demonstratr

Of course, it comes as a shock to no one reading this that anyone would find that the War in Iraq is not going well.  However, it may come as a shock to hear that today John Warner, a senior Republican Senator and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has returned from a trip to Iraq to say that things are falling apart.  You can see the New York Times report at: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/world/middleeast/06capital.html.  Warner’s indignation at Prime Minister al-Maliki only serves to highlight the starry-eyed naivety that still predominates among US leadership.  They now have the audacity to claim that the Iraqi leaders are the problem.  Their general sentiment: “The US Plan would be working but the Iraqi government isn’t doing enough to stop sectarian violence.”  Indeed, this was the reason for Condaleeza Rice’s visit yesterday to Iraq and this pressure on the Iraqi government led to the suspension of a full brigade of national police (listen to the NPR report here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6204238).  This idea is fundamentally bankrupt and represents an attempt on the part of Republicans and the Bush administration to admit there’s a mess (thus not to seem out of touch or like liars) and to simultaneously shirk responsibility.  This itself only serves to illustrate how narrow their vision is and how completely self-serving - more US troops have been killed in the last week than during almost any other week of fighting (24 in a period of three days) and it was reported in today’s New York Times that nearly 4000 Iraqi police officers have been killed in the last two years.  As the title of Bob Woodward’s book suggests, these people are in a state of total denial.

There is currently a civil war in Iraq.  The US initiated this war by 1) destroying Iraq and its infrastructure in a frivolous war, 2) failing to repair this infrastructure after the war, 3) failing to consider prior to the war that there would be any ethnic or religious tension, and 4) exacerbating what tensions there were through a complete insensitivity to anything like REALITY.  There is no simple solution to these problems.  Suspending a police brigade will not end a civil war.  Nor will decrying a prime minister.  The US should never have gone to Iraq and it should not remain there now.  Iraqis living in Iraq believe that the US presence in Iraq causes more violence (see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/28/AR2006092800408.html).  Isn’t time that we start trusting Iraqis over US politicians about the political fate of Iraq?  

Brandon

The UK College Dems will be having a “military appreciation day” on Wednesday, October  4.  I suppose I understand the “political” motivations behind such a thing.  And, I imagine they’re about the same as those that led to a 100-0 vote in the Senate recently on a $70 Billion appropriations bill for the war in Iraq.  Or, the same as the motivations that led 12 Dems to vote for the torture bill on Thursday.  Nobody wants to be soft on “defense.”  And, apparently nobody wants to ask the hard questions about what is being “defended.” 

I don’t appreciate the military.  And, I’m saddened that the Dems (at UK and across America) can’t see beyond their very narrow “political” goals. 

I say I don’t appreciate the military.  What does that mean?  What is the military?  I don’t think we should think of it as a specific group of people.  Indeed, every day the set of people “in the military” changes, but the military itself does not.  So, when I say that I don’t appreciate the military, I don’t mean that I don’t like the people or that I think everyone ”in the military” is bad.  I know plenty of people who are or were ”in the military” that I think are great people. There are also, obviously, a bunch of assholes ”in the military.”  It’s as ridiculous to believe that everyone ”in the military” is a hero or a great person as it is to believe that everyone “in college” is a genius or a rational person.  Institutions don’t work like that.  People (good people, bad people) find themselves “in” institutions - they enact them.  Mostly, this doesn’t promote or discourage good or evil behavior.  By and large, institutions are value neutral - so long as one behaves in conformity with the rules of the institution, it is not disturbed by otherwise commendable or repugnant actions.  I don’t ”appreciate the miliaty.”  This doesn’t mean that I don’t like anyone who is or was in the military.  Just the same, it doesn’t mean that I think everyone in the military is a great person.

So, what is the military?  The military is the instrument of warfare.  It is the institution that prepares for war and orders the behavior of humans such that they are capable of engaging in warfare.  This I do not appreciate.  I do not find it of value that human beings be made capable of engaging in war - that they be ordered (both in the sense of commanded and in the sense of arranged) to kill other humans.  Indeed, warfare is the ultimate confusion concerning what is of value (the word ”war” comes from the Old High German ”werran” meaning to confuse).  The conduct of war (again this should be taken in the double sense of the actual engagement in warfare and the behavior that enacts such an engagement) presupposes that human lives are less valuable than some proposed objective or goal (e.g. homeland security or procurement of oil).  But, of coure, humans are priceless (or worthless).  There is no goal that justifies murdering us - we are worth nothing in that we always transcend the realm of any possible e-valuation.  Warfare puts a price on human life - anyone is potential “collateral damage.”  The military is the institution that is called for and grounded in the misguided attempt to make human life “valuable.”  The word “army” is derived from the same word as “arm” (think of “taking up arms” and “armament”)  which is at once the word for the appendages attached to our upper body and the word for an implement or tool (think of the relationship of the words ”hand” and “handy”).  The military or ”army” is the means for achieving some end.  It is the tool for conducting war.  I don’t appreciate war or find it of value (neither do I find humans of value, but for clearly different reasons).  Therefore, I don’t appreciate the military.

It’s a shame that “politics” must always amount to posturing for the Democrats.  I still believe this is why they can’t beat the Republicans - they refuse to ask hard questions or propose serious answers.  Instead, they “appreciate the military.”  Which is to say, they mouth words and perform deeds that are propagandistic at their heart.  And, again, propaganda is a very basic way of disrespecting people and treating them as means to some end.  Accordingly, people aren’t smart enough to be told the truth or brave enough to set out on the path of serious questioning (e.g. what is the military?).  And, people are useful - in that their agreement can help one to secure or sustain “political” power.  It would be sobering and inspiring if anyone in the “political sphere” had the guts and the vision to respect people and to treat them as priceless (or worthless) and therefore as deserving honesty.  Apparently, this isn’t the sort of thing we can expect from the Democrats.                 

First, we will be meeting tomorrow, September 28 at 8 PM at the Common Grounds Coffee House.  Anyone who’s interested please join us.  We’ll be planning another mini-rally on UK’s campus and other actions for the semester.

Next, the Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice will be hosting a press conference in Fort Knox, Kentucky in support of Darrell Anderson on Tuesday, October 3 at around 11:30 AM.  There is a group leaving from Lexington from the Vo Tech school off of Leestown road at around 9 AM.  They’d like to see us out there and this would be a good thing to be a part of.  if anyone would like contact info, please let me know.  I sent out a couple of articles on Darrell’s case, so I hope everyone is familiar enough to understand the importance of such a press conference.

Brandon

OPERATIONS 

In autumn, Operation Enduring Freedom commenced,
 which some party-poopers wanted to nickname Operation  Infinite Self-Indulgence.
We tied flags to the antennae of our cars
that snapped like fire when we drove. 

In winter there was Operation Gentle Sledgehammer,
which seemed linguistically a little underdigested, 
but we lined up squads of second-graders
              to stand at attention while we beat a drum. 

 Let me make it clear that I was
as doubtful as anyone about Operation Racial Provocation 
but I loved Operation Religious Suspicion, 

which led to Operation Eye For An Eye, 
which was succeeded by Operation Helping Hand;
—Let me tell you that was a scary-looking hand!
But that was also a very successful Operation. 

 Someday you will be required to perform a terrible deed 
in order to save yourself,
                              but save yourself for what?  

 That would be a question for Operation
Self-Examination to answer,
which is a very painful operation
performed without anesthesia
in a naked room full of shadows and light. 

Perhaps I might suggest, instead,
Operation Self-Medication, or Operation Endless Mindless Distraction?
In the meantime Operation Collateral Amnesia
is proceeding very smoothly
When it is over we want call it Operation One Big Happy Family— 
Is that okay with you?