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.