A Million Mogadishus?

By now, the comments made by Nicholas de Genova at a Columbia University teach-in the other night have penetrated to the furthest reaches of the mediascape. "The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military," he said. "I personally would like to see a million Mogadishus." Responses have ranged from "he doesn't represent me!" to "let's go get that motherf***er!". Looks like there's not much worse de Genova could have said.

Here's the thing, though: I agree with him. Kind of. With reservations.

Let me be clear: Although I share de Genova's frustration at the willingness of American soldiers to kill for what is surely a corrupt cause, I do not want to see American soldiers lose their lives. I also do not want to see Iraqi soldiers, and especially not Iraqi civilians, dead. American soldiers and Iraqi soldiers have to bear some of the blame for carrying out this war, but the real blame lies with their leaders, the politicians and string-pullers on both sides who ordered them into battle.

But how do we stop it? How do we put an end to this war, and the next one, and the one after that? When we're done in Iraq (which we never will be, it seems, but say when an American flag flies over Baghdad) it looks like we'll be rolling right on to Iran. Then Syria. Then what? What other clients might be found for this new, military-sponsored structural adjustment program? Saudi Arabia? Certainly the country that gave us 9/11 and that continues to give us lots and lots of oil would be even more of a threat if current reforms don't go our way. Chechnya? Certainly a good use for all those troops we're training up in Georgia. The Phillipines? Sure, why not? We've got troops there already, and anywhere there's uppity Muslims will make an easy-to-sell target back home. What's to stop the US--my country, mind you-- from carrying the 21st century war to all corners of the earth? We've tried massive, worlwide protests. Mr. Bush dismissed public opinion as irrelevant. The UN has tried to reign in Bush and Co., with a resounding lack of success. It is clear, I think, that nothing short of a massive military failure in Iraq is going to prevent the worst, at this point. I don't wish for "a million Mogadishus", and I think, in terms of the loss of human life, de Genova doesn't either, but I don't see how else this military juggernaut is going to be stopped. And, American media "reportage" aside, there's lots of people out there who feel strangely elated--guiltily elated--about reports of in Iraq. They're not happy that soldiers are dying, or even that the Coalition forces aren't doing as well as we'd been led to expect (Scroll 2/3 down for Perlse's comments), they're angry that lives--American. Iraqi, and other--are being wasted by people who don't know what they're doing but insisted on doing it anyway.

LinktoComments('91759569')
Old Comments