The War of the Imagination
Thus the War of Imagination draped all the complications and contradictions of the history and politics of a war-torn, brutalized society in an ideologically driven vision of a perfect future. Small wonder that its creators, faced with grim reality, have been so loath to part with it. Since the first thrilling night of shock and awe, reported with breathless enthusiasm by the American television networks, the Iraq war has had at least two histories, that of the war itself and that of the American perception of it. As the months passed and the number of attacks in Iraq grew, the gap between those two histories opened wider and wider. And finally, for most Americans, the War of Imagination - built of nationalistic excitement and ideological hubris and administration pronouncements about “spreading democracy” and “greetings with sweets and flowers,” and then about “dead-enders” and “turning points,” and finally about “staying the course” and refusing “to cut and run” - began, under the pressure of nearly three thousand American dead and perhaps a hundred thousand or more dead Iraqis, to give way to grim reality.
Mark Danner | New York Review of Books
November 23rd, 2006 || PermaLink
Give Peace Department a Chance
The Department of Peace would enable the United States to become as effective in addressing the sources of violence as we are in addressing its symptoms — and it would do this for a small fraction of the amount we currently allocate annually to our military: $8 billion a year versus more than $419 billion.It would research, propose and facilitate practical, field-tested solutions to reduce conflict, providing financial and institutional heft to our current ineffectual efforts to deal with all forms of domestic and international violence and discord.
It would advise the president and Congress on the most innovative techniques to establish and promote peace among nations and would research and analyze the root causes of war to help prevent conflicts from escalating to the point of violence.
David Hartsough | Seattle Post-Intelligencer
November 22nd, 2006 || PermaLink
A Crisis Made in Israel
However, there is an element of hypocrisy inherent in the Israeli position. Israel possesses nuclear weapons capabilities that were acquired surreptitiously, and fields a force of modern ballistic missiles capable of firing nuclear warheads into not only Iran, but also every other nation in the region. The irony of Israel, a nation born of the Holocaust and alone among Middle Eastern nations in possessing the holocaust-generating power of nuclear weapons, condemning Iran for its rhetoric while itself espousing the demise of the Iranian government, is lost on few outside of Israel and the United States, and for a large part explains why the legitimacy of the Israeli concerns about Iran to a large extent fall on deaf ears.
Scott Ritter | Nation Books
November 21st, 2006 || PermaLink
First Step in Iraq
The United States upset the regional balance in the Mideast when it invaded Iraq. Restoring it requires bold initiatives, but “cutting and running” must precede them all. Only a withdrawal of all U.S. troops - within six months and with no preconditions - can break the paralysis that enfeebles our diplomacy. And the greatest obstacles to cutting and running are the psychological inhibitions of our leaders and the public.
William E. Odom | Madison Capital Times
November 20th, 2006 || PermaLink
Fixing Iraq?
If George Bush had made his announcement when he first made the decision irrespective of the political consequences, a new Secretary of Defense could already be in place. If the change of Secretary of Defense suggests a change in policy and if a change in policy will ultimately result in a reduction in the number of dead and wounded American service personnel, as it surely will when the withdrawals begin to take place, it seems a pity that Mr. Bush delayed changing the policy fearing a change might adversely affect Republicans in November. Some people would have thought saving lives should be the highest priority. George Bush is not among them.
Christopher Brauchli | CommonDreams
November 19th, 2006 || PermaLink
Another Impeachable Offense
By authorizing the kidnapping, disappearing, and perhaps even the torturing of detainees, Bush was violating the Geneva Conventions and the Treaty Against Torture.
Add that to his lies about the Iraq War, to his illegal spying on American citizens, and to his signing statements, and the case for at least bringing impeachment proceedings forward could not be stronger.
But the Democratic leadership in the House shows no appetite for doing so. Nancy Pelosi announced before the election that impeachment was “off the table.” And John Conyers, who had introduced a bill to explore grounds for impeachment and would now be in a position to pursue it as putative head of the Judiciary Committee, has suddenly come down with a bad case of laryngitis.
Matthew Rothschild | The Progressive
November 18th, 2006 || PermaLink
Waging Peace
Domestically, the department would develop policies and allocate resources to reduce the levels of domestic and gang violence, child abuse, and various other forms of societal discord. The secretary of peace would work with the secretary of education to develop curriculums to teach students alternative conflict resolution techniques and strategies.Internationally, the Department of Peace would advise the president and Congress on the most innovative techniques and ideas for peace-creation among nations. A peace academy, on par with the military service academies, would train civilian peacekeepers and work with the military in the latest nonviolent conflict resolution strategies and approaches. In short, a Department of Peace would work hand in hand with existing government agencies and structures to help ensure that conflict, when it occurs, does not boil over into life-destroying behavior.
Marianne Williamson | Boston Globe
November 17th, 2006 || PermaLink
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