bob's blog

Thoughts and the words they give rise to are my only tools.

The doctrine of preemption is riding on one outcome. Our ability to re-construct the country we are de-constructing. If in the next few years we manage to do what all the King’s men couldn’t do, create a democratic Arab State, we will be vindicated. If we manage to do it with the blessing and financial assistance of the European Union, we will be exalted. That seems to be hinging on our ability to spread the profit beyond Haliburton, et al. If French companies profit, they’ll be with us. If the Russians get their Soviet era loans repaid via the lucrative oil contracts they had with Saddam’s regime, they also will be onboard. In that case, might will be deemed to have been right. Allah the almighty will confer his blessing on the ends even as he opposed the means.

The doctrine the Bush administration is advancing is not new, we have been reminded. There was Grenada, Panama, and Somalia.. Those of course represent the overt actions. There was Allende, for a brief time, an elected non-dictator, the first domino of the South American domino theory that had to be nudged slightly by our covert troops working with bags of money and little or no transparency. An operation that moved quickly to decapitate a foreign government in a Sovereign Nation that did not pose even a hint of threat to our national security. Let’s not go there publicly and face that truth. In a world dominated by a super power able to operate over the airwaves the seawaves, and the outer reaches of the atmosphere, is there a doctrine that allows unilateral force to be exercised that is not suspect? One man’s preemption is another man’s war of aggression to paraphrase an old idiom.

I always like the schoolyard analogy. Hermann Hesse explores that world in “Demian” and advances the scenario that overcoming a powerful bully requires an alliance with a benevolent arm twister. An Elliot Ness guardian angel that fears no evil, carries a big stick and a small gun. One just big enough to command respect yet easy to conceal. The reason to conceal the gun is so you can walk down the street without frightening too many people. The reason for the big stick is to let everyone know that you mean business. The way to confront the bully is on your terms when everyone is watching. You walk upright, face forward, speak your piece and flash your gun. The others don’t see the gun, they only see the bully’s face turn white. They see the bully walk away and cheer the hero. The schoolyard is safe once again.

Would that things were so simple. The reality is that the bully too has alliances, an organization of leg breakers and hit men. They see you flash the gun and go to your house and kill your little sister, rape your mother and smash your windows. They use violence and intimidation to send a strong message to the entire schoolyard. This is our playground and we make our own rules. Things seem pretty hopeless for awhile until you get them for tax evasion, or conspiracy, coming in the middle of the night with search warrants and klieg lights.

The bully never operates with impunity for long. There is a mitigating force. Ghandi called it Satyagraha. The truth force. It doesn’t work with guns, it works with reason. This is what we have as individuals to counter the alliance of evil. The evil that is practiced by those who use violence and rule by decree.

Law is an evolution of thought put into words. As we confront the way humans interact in circumstances previously unforseen, we develop a vocabulary of action. In each case we present the best arguments we can muster and make decisions based on the best available advice. When thing go bad out there, we do some soul searching and refine our course of action. That is the narrative of the last five thousand years of creating and utilizing law to govern the affairs of man.

There is review. There is always constant review and over time we hold up the candle to the darkness and shed light on ignorance and stupidity. That is the tradition that we adhere to in all cultures to create justice in the affairs of men.

What happened in the past few days that wiped out the memory of law as a truth force and installed a killing machine to eradicate our personal definition of evil?

Where is it written that in order to maintain the world’s highest standard of living and the consumption of the lions share of world resources, it is permissible to undo other governing structures? Are we so blinded by arrogance that we can tolerate no other system of governance but our own? What of the system that gives voice to women in equal share to their numbers?

The world is a complicated place. There are many systems of governance that discriminate against some or all of their citizens. Can we use violence to overturn them all? If we manage to create a better Iraq, will Saudi Arabia, or Kuwait feel more secure?

Those who are best served by the status quo of governance cannot for a moment feel secure if their system is unlike our own. That includes some of our closest friends.

The movement toward a system of governance that is universally accepted as the best Political System Available puts our own imperfect system at risk. When our system has shed it’s imperfections, then we can export it. Until then we would do well to spare the world any more violence.

The world it seems is ruled by those with money. They will not relinquish that hold willingly but by necessity. The system that replaces money as a tool of power will look a great deal more like a system of collaboration than what we have. It will give women a much greater voice in their political life.

Bob