Whom The Gods Would Destroy

Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. -- Euripides

Why are American soldiers dying in Iraq?

There were a lot of complex forces involved in garnering the popular acceptance of this war. The actual reasons they went in are, of course, money (oil) and power (empire). As the current pathetic debacle proves, liberation had nothing to do with it.

Nevertheless, it has to be evident to anyone with the least bit of sense that Iraq will never be stable as long as America occupies the nation -- and even the NuCons are referring to them as the Occupation Forces now. Americans are dying daily. Oil isn't even trickling, much less flowing. And the so-called "flypaper" theory (a truly anti-brained idea if I ever heard one) of drawing terrorist forces into Iraq is only proving -- that entirely contrary to NuCon fantasies -- we are never, never, never going to be able to use Iraq as some sort of staging ground for their neo-imperial delusions. And that doesn't even get into how many innocent Iraqis are being killed, unjustly imprisoned, and having their lives ruined...by well-meaning but mostly clueless American soldiers.

And in spite of this awful, idiotic, tragic situation that was completely avoidable, that's not what burns me the most. What sends me absolutely into orbit is that we wouldn't have to put up with a tenth of it if the Bush Regime would just go to the UN! Admit they screwed up, ask for help, and let the UN take over the transition to a free Iraq. Which, you know, is only why the UN exists. Theoretically, the UN is supposed to prevent war -- or failing that, bring peace as quickly as possible.

Even assuming that the invasion was all about greed (which, I must admit, I don't entirely accept), it still makes sense to do this -- because there's no profit in anything that's going on out there. Oh, sure, Halliburton will get a few kickbacks (must be nice to have a Vice President on the payroll), but as we're quickly learning, holding Iraq is going to cost more than keeping it is worth, both financially and politically. The regime's handpicked Council is never going to have any serious power, every major resource is being sabotaged relentlessly, and America's presence is breeding terrorists like the locusts they are.

Ironically, we could turn this into a massive case of political jiu-jitsu. One of the Iraqi groups actively resisting the occupation condemned the attack on the UN! How's that for using your enemy's strength against them -- local militias fighting al-Qaeda for us, no deal-making needed! Except, of course, we would have to, you know, get out. So in essence, from every intelligent, sane, common-sense point of view, even if you hate and distrust the UN, giving them the job (and the headaches) is the clear, obvious win-win choice!

SO WHY THE HELL ARE WE STILL THERE?!?

Hubris.

It means pride, but hubris is more than that. It's the arrogant sort of pride, the "goeth before a fall" type, the kind of pride that's used to hold the plots of Greek tragedies together -- Euripides is still read today, by the by. Too bad no one in the White House seems to have paid any attention to him.

It's egotism, pure and simple, sheer dogmatic certainty that the Bushistas couldn't possibly have been wrong (see "Immaculate Deception," below). They've bought into their own press, and now it's strangling all wisdom and decency in the global discourse. The Bush Regime has squandered an unprecedented outpouring of goodwill (turning it into the most enormous wave of loathing and resentment of America in living memory), the Taliban are regrouping and retaking chunks of Afghanistan, al-Qaeda is looking stronger than ever, and they now look to be making Vietnam look positively straightforward with the Iraq (call it what it is) quagmire. In the face of all this, they talk about "perseverance" and how we're "winning the war on terror." Hubris.

Meanwhile, having determined themselves the Hand of Gawd on Earth, Rove's domestic army intends to control every facet of American life, by hook or by crook. They're trying to gerrymander districts in Texas and possibly Ohio, they bought a gubernatorial recall in California, and now they're playing the deregulation game with the north-east blackout despite the massive case of exhibit E(nron). Economy? What economy, they try to say -- but Americans aren't buying it. They're turning away from the Bushistas, with Bush's approval ratings dropping to just above 50%; as the Regime's mask, Bush's ratings represent what Americans think of this pack of jackals. Maybe Bush will call the 49% of Americans who see through his BS a "focus group." Hubris.

We can't go to the UN because we can't trust them. We can't go to the UN because it'll make "us" (aka the American Regime) look bad. We can't go to the UN because we'll look weak.

Bull.

We "can't" go to the UN because it'll blow the Immaculate Deception. We "can't" go to the UN because our Dear Leader is too bloody proud to go to them. This is a man who whined at reporters about the California Recall being the biggest political story right now because there's a presidential election coming up. Sure, in about a year AFTER the recall! (In all fairness, reporters pressed him on the matter, though I find it interesting how willing he was to be pressed -- this is a man who avoids press conferences as much as he did flight duty, after all.) It's all about him, him, him. I don't think he even realizes that he's Rove's sock puppet.

Hubris.

There's a common Christian bumper sticker: "If you're living like there's no God -- you'd better be right!" Well, I have a reply: "If you're living like there's only one god, you'd better be right." Perhaps the gods aren't happy with our current cabal of plutocrats. It would certainly explain their sheer, unfathomable incompetence. Of course, there's an easier explanation. You don't even have to read Euripides -- just the morning paper.

(/) Roland
The View From Iraq