George Bush wants war, desires war, wants the adrenaline rush of being a war-time President. He can't rally the country around the economy. He can't seem to find one particular taunting Arab with whom we really are at war. He can't confront a true threat to world peace, North Korea. But he can sure attack a third-world country whose army all but carries government-issued white flags onto the battlefield to surrender en masse.

The war on terrorism has become the convenient excuse to push a series of agendas. The party that most loudly decries government interference supports domestic surveillance, secret detentions, examining citizens' credit card purchases and library records. The idea of our claim to moral superiority is that we don't disappear people, we don't curtail freedoms to punish unpopular views. We protect the weak from aggressors, we value openess and peace. Bush allegedly defends those values by making a first-strike invasion a defense of liberty. Reminds me of the old saying the fighting for peace is like screwing for chastity.

A friend once made an observation about Americans and the French that is still one of the best characterizations I have heard. After traveling through France, he came to the conclusion that the French and Americans are very much alike, including the fact that they would be equally offended to be told that. Our perception of the French is of a snooty, incredibly arrogant mob of ungrateful, second-rate cheese-eaters. The French, as well as many other nations, see the United States as a bunch of rude, arrogant cowboys whose culture comes from TV shows and whose idea of novelle cuisine is a Big Mac and fries. It doesn't help that both those views are closer to the truth than we want to admit.

This comes to mind because of the recent yowls of outrage coming from the "President" and his men about the reluctance of France and Germany to adopt our current world view. Ignoring the fact that people of intelligence can view the same information and come to different conclusions, the war hawks cry foul. France, Germany, Russia - all those lily-livered Europeans can go to hell because "we're Americans, by God! and we can invade whomever we choose!"

War ought to be the last option, not the first. We are, in fact, the most powerful nation and that confers a responsibility to take the extra measure to ensure that we use our power cautiously. We have not been atacked by Iraq. We have not declared war on Iraq. The Iraqis didn't kill thousands of Americans on September 11th and the Bushies have been unable, despite the combined forces of the world's intelligence services, to prove any connection beyond an unknown voice on a tape. So before we bomb the hell out Baghdad, we ought to be sure that all other options have been tried.
8:21:40 AM    Comments?()