Henri Reynard Speaks Out

Everything's Coming Up Roses?

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The gloves are off and Saddam is being stripped of power everywhere. A stripped dictator is an ugly thing to behold, especially when he is old, fat and wrinkled and mean. Of course there is nothing likelier than the last stand of Saddam being over sometime this week or next. I will let our President have a moment of silence for his victory, there, that's over. Now what are you going to do Mr. President? I ask that in the kindest gentlest way possible. I really want to know what our peace dividend will be this time, after this war. It is somewhat interesting that there is no real appreciation for how this war will affect our nation once it is over. Especially since that we have clearly won the major battles without effective opposition. Will it make our fears left over from 9/11 dissipate and free us from the fear of flying that has gripped us for the last year and a half? Will it work to release us from the grip of paranoia that emanates from our government agencies? Will it break the bonds of insecurity that have shackled our economy for the last two and a half years? What exactly will it do for us?

It is interesting that we have fought and for the most part won this war without at least addressing that question in public. Nowhere else in the world is there a nation that fails to ask that question before it sets out on the path to war. Britain knew that strengthening the friendship that they have with the USA would bring them support in the world political arena. After all, we are the only big dog on the block. Australia is adventurous, but their economic capabilities are small and we have helped and will continue to help their economic system grow with favored nation status and through other measures. Besides the Aussies are courageous and tough and see the need for a stable world. Fighting to get one is OK with them, and they trust us even after the debacle of Vietnam. If we stand astride the world they will stand side by side with us, a little shorter but just as tough. But what do we get after all is said and done? Will we really get a more peaceful world? Probably we will not. Saddam did not attack us directly not even in the last gulf war, when we were content to teach him a lesson about invading other nations. This time our avowed purpose was to eliminate him. Once we have done that what will come of all this death, destruction and chaos that war inevitably brings?

Will the short and so far victorious war bring us peace of mind and free us from the fear of flying that has gripped our nation since 9/11, 2001? If it does it will have been worth the cost of this war in all ways except one. This war has cost us our record of over 100 years without fighting a war of conquest. We have not mounted a true war of conquest since the last of the Indian wars ended. Yes we "conquered" Germany and Japan in World War II, but we gave it all back to the Germans and Japanese. Then we helped develop the current system of international law that keeps any conquering nation from prospering at the expense of those nations conquered. If we are careful to do the same thing here in Iraq I will easily concede that I am wrong. I hope and want to believe that I am wrong and the people in charge of this country cannot possibly want that rule of international conduct to be demolished. The destruction of civilized international rules of conduct regarding the old practices of, "to the victor go the spoils", cannot be one of our goals here. The question is, will those rules of conduct be incidental casualties of a war easily won by a nation so powerful that none can stand against it?

Will this war work as an event that frees us from the paranoia that grips our government agencies and threatens civil liberties? I would count it worth fighting if it accomplished that worthwhile goal. Unfortunately the actions taken and laws generated in a flurry of activity after 9/11, 2001 are unlikely to disappear any time soon. There is a sunset provision in those laws but even as we are triumphantly entering Baghdad in force there is a move in Congress to eliminate that provision and make those laws permanent. That is a clear sign that the wave of paranoia that has caused so many acts of uncivil behavior by our Justice Department will not subside with this victory.

Our laws in this nation emanate from a Constitution that holds the rights of the people above the rights of the government. The Constitution of this nation is strong and will remain so as long as the people demand that it be upheld. On the other hand, the balance between the powers of government and the rights of its citizens is always a fragile structure and has often been broken during our history. The people of this nation have always eventually set things right again and I believe that they will again. Our people are infinitely courageous when asked to sacrifice and unbelievably patient with their leaders. They were patient with the last President when his sex drive overwhelmed his good sense and he made a mess of his Presidency. They are being patient with this one in spite of the fact that his record of accomplishments is still thin.
How can I say such a thing about the man who brought us to such a swift victory in this war? Well it comes easily when I think that the entry into this war was none too swift as an intellectual decision. I believe that because this war emanated from a policy of preemptive war. Preemptive war is clearly illegal under the rules laid out in the United Nations and agreed to by our nation. Our thin justifications for this war are proving to be weak and unreal one by one. Clearly a nation that could win this swift victory was never directly threatened by anything about the military power of Iraq. That disposes of the idea that Iraq posed an imminent danger to the USA if anyone believed it in the first place.

We also claimed that Iraq was dangerous due to its ability to utilize Weapons of Mass Destruction that it had hidden away. Iraq has crumbled without using even one missile or artillery shell to deliver one gram of any of those weapons thus far. Nor have we found any such weapons assembled and ready for use. I hope that the end of this war comes and Iraq does not use any of those weapons if it does have some hidden away. Even if it uses them now this war will be over soon. I cannot believe that Saddam would have let this war proceed without using those weapons if he had them. I could be wrong and possibly this evil dictator could not bring himself to issue that order. Somehow I doubt that view of reality so I will be surprised if we find any Weapons of Mass Destruction after the fighting is over. I may be wrong, and again I hope that I am but that cause for this war appears thin at this moment.

It is interesting that the only enclave of terrorists found thus far was housed in Northern Iraq, in an area not really under the control of the Iraqi government during the last ten years. Unless far more evidence of complicity with Bin Laden is found than that enclave we will have a hard time establishing the idea that Saddam ever supported a terrorist attack on the USA. That he rewarded suicide bombers' families in Palestine with cash is generally accepted. But our contention was that he posed a threat to us and not Israel. I am certain that terrorism was no stranger in Iraq, Saddam certainly ruled through terror during his whole reign. In all except name he was a king. There was good enough cause to kill him based on his human rights record. But his link to international terrorists intent on attacking the USA remains unproved.

Will the victory in this war, won by the courage and valor of our Soldiers, Sailors and Marines bring our economy back from the near-dead state it is in today? If it does I will again face the prospect of being wrong, something that clearly does not daunt me. I have opinions about nearly everything. It is an obligation of citizens in this nation to form informed opinions about issues related to our government's behavior. We are not a nation that should suffer from a lack of opinions, nor do we. I clearly see no link between this victory and economic prosperity. Even if we directly took the oil revenue away from the Iraqi people, something even I cannot imagine us doing, it would not help our economy. The annual income from their oil would not pay the interest on our national debt for more than fifteen days. It is costing us at least one billion dollars per day to prosecute this war. The peace afterward will cost us less per day but it will continue to drain money from us far faster than any achievable oil revenues could accrue by a substantial amount. Nothing about this war will help our economy unless it returns us to a state of irrational exuberance, an event I, and most others, find unlikely.

So we are not going to get a peace dividend this time Mr. President. But why would we fight a war for a lump of coal in our stocking hanging on the mantle of the fireplace in the UN? Why would we fight a war that will not alter the mood of our nation, the finances of our nation or improve the civil liberties of the citizens of our nation? Did we fight this war to scare our enemies? If so we will certainly fail in that effort. They already know we are stronger militarily than they are, than they could ever become in longer than a lifetime. What we appear to have done here Mr. President is develop a rule for the world to take note of, "Don't mess with the USA" they will kill you. If that is all we have done a lot of people will think it is enough. Not many of us who read history will agree but we are always a minority even if we are vocal about our opinions. It is often better to be feared in a dangerous world than loved, but our history shows that it is sometimes possible to be both. I hope that raising the fear coefficient was worth what it cost us. We are losing the love of this nation that our principles has engendered in the hearts of many citizens of other nations around the globe. I hope the fear will offset that loss, but somehow I doubt it Mr. President, I doubt that this war will scare the right people enough to work. I just think it will lead to another war. God bless and keep you and our troops and our protesters safe in these trying times.