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Time
Out! A Pause for Longer-Range Thinking
April 25, 2002
By Bernard Weiner
 As
the daily political and military atrocities magnetize our
attention, it does us good now and then to take a step back
and try for some longer-range perspectives on the world situation,
and politics in the U.S. of A. So here, in short takes, are
some reflections on four areas that could use some deeper
examination: political despair, Bush's coming downfall, the
new face of warfare, and America's response to Islam.
1. Pendulum Soldiers
Shadow forces have been let loose across the globe. Every
so often, it happens. The center, for a variety of sociologic/spiritual/political
reasons, doesn't hold and suddenly wild, crazy, bad people
take over key areas of the world, wreaking havoc and destruction.
For awhile, people of good will and humanistic tendencies
are frightened to death, not being all that familiar with
how to relate to extremist leaders. Invariably, the bad guys,
because they don't operate well within rational boundaries,
go too far with their arrogant, brutal behavior and ambitions,
and the pendulum swings back the other way. The bad guys are
gone, or at least are in the descendancy, and the center begins
to hold again. It's the old political/cultural see-saw.
In our time, it's not clear whether Bush is a symbol or cause
of this shadow ascendancy on the world scene. Certainly, his
administration's arrogant, in-your-face, take-no-prisoners,
us-vs.-them style, has encouraged other political leaders
to act reprehensibly as well around the globe, be it in Italy
or France or Africa or Arabia or Israel.
We're living in a political world that threatens to increase
our sense of despair, with more than our fair share of horrible
news each day. And so we gird our loins for political battle,
knowing we're going to get verbally pummeled, called names,
have our patriotism questioned, maybe even face violence or
official surveillance. But we also keep this long-term knowlege
in our hearts: that tides do change. Keeping the faith during
the bad times is so all-important, laying the foundations,
the momentum building, for that inevitable pendulum-swing
later. So, dear reader, think of yourself as a Pendulum Soldier,
actively working to bring peace and justice and proper balance
to this country, this planet, ourselves. We accomplished a
lot with the Civil Rights Movement, helping to stop the Vietnam
War, setting up environmental safeguards; we warned of the
dangers of globalization, we founded institutions to combat
the worst of the hardright's plans. We can do it again. Eyes
on the prize. Don't let the bastards drag you down; falldowngetup
-- one word.
2. Cracks in the Facade
For awhile, it looked like the Bush Administration was invincible.
In the wake of the horrific 9/11 crimes against humanity,
nobody seemed to have the courage to put up much of a fight
when Bush quickly responded in ways that never would be accepted
in normal circumstances. This band of mean-spirited, greedy,
determined power-seekers ran roughshod over the Constitution,
the institutions of democracy, over real and imagined "enemies"
abroad, etc. Instead of governing from the middle and seeking
consensus in this new struggle -- which would have been appropriate
anyway, given that Bush lost the presidential popular vote
by half-a million ballots and reached his office only through
a political maneuver on the Supreme Court -- Bush behaved
as if he had an enormous mandate and didn't need to consult
anybody, on anything. It was full speed ahead in enacting
long-range tax cuts for the wealthy, ignoring Congress, making
secret anything that might prove embarrassing or potentially
criminal, freezing out Democrats, retrenching on environmental
progress, behaving like a rampaging cowboy in foreign affairs,
etc. etc.
The point here is not to examine the details of Bush's program,
but to indicate, as per #1 above, that such arrogant behavior
cannot, and will not, continue forever. Every action carries
within itself an opposite reaction. Bush&Co. is behaving like
a secret corporation, motivated by greed and the desire for
monopoly power, and is so outrageous in its open assaults
that even those normally in support find their mouths hanging
open in astonishment at times, both at the ignorance of the
man in charge and in some of the policies they're expected
to champion.
The cracks already are starting to show in domestic policy,
with moderate Republicans and most Democrats joining forces
more often these days to stop some of the more reckless and
dangerous policies propounded by Bush&Co. Even the quiescent
Democrats -- forced into silence lest they be considered unpatriotic
during "wartime" -- are starting to locate their spines, and
are beginning to offer more in the way of opposition.
In foreign policy, the veteran team surrounding Bush thought
itself unchallengeable as well, representing the only superpower
in the world. Until it started to falter again and again,
when running up against the many-layered complexities of the
real world, as opposed to Bush&Co.'s simplistic black-and-white-you're-with-us-or-with-the-terrorists
point of view. They've managed to alienate most of Europe,
many of their reluctant allies in the Muslim world (Cheney
batting zero on his recent trip is a good example), and now,
as a result of its unconscionable and sloppy meddling in the
internal affairs of Venezuela, a good share of Latin America
as well.
In short, in areas domestic and foreign, Bush&Co. are showing
signs of inconsistency, incompetency and behavior unbefitting
the "leader of the free world." And beginning to suffer some
defeats, finally. Consider: No drilling in the Arctic Refuge,
federal and state courts slapping Ashcroft's hands for over-reaching
in his police-state desire to control everything and everyone,
large public rallies in the streets against Bush policies,
editorials from normally-Republican newspapers are starting
to get critical; Bush's approval ratings are slipping fast.
When the final unraveling comes, when critical mass occurs
and the whole deck of cards begins to collapse -- fed by the
discovery of all sorts of embarrassing and possibly criminal
secrets currently being hidden by the administration -- the
end-slide is going to be fast and vicious. Resignation or
impeachment is not out of the question. Keep the pressure
steady and building.
3. The New Face of War
America doesn't want to fight fullscale, front-on, long-running
wars anymore; too many body bags get shipped back to the States
and then there's all hell to pay politically. So, as we've
seen recently, the U.S. prefers a more high-tech approach:
smart bombs dropped from high altitudes, insertion of special
forces for quick missions, unmanned drone aircraft for reconnaisance
and firing of missiles, night-patrol goggles, etc. etc.
So, on one hand, the wealthy, technologically superior U.S.
can, and wishes to, engage in what it laughingly thinks of
as a "clean" war, with minimal casualities and "collateral
damage." But the new enemies of the U.S. and the developed
world don't need all that highfalutin', expensive technology.
All they need is some plastique and nails, suicide martyrs,
computer skills, biological agents, chemical compounds, "dirty"
radiation bombs, and the like. We've been given enough visions
of the future -- airplanes used as bombs, young warriors wearing
TNT jackets, release of anthrax spores in public, massive
viral attacks delivered by email, missing plutonium from labs,
etc. -- but tend to see them as one-off events. It may not
be what many of my lib-rad comrades want to hear but we'd
better get used to the coming world of large terrorist attacks,
and smaller terror happenings -- largely at this point from
Islamic extremists -- and the panic and economic disasters
that will follow.
So we should know what's coming, but the military expenditures
tend still to go to fighting the last war. Partly, it's ignorance
and head-in-the-sandism. (Bush even CUT funds for beefing
up security of nuclear power plants!) Partly, more money gets
made by corporations building large pieces of machinery --
planes, tanks, missiles (and, of course, missile-defense boondoggles)
-- and that's the green fuel for political campaigns.
It'll probably take another huge terrorist attack, something
on the scale of 9/11, or bigger, to serve as our final wake-up
call. Then maybe we'll cancel the "Star Wars" missile-defense
shield R&D, maybe we'll even cancel Bush's huge tax-cut giveaway
(mostly to the wealthy, of course)10 years into the future.
If so, we'll be able to use those freed-up monies so that
we can pay for effective anti-terrorist programs -- and a
wide variety of human-need and infrastructure-repair projects
-- without robbing Social Security and Medicare trust funds,
as Bush is currently doing.
And, maybe, just maybe, we'll start thinking about revising
our foreign policies so that we can alter the chemistry of
the soil in which young potential terrorists grow. Prevention
is always cost-effective in the long run.
4. The Paucity of Understanding: Islam & the West
Imagine yourself a practitioner of Islam in the Middle East.
The mainly Christian West, especially in Europe and America,
demonstrates total ignorance about your faith, and appears
to be engaged in a crusade against your religion. Partly,
that "crusade" (a loaded term employed by Bush, let us remember)
is geopolitical in nature, tied mainly to access to cheap
oil&gas. But partly that crusade seems to grow out of a hearty
disdain for the religion itself, based on prejudice and ignorance
of Islam.
Western leaders are constantly getting caught with their
religious blinders on. Italy's premiere Burlusconi blurting
out that European civilization is far superior to any other
in the world; Bush's "crusade" remark; House Republican Whip
Tom DeLay's inflammatory statement that only Christianity
"offers a comprehensive worldview that covers all areas of
life and thought, every aspect of creation. Only Christianity
offers a way to live in response to the realities that we
find in this world -- only Christianity."
There's such a paucity of understanding of Islam in the West,
and perhaps much the same is true about Christianity/Judaism
in much of the Islamic world. I know this lack of knowledge
about Islam is true for me and many of my friends, though
we are quickly trying to catch up. When our elected leaders
make disparaging remarks about the religion, openly, you know
that anti-Islam bigotry and ignorance runs deep in our Western
societies. (At least, Nixon and Rev. Billy Graham tried to
hide their anti-Jewish bigotry.)
Now, having said that, it is also true, as many Moslem commentators
have pointed out, that contemporary Islam is greatly divided
and troubled, not quite deciding how to incorporate its old,
revered religious teachings into the modern world of democracy
and free-markets. Many Moslem societies are in the process
of making the transition -- such moderate states as Egypt,
Jordon, Indonesia, et al. -- but others are still not sure
how much, or in some cases even whether, to relate to the
non-Islamic world. And that division runs deep in individual
societies, Iran being one clear example, with its more worldly
younger population anxious for reform and more open access
to the outside world but the conservative mullahs constantly
standing in the way with prohibitive restrictions.
Given this conflicted point of view, which reflects the chaos
and confusion of modern life, it is no wonder that Islamic
fundamentalism has risen more and more to the fore, bringing
with it not only answers to the seeming chaos of life but,
concomitantly, an antagonism to the forces regarded as bringing
moral impurity into the healthy spiritual body of Islam: Western
values derived from non-Islamic cultures, which threaten to
confuse and tempt practitioners of Islam. Of course, there
will be Osama bin Ladens, and fatwas, and calls to jihad in
such a culture clash.
Not all Moslems, of course, are extremists. Most are, or
would be, content being allowed to practice their faith, much
as their forefathers did, while interacting with the non-Islamic
world in minor but pleasant-enough ways: buying products from
the West, enjoying Hollywood movies, listening to hip-hop,
etc. But the East/West conflicts, and the seemingly intractable
Israel/Palestine dispute, keep intruding -- as do the inane
comments about Islam from Western leaders like Bush and Burlusconi
and DeLay -- and thus the pot continues to boil. (I haven't
even mentioned how Arab-Americans consider themselves put
upon by the general U.S. population, but in particular by
the Bush Administration, which seems intent on targeting them
for "special consideration," which further isolates them and
puts them at risk.)
Also forcing Moslems into a united front of suspicion against
the U.S. is America's clear support of the current Israeli
government's terror campaign. Granted that there are good
and decent reasons why the U.S. might want to support Israel's
right to exist in a hostile Arab environment -- the only democracy
in the region, affinity and familiarity with the main religion
practiced there, Israel supports U.S. policies, etc. -- but
there is no excuse, especially after the recent horrors associated
with Israel's invasion of the West Bank, for Bush referring
to Ariel Sharon as "a man of peace." What has Bush been smoking?
If the U.S. wants to maintain good relations with the Arab
Moslem countries, it must mobilize a global peace coalition
-- with the same dedication and passion with which it has
organized its "war on terrorism" coalition -- to work mightily
to bring about a peace settlement between the Israelis and
Palestinians. If the U.S. isn't willing to do this, and there
is no evidence to date that Bush is even considering it, all
we can expect is a slide into more slaughter, more regional
instability, more terrorists fluorishing, more disasters.
Israel and the U.S. will have "won" the battle, but risk losing
the war. And the gap between the Christian/Jewish West and
the world of Islam will grow wider and wider, and ever more
dangerous.
Bernard Weiner, Ph.D. in government and international relations,
has taught at Western Washington University and San Diego
State University. He was with the San Francisco Chronicle
for nearly 20 years, and has published in The Nation, Village
Voice, The Progressive and widely on the internet.
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