Thursday, May 03, 2007



America, war, and democracy

Last year, Israel lost a war. In response, the Israeli government convened a formal inquiry into what went wrong, and it has just reported back, damning the Israeli Prime Minister, defence minister, and outgoing military chief of staff for rushing to war without considering other options, or even the chances of success. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has come in for particular criticism for "[making] up his mind hastily, despite the fact that no detailed military plan was submitted to him and without asking for one", and is now under intense pressure to resign.

America has also lost a war, in Iraq. But unlike Israel, they are still in full denial mode. Public debate on the war is shut down with accusations that it "encourages the enemy" and cries of "treason!", while attempts by Congress to investigate the policy failings that have led to this disaster have been obstructed and stonewalled. As a result, the US remains mired in a quagmire, unable to even admit its problems, let alone find a solution to them.

Glenn Greenwald attributes this to a fundamental difference in the perception of war between the two societies (or at least their leaders). In Israel, war is a serious business - and those advocating it can not escape its dangers, or remain blind to the fact that they are putting their own children's lives on the line.

When they advocate wars, they pay a price. As a result, they don't have the luxury of shutting their eyes and pretending that things are going well -- or exploiting accusations of treason in order to stifle war criticisms -- or cheering on failing wars for years for no reason other than to avoid having to admit error or feel weak.

By contrast, in the US, war is distant and costless. Oh, sure, it's cost over 3000 American lives and hundreds of billions of dollars a year - but that's abstract and invisible to most Americans, and especially to its leaders. Those who scream for war in America aren't facing any risks themselves; those are borne by the soldiers or the unfortunate citizen of whatever country the US decides to fight its next battle in. They never have to see the consequences of their actions of pick through the rubble and body parts after their neighbour's apartment block (or their own) is hit by a "precision-guided" bomb. And it's not their own kids going off to die - they go to Yale or the Texas Air National Guard instead. As a result, they can see war as

a fun and sterile video game that never requires them to pay any price -- no matter how profoundly the war fails. That is what enables them to cheer on those wars for years without end, to urge still new and more destructive ones, and to childishly insist that there is something noble and compulsory about keeping quiet, loyally cheering on the Leader's war, and pretending that things are going great and we are on the verge of success.

It's not a bad explanation for the difference, and for the style of American discourse over the war, but I think there's something else at play too: political culture. No matter what you think of its policies, Israel is unquestionably a democracy, with a robust parliamentary culture. America isn't. Oh, it has democratic constitutional forms, but culturally it is still a monarchy, with all that that implies about accountability and the supposed infallibility of the (elected) monarch. The stifling of democratic discourse in the US is a throwback to the time of its birth in the eighteenth century: "you can't criticise the king, especially when he's fighting a war"...

8 comments:

Danyl - that's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time.

Posted by Graeme Edgeler : 5/03/2007 12:53:00 PM

Graeme: ditto. I'm very glad I wasn't drinking coffee at the time.

Posted by Idiot/Savant : 5/03/2007 12:58:00 PM

ROFLMAO! And I am glad I just finished drinking mine and it only resulted in a belch :D

Danyl, maybe you meant to say "Fundamental Zionists" - not that it's a big secret or anything - but on the basis of that we could at least have a more *cough* slightly more serious conversation.

Hehehe

Posted by zANavAShi : 5/03/2007 01:14:00 PM

But it IS controlled by the secret Jewish cabal! I have the proof!

There was an interesting article in the Nelson Mail yesterday about a bunch of zionists who are touring the country talking to schoolchildren about how wonderful the state of Israel is and how hard it is to be an occupying power surrounded by states that don't like your wars against them. Interestingly the group includes an Ethiopian jew.

http://stuff.co.nz/nelsonmail/4045761a6510.html

Posted by Moz : 5/03/2007 01:40:00 PM

Thanks guys - I can't take credit for it though: it was an oft-repeated joke when I was living in Jerusalem.

Posted by Danyl : 5/03/2007 04:42:00 PM

"stifling of democratic discourse in the US"??

So, who holds sway in Congress and the Senate?

As for the "screams" for war. Maybe the US should have just left Melosevic and the Taliban in power. This seems to have upset the Left so much.

Posted by Anonymous : 5/03/2007 06:53:00 PM

good one danyl.

I/S - so the US is a democratic monarchy with no other controls. How about the situation where there is only one house and an unelected representative of the monarchy. is this a more robust democracy. Congress can impeach the president. Who can impeach the New Zealand Prime Minister. sometimes your anti americanism becomes a parody of itself.

Posted by Anonymous : 5/04/2007 12:07:00 AM

danyl. still the funniest damn thing i've read for ages.

one of those jokes that should be repeated more often.

sigh... pity the ruin of lebanon wasn't a joke.

and sage... we don't need to impeach the prime minister. if they're not up to much, or corrupt, their own party replaces them (or they loose confidence in the house).

Posted by Anonymous : 5/04/2007 07:14:00 AM