The War in Iraq and Traditional Republican Values

At the same time, the destabilizing invasion of Iraq and our position concerning Israel’s invasion of Lebanon have nothing to do with traditional Republican values.

Perhaps it is time for an admission. Mea culpa, I was a Republican. But, over time beginning with Ronald Reagan, I felt as though we were moving away from core Republican values - until with the current “gang of manipulative rascals,” to quote David Brin, the use of power to manipulate racial, social, and religious divisions within the middle classes in order to achieve more wealth for an already overwhelmingly wealthy oligarchy is so outrageous – not to mention that it is also coupled with what seems to be an active attempt to disenfranchise entire segments of the middle class. So, what are those traditional republican values? * A brief list will suffice.

1. The limitation of BIG government.
2. Don’t infringe on the private lives of the people (don’t prescribe sexual behavior).
3. A reverence for the principles of the separation of powers, and of the church and the state.
4. To encourage accountability and SELF-CONTROL in the foreign arena.
5. To promote creative small business instead of an oligarchy of large corporations and their powerful aristocratic boards and chief executive officers.

My final moments as a Republican came when I realized that the entire evangelical Christian segment of it - and by extension the entire party, since the Republican powers that be have used this issue as a devise to gather the evangelical vote - wanted me disenfranchised because of my sexuality. However, it is time for middle class America, Republican, Democrat, Libertarians, and all other independents alike to realize that this gang of Neoconservatives has in mind to disenfranchise all of us through divisive surgical maneuvers, to cut us out from the political body in small groups. They believe that they own truth by God given right, and therefore are empowered to create a world of their own choosing, and their arrogance has no bounds.

Readings

* Brin, David, Ph.D., “War in the 21st Century: Maturity Vs. Neocon Panic and the True Role of Pax Americanna.” David Brin’s Official Web Site, http://www.davidbrin.com/neocons.html. Modified January 1, 2006. Viewed Tuesday, July 15, 2006, 10:10 AM. EDT.

Bush, George W. The National Security Strategy of the United States. The White House, Washington D. C., 2002. http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html. Viewed Sunday, July 16, 2006, 10:15 AM EDT.

Fukuyama, Francis, America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy. New Haven: Yale University Press. 2006.

Marty, Martin E. and Appleby, R. Scott, The Glory and the Power: The Fundamentalist Challenge to the Modern World. Boston: Beacon Press. 1992.

The 13th Kenai River Classic (July 6 to 10), ostensibly a fundraiser for conservation of the habitat along the Kenai River in Alaska, was once again attended by Republican notables, including governors and senators, as well as lobbyists representing major industrial interests. However, in actuality the event is an opportunity for lobbyists to promote their pet projects with their Republican political buddies, showering them with gifts and “freebies.” About 200 industrial lobbyists attended the affair, and they raised $800,000 for their favorite charity while hooking huge king salmon and planning how to continue to scam the American people. Senator Murkowski, R-Alaska, caught the largest, a 63 pounder.

Do I sound resentful? You bet-cha!

Worldwide Fundamentalism, the Middle East and Neoconservative Notions

How is it possible that contemporary political ideas in the United States effect the relationship between Israel and Lebanon/Hezbollah?

First, ideas in this the most powerful nation on earth (for now, at least) are bound to effect other nations. Second, while Postmodern social theory describes a cultural universe that is relativistic, the actual cultural drift during the last decade of the 20th Century and the first decade of the 21st Century has been toward worldwide fundamentalism. Whether we talk of evangelical Christian dogma in the United States, radical Islam in the East, entrenched Catholicism in the West, we see that the trend toward dogmatic fundamentalism is constant. Third, the political arena does not operate in isolation. Rather, it is one ingredient in the worldwide fundamentalist cultural soup being brought to the boiling point in the Middle East. Fourth, George W. Bush is an evangelical fundamentalist, as is Carl Rove, Bush’s Deputy Chief of Staff. His administration was elected as part of an evangelical fundamentalist move into the United States’ political arena. As placed into operation by the Bush II administration, our flailing and failed foreign policy, The National Security Strategy of 2002, implements Neoconservative theory as, I maintain, part of an evangelical Christian worldview. Fourth, the Neoconservative vision of politics in the 21st Century as put into practice in Iraq - and according to some political theorists of other persuasions including Neo-neoconservatives - has served to destabilize that part of the world including Israel and Lebanon. *It may not be politically correct to draw these facts together in the second half of the first decade of the 21st Century. It is however, the political reality.

Readings

Bush, George W. The National Security Strategy of the United States. The White House, Washington D. C., 2002. http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html. Visited Sunday, July 16, 2006, 10:15 AM EDT.

Fukuyama, Francis, America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy. New Haven: Yale University Press. 2006.

Marty, Martin E. and Appleby, R. Scott, The Glory and the Power: The Fundamentalist Challenge to the Modern World. Boston: Beacon Press. 1992.

We have, all of us, Conservative, Liberal, Neoconservative, Centrists, Moderates watched this situation develop with increasing alarm. However, I propose here that the conflict involving Hezbollah / Lebanon and Israel is not at all what it seems on the surface. Instead, it is linked to a series of shortsighted policies and mistakes made by our current administration that are based at least in part on the Neoconservative notion of a 21st Century Pax Americana. That notion is, however, an oxymoron of the worst sort because both the Pax Romana, and Pax Britannia, the historic antecedents, are misapplied. The Pax Romana is a myth created by historians who discount the fact that Rome was almost constantly at war with peoples surrounding the empire during the first two centuries CE. The Pax Britannia is an inappropriate designation that disguises the relationship of the U.K. to its Empire through colonial exploitation. Additionally these designations are terms applied by historians a posteriori while the Neoconservative notion of a 21st Century Pax Americana is presumptive, applied before the fact, and assumes that the United States has the moral right to impose its ideology on foreign nations, an imperial imposition of democracy, also oxymoronic.

I hope to explore this notion in more detail during the next several weeks.

That’s how it reads in most US news sources. Not that I’m surprised. And, yes, the men that tortured and killed our soldiers are evil. As Forest Gump would say, “Evil is as evil does.” However, we must keep our eyes open to the fact that the US soldiers responsible for the rape of the young Iraqi woman, the murder of her family, and 5-year old sister have also performed the most despicable multiple crime imaginable.

In an ideal world, we would be able to stop the evil on both sides. In this world we must be honest with ourselves, own up to our mistakes, and correct them.

1. “Four more US soldiers face Iraq rape charge,” The Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/. [ 10 Jul, 2006 2301hrs ISTAP ] Tuesday, July 11, 2006, 11:40 AM EDT.

2. Reid, H. Robert, and Maamoun Youssef. “Group soldiers killed over rape slaying,” AP. Comcast.net. http://www.comcast.net/includes/article/print.jsp?fn=/data/news/html.

I read a news article on the BBC Website on the 4th of July that made me feel as though I had little to celebrate this year. Titled “Veteran faces Iraq murder charges,” it was about Steven Green, a retired private, who stands accused of the rape of an Iraqi woman, and the murder of 3 other Iraqis including a 5 year-old child in March. I was and continue to be horrified, but find myself asking a fundamental question. Why wouldn’t we expect major crimes to occur with 150,000 U. S. troops fighting in Iraq? That’s not a slur against U.S. military forces. It is however, a slur against the morality of our nation. Many of us seem to have forgotten that war is ugly, despite the fact that the Iraq war has caused the deaths of more than 20,000 Iraqis and over 2500 U.S. military personnel. The fact that our president, the nation and it’s citizens are still able to dismiss this Neo-con and evangelical Twenty-first century crusade as simply a part of a larger war against terror in general demonstrates our own culpability. First, the concept of a pre-emptive war is of questionable morality. Second, we have adequate proof that there were no WMD in Iraq at the time of our invasion. Third, we also have definite proof that there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and al quaida at the time of the invasion, though there are now links between the current insurrection and al quaida.

Additionally, I worry that Mr. Green’s discharge “due to a personality disorder” before he was charged with the crime was an attempt to distance the powers that be from the crime. There is also some suggestion that the recent kidnapping, torture and murder of two soldiers from Mr. Green’s unit, the 502nd, may be related. I suspect that we will be hearing a great deal more about this incident in the months ahead.

I looked at the headlines this morning, and thought, "Ho, Hum." Perhaps I'm tired Because the boys and I have been working and playing so hard this week. However, there doesn't seem to be much happening. A brief list.

1. Mexico's election seems to be in a stalemate.
2. Three Palestinian millitant groups appear ready to retaliate against Isreal tomorrow morning.
3. Why would Abu Musab al-Zargawi have the phone numbers of Senior Iraqi government officials in his cell phone? Was he in contact with them?
4. In France, 7 men released from Guantanamo go on trial.
5. Hussain's wife and daughter on Iraqi most wanted list.