meditations

No, not the basketball team

When I got a mail from a friend entitled "Seattle Storm" with a picture attached I was expecting it to be about Lauren Jackson's nude photos in an Australian magazine, which apparently are causing some outrage in the prudish US of A. "Only in America" as they say... yet another reason for the French to turn their noses up at us. But instead it was this lovely photograph, a far less controversial type of "beauty."

Slipping down the slope

In the early days of the Iraq war Gunter Grass, the Nobel Peace Prize winning German author, penned an article for the International Herald Tribune titled "The Moral Decline of a Superpower". It was, of course, rather controversial, but in part due to the timing it got far more attention in Europe than in the US.

Fourteen months later Grass' comments (which I have appended below) seem downright mild given the course of events in the interim. His essay only addressed our fall from the moral mountaintop; today we are deep in a rift, with no bottom in sight. We have seen each and every factual justification for our first "pre-emptive" (actually preventive) war cast by the wayside. Talented, dedicated, and promising young men and women continue to fall daily. To this cost in blood must be added a far greater loss in treasure. Certainly the tangible treasure --- the billions wasted in an effort which has made us no safer and has brought no one associated with 9/11 to heel --- are well within the resources of the richest country on the planet. But the moral treasure is another matter.

The most recent "expense" is the news that our Secretary of Defense put a confirmed POW on ice, taking him off the books and hiding him from the Red Cross. No splitting hairs here, this is nothing less than an explicit war crime. Moreover, since Rummie (remember the happier days this was a term of affection? sigh...) was informed by his staff this was a direct violation of the Geneva Conventions and issued the order anyway, there can be no question of motive or intent.

Remarkably, having "disappeared" this prisoner, the military essentially lost track of him and he has not been interrogated in almost a year, meaning no practical advantage was gained from behavior which the rest of the world will rightfully regard as repulsive. Just another example of our fearless leaders being arrogant, immoral, AND incompetent.

There are those among you who will make arguments about the fog of war or the difficulties of interpreting international treaties --- hell, you can even haul out the "can't make an omelet without breaking eggs bromide" --- but I am going to find a way to register in a state where my vote matters and come November I'll be waiting in line before the polls are open.

The moral decline of a superpower
Günter Grass
Tribune Media Services International
Friday, April 11, 2003

Preemptive war

BEHLENDORF, Germany
A war long sought and planned is now under way. All deliberations and warnings of the United
Nations notwithstanding, an overpowering military apparatus has attacked preemptively in violation
of international law. No objections were heeded. The Security Council was disdained and scorned as
irrelevant. As the bombs fall and the battle for Baghdad continues, the law of might prevails.

Based on this injustice, the mighty have the power to buy and reward those who might be willing
and to disdain and even punish the unwilling. The words of the current American president - "Those
who are not with us are against us" - weigh on current events with the resonance of barbaric
times.

It is hardly surprising that the rhetoric of the aggressor increasingly resembles that of his
enemy. Religious fundamentalism leads both sides to abuse what belongs to all religions, taking
the notion of God hostage in accordance with their own fanatical understanding. Even the
passionate warnings of the Pope, who knows how lasting and devastating the disasters wrought by
the mentality and actions of Christian crusaders have been, were unsuccessful.

Disturbed and powerless, but also filled with anger, we are witnessing the moral decline of the
world's only superpower, burdened by the knowledge that only one consequence of this organized
madness is certain: Motivation for more terrorism is being provided, for more violence and
counterviolence. Is this really the United States of America, the country we fondly remember? The
generous benefactor of the Marshall Plan? The forbearing instructor in the lessons of democracy?
The candid self-critic? The country that once made use of the teachings of the European
Enlightenment to throw off its colonial masters and to provide itself with an exemplary
constitution? Is this the country that made freedom of speech an incontrovertible human right?

It is not just foreigners who cringe as this ideal pales to the point where it is now a caricature
of itself. There are many Americans who love their country too, people who are horrified by the
betrayal of their founding values and by the hubris of those holding the power. I stand with them.
By their side, I declare myself pro-American. I protest with them against the brutalities brought
about by the injustice of the mighty, against all restrictions of the freedom of expression,
against information control reminiscent of the practices of totalitarian states and against the
cynical equations that make the deaths of so many innocents acceptable so long as economic and
political interests are protected.

No, it is not anti-Americanism that is damaging the image of the United States; nor do the
dictator Saddam Hussein and his extensively disarmed country endanger the most powerful country in
the world. It is President Bush and his government that are diminishing democratic values,
bringing sure disaster to their own country, ignoring the United Nations, and that are now
terrifying the world with a war in violation of international law.

We Germans are often asked if we are proud of our country. To answer this question has always been
a burden. There were reasons for our doubts. But now I can say that the rejection of this
preemptive war by a majority in my country has made me proud of Germany. After having been largely
responsible for two world wars and their criminal consequences, we have made a difficult step. We
seem to have learned from history.

The Federal Republic of Germany has been a sovereign country since 1990. Our government made use
of this sovereignty by having the courage to object to those allied in this cause, the courage to
protect Germany from a step back to a kind of adolescent behavior. I thank Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder and his foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, for their fortitude in spite of all the
attacks and accusations.

Many people find themselves in a state of despair these days, and with good reason. Yet we must
not let our voices, our No to war and Yes to peace, be silenced. What has happened? The stone that
we pushed to the peak is once again at the foot of the mountain. But we must push it back up, even
with the knowledge that we can expect it to roll back down again.

Günter Grass was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize for literature. This comment was translated from
German by Daniel Slager and distributed by Global Viewpoint for Tribune Media Services
International.

No need to renew their passports

My favorite columnist, William Pfaff, has written an article for the IHT weighing in on the lengthening paper trail between the abuses at Abu Ghraib and a conscious strategy directed from the highest levels of the administration. Pfaff, hardly a man prone to hyperbole, minces no words and says "The question put to [executive branch] lawyers was how the president and the others could commit war crimes and get away with it."

How could we have fallen so far and so fast? Less than three years ago the US had the admiration, sympathy and support of virtually every nation on the planet. Today we are widely despised, and our moral fisc is empty, all in the pursuit of a policy that, as Pfaff says,

has been futile and irrational, as well as evil. The nearly universal uselessness of torture is well-known in intelligence and special warfare circles. Even if you have a key figure who does possess useful information, and you eventually get him (or her) to tell you what you want, what actual good is it?

Is it really true? Is it merely what the torturer has inadvertently conveyed to the victim that he wants to hear? Even if true, is it any longer useful?

Denial is always the first stage of grieving, so one can (and should) forgive the large portion of the country that has not yet focused on these events, or that still holds out hope that things are not as bad as they seem. But already we are far enough down this road to see that, short of a deus ex machina we're on the verge of a scandal that may darken our name for generations. Over at another venue Josh Marshall comes to the same conclusion:

We're like contestants on Wheel of Fortune with a long phrase spelled out in front of us with maybe one or two letters missing. We know what the letters spell. It's obvious. We just don't have the heart to say it out loud.

It is, of course, highly unlikely that any member of the Bush administration will ever stand trial for war crimes, but indictments for the some can no longer be laughed off. At the very least, Bush and his senior staff will never be able to travel abroad safely again. Given the president's complete lack of interest in the rest of the world that's not much of a loss (for him), but I suspect Richard Perle will soon be gnashing his teeth at the prospect of giving up his home in the south of France.

Sent on a Fool's Errand

Just as I've been quiet for the past couple weeks, there was quite a lull over at Billmon's Whiskey Bar. The bar was actually closed for about a week while he recovered from a long trip to the Middle East. But I'm glad to see that Billmon's back up again, and indeed is as prolific as ever. The whiskey has really been flowing.

Among his recent posts is one marking Memorial Day, which honors the members of our armed services, both past and present (including many of Billmon's own relatives). Unlike Billmon, I'm not from a family with a strong military history --- although one of my younger brothers is a highly successful Marine who now commands the security detail at a nuclear submarine base --- so my ability to identify is somewhat limited, but I think he strikes a lovely balance between respect for our troops and disdain for the leaders who have put them in harm's way to no good purpose.

When visiting my brother I never cease to be impressed with the young people in his command. They are, to a man (and woman) polite, disciplined, dedicated, and sincere. They are, in many ways, the best this country has to offer and a critical part of our hope for the future. That treasures such as these are regularly sacrificed in the foolish and ill-considered enterprise that is Iraq is a national tragedy.

I could go on and lament the additional dead and wounded in Afghanistan, the stop-loss orders, the unfair burdens placed upon our National Guard units, and the jarring disregard for families who have paid the ultimate sacrifice --- if the War on Terror is so vital, why does our current government not honor our Gold Star Mothers and wives on a regular basis? --- but instead, in honor of our armed services, of Memorial Day, and the D-Day Anniversary, I suggest you just read BillMon's lovely post and the associated comments, which are generally very positive.

A Brief Hiatus

Please forgive the lack of posts the last couple of weeks. I've been tied down with various personal issues, including a home renovation project and an extended trip to the East Coast for my 25th college reunion (can I really be that old?)

But perhaps the biggest reason I haven't been motivated to write more is the frantic pace of events in recent months. It's hard to believe that only 5 weeks ago the pull-back from Fallujah was considered a major failure. Since then we've had Abu Ghraib, the fall of Chalabi, the fall of Tenet, and on and on. As someone who is more of an essayist than a pointillist blogger, it's been exhausting just keeping up with the news, let alone writing about it.

The good news (for the few fans this site has garnered) is that I've assembled a pretty good list of topics during my break, and hope to post regularly for the next couple of weeks at a minimum.

Y'all come back now, y'hear.