray is that they are being dragged kicking and
screaming into this war they do not want. And I guess they expect us to
believe this. After all, Colin Powell says so. And lord knows, we
believe anything that Colin Powell says - he's trusted by the American people
more than the President of these United States by a 68% to 28% margin. So
if Colin says war is a last resort, you can bet this administration is burning
the midnight oil looking for any way they can to avoid it.
I
had a head slapping moment last week. Colin Powell had just transformed
from a voice of diplomacy into a war hawk. I was watching the reaction
from the press, the world, and everyone who was paying attention around me.
The latter was sadly in short supply. Strange thing about the United
States. We're going to war and no one seems to be paying that much attention.
War is inevitable. Why think about it much?
Anyways, back in the good old days, I had a lot of respect for Colin Powell.
I thought he was an honorable man and knew where he stood on the issues. A
man of peace, but not afraid of battle. So when the entire Iraq thing was
simmering on the back burner, having Colin Powell in the administration seemed
like a blessing to us who were scared shitless of all the war talk. At the
time (early 2002), the administration was floating various trial balloons about
their war plans. Powell was on the side of trying to deal with Iraq
diplomatically and through the aegis of the UN.
This seemed to cost Powell a lot of political capital. The right wing
press slashed him with razors. They left burning bags of shit on his
doorstep. They TP'd his house. Egged his car. Well,
symbolically at least.
But then I started to wonder about the man. It seemed that if he really
had the principles he claimed he did, he would have resigned over the issue.
Well, I think he should have resigned - but what's my advice worth anyway?
In any event, I rationalized it as Powell realizing he was the only sane head in
the bunch had to stay on. Resigning would mean a terrible war was
inevitable. Staying on he might see that Iraq was disarmed with the help
of our allies and that inspections would work. War was the last resort,
and something we as a world (through the UN) should do together. If
nothing else, because it's really expensive. The moral justification is
nice, too.
Then, Powell turned into a hawk almost overnight. The reason, the
common narrative goes, was the comment by the French and Germans that they would
be opposed to any action in the security council. Meaning that France was
threatening to veto any new measure which would give the US a green flag to
finally get its war on. Apparently, this so infuriated Powell that he
switched overnight from a diplomatic route to a full blown war hawk.
Nothing's Gonna Change My World
Before Powell's flip, my right wing friends were all equally infuriated with
him. Now, they can't stop singing his praises. Why? He's on
their side now. How fickle. But then again, so am I.
As to me, the thing that struck me immediately was how very good Karl Rove and his
merry band of minions are at manipulating the American populace. Think
about it. We were all played in a global facade of Good Cop / Bad
Cop. On the bad cop side was all of the war hawks. Rummy,
Cheney, Perle, etc. Powell was playing the good cop. So I think the
administration - and Rove in particular - was doing this all along. I
think that they knew they were going to need someone in the administration that
the American people trusted. Someone to tell them that the war was the
right thing to do. And they had this Colin Powell fellow who fit the bill
perfectly.
So they started constructing this piece of theatre somewhere around June or July
of 2002. They started emphasizing the differences that Powell had with the
war hawks. They started leaking arguments between Powell and Rummy on a
weekly basis. They even went to great lengths to have a meeting in
Crawford, Texas where everyone was present, EXCEPT Powell. They kept
saying that they weren't talking about the war, and this was just a typical
planning meeting regarding defense department expenditures for the coming year.
The press, and the spin, however was all about how Powell was being isolated
from the rest of the administration. He wasn't part of the war planning
that was going on. He was alone in his calls for diplomacy.
And like someone innocent being grilled in an interrogation room, the American populace
clung to good cop Powell like a desperate child. If anyone didn't want to be thrown
in the Briar Patch of war with Iraq, it was Powell. He was a military man,
and someone who knew about the horrors of war. A cool head in an otherwise
seething caldron of war hysteria that makes up this administration.
So, quite like Brer Rabbit, Powell was pleading with the administration not to
be thrown in that ugly briar patch. He feared it. He kicked and
screamed and begged the administration not to throw him in.
Brer Rabbit, he's over there hollering and
tusseling and moving. Brer Bear, he's mighty tickled because he knows he's got
that old rabbit now. Before Brer Bear could raise his head up good, shooom! Brer
Rabbit's going down the road lickety split, "Ha, ha, ha, ha! I told you, Brer
Bear, you shouldn't pay attention to what I said because us rabbits was born in
the briar patch."
- The Song of the South
We're now committed and nothing is going to stand in way on their march to
Baghdad. I just hope that Brer Rabbit hasn't started a tussle with a Tar
Baby, now that he's tricked us with the Briar Patch theatrics. It seems
we've had a peek into Karl Rove's playbook and it looks like he's been borrowing
heavily off of Song of the South.
At this point I think that the troops are all going to be whistling
Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah as they march into Baghdad and we as a nation start
beating up the Tar Baby of Iraq.
Somehow, I don't think they realize what they're doing. Yea, they know
what they want. But I don't think they have a clue as to what we're all in
for. Powell, like many strategists, seems to think he is fighting a war
against a single enemy or an identifiable group. He is not. He is
fighting a war against a political religion. At times it seems like
America is pretty much ruled by a political religion, too, given the fact that
Ralph Reed and his buddies have a lot of political power these days. Back
to values. Having prayer meetings in the white house. Posting the 10
commandments in schools and courtrooms.
One Nation, Under God
Yesterday, we found out the French and Germans have a plan for re-enforcing the
inspections. Hans Blix is reporting that Iraq is making progress on the
commitment front, but still has a way to go. The Administration is puffing
its chest up and making all kinds of disparaging remarks about this effort...
Again, there is no alternative to war - despite all they are telling us.
Maybe all this bluster and lust for war will actually have the effect of the
right thing being done. Maybe the inspection regime and disarmament
proposed by France and Germany will actually work because of the
administration's apparent unbridled desire for war. Maybe that's what it
took before some of the saner countries started waking up and realizing they had
to actually deal with this problem before the US takes care of it in a fashion
nobody (but Americans) think is a good way to deal with it.
I dunno. Sometimes the right things happen for all the wrong reasons.
But I'm not counting on it. I think these guys are out for a regime change
at all costs, and nothing less will satisfy them. We can have 100
inspectors for ever Iraqi citizen, and a 100% effective inspection regime and
they still won't be satisfied.
Of course, they'll still be telling us that war is the last resort.
Something that they don't wish to do. But all the drooling and slobbering
that is impossible to ignore makes their protests ring hollow. I think if
they really wanted disarmament, there are plenty of alternatives short of war.
They just aren't interested in the slightest.
2003.02.09
