Bush meets Blair for summit, they agree war likely to go on "no matter how long it takes", but disagree on whether there will be a postwar role for the United Nations. Trying to run Iraq for any length of time without intenational sanction (and there is no alternative to the UN) would be a sure sign of hubris.
From ex NY Times reporter (Central America, intifada, Sudan, Yemen, Algeria, Punjab, Roumania, Kuwait, Kurdistan, Bosnia, Kosovo) Chris Hedges' War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002):
War makes the world understandable, a black and white tableau of them and us. It suspends thought, especially self-critical thought. All bow before the supreme effort. We are one. Most of us willingly accept war as long as we can fold it into a belief system that paints the ensuing suffering as necessary for a higher good, for human beings seek not only happiness but also meaning. And tragically war is sometimes the most powerful way in human society to achieve meaning.
In other words, all wars -- even unavoidable ones -- create illusory meaning based on lies. Hedges is particularly good on the dangerously addictive "false solidarity" which comes into being during wartime. This creates a spurious identification of fellow-suffering with insiders while disparaging that of enemies. "If the humility which we gained from our defeat in Vietnam is not the engine that drives our response to future terrorist strikes, even those that are cataclysmic, then we are lost." He knows from hubris alright.
|
From ex NY Times reporter (Central America, intifada, Sudan, Yemen, Algeria, Punjab, Roumania, Kuwait, Kurdistan, Bosnia, Kosovo) Chris Hedges' War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002): In other words, all wars -- even unavoidable ones -- create illusory meaning based on lies. Hedges is particularly good on the dangerously addictive "false solidarity" which comes into being during wartime. This creates a spurious identification of fellow-suffering with insiders while disparaging that of enemies. "If the humility which we gained from our defeat in Vietnam is not the engine that drives our response to future terrorist strikes, even those that are cataclysmic, then we are lost." He knows from hubris alright.
- bruno 3-28-2003 1:36 am