There is a small gap between the time this column is written and
when it appears, so I will have to I assume that we are continuing
to
”
shock and awe
”
Iraq, and more importantly, the world with the breathtaking
precision and variety of our firepower.
There is a small gap between the time this column is written and when it appears, so I will have to I assume that we are continuing to “shock and awe” Iraq, and more importantly, the world with the breathtaking precision and variety of our firepower. As on the first occasion we did this, the generals hold press briefings to dazzle us with their toys, but they project more manipulation than information.
Shocking and aweing the world is in fact the main point of this exercise, not taking down the two-bit dictator of an oversized sand trap. This is a case of plans within plans, wheels within wheels, and there is a bigger picture. We are seeing the first application of the Bush Doctrine, a revolutionary and fundamental departure from all our history, created and marketed by the DOD’s #2 man Paul Wolfowitz, who shopped it around for years to administrations that didn’t want it, and finally carried it on the back of Sept. 11 into the White House of a malleable president whose entire knowledge of international relations has been spoon-fed to him by a limited number of people from a narrow band of the political spectrum in a very short span of time.
In case you missed the memo, the Bush Doctrine declares that at this moment in history we are alone on top, possessed with weaponry orders of magnitude beyond that of any other country, and we intend to take advantage of the opportunity to stay that way forever. From now on, we alone will decide what constitutes a threat to either our security or our continued dominance of the world. A future threat justifies present action, which was also the late 19th century justification for the U.S. Cavalry slaughtering Native American children and infants: If allowed to live, they would eventually grow up to become our enemies, so kill them now. There is an international organization headquartered in New York in which until last week we were primus inter pares – first among equals – but that organization should change its name to the United Lesser Nations and change its homeland to be among the little people. We have no equal; we recognize no equals.
The Bush Doctrine contains certain implicit assumptions, among them that power confers wisdom and that this President and all his successors will always receive the right advice and do the right thing. Among its consequences are the fact that we no longer have any friends, for inherent in the concept of friendship are the notions of equality and mutual deference. Now, like rock stars, we have an entourage of sycophants – hangers-on ingratiating themselves to obtain favors. Lately, we have taken to sneering at our friends, calling them cowards because they dared to disagree with us; now they are merely irrelevant. Agree with us, disagree with us, it simply doesn’t matter any more: We fly solo. Our new First Premise of Foreign Policy can accurately be distilled into just three words: Might Makes Right.
History may record the unhappy confluence of two factors – a President utterly devoid of statesmanship (Bush is a commander, but not a leader; there is a difference) and a heinous act of terrorism whose result was to bring forth elements in the American psyche best left buried. Like the adolescent who responds to a humiliating incident by bringing a gun to school, all we want now is to be feared. The schoolboy will say he is only acting in self-defense, but the aura of superiority conferred by his weaponry will change him as it is changing us. Requests become orders; belligerence replaces civility. Community becomes isolation.
Bush has brandished the gun. Enough of merely being the strongest; we choose to rule. Many no doubt feel that our cowboy president with his cowboy mentality is the perfect man for the times. Others of us may feel that he has made the State Department an expensive redundancy, as all future diplomacy will emanate from the Department of Defense. We may ultimately find ourselves regretfully shocked and awed by the contents of the Pandora’s box we have opened.
Robert Mitchell practices law in Morgan Hill. His column has appeared in The Dispatch for more than 20 years. It’s published every Tuesday.
