WAR ETIQUETTE?
WAR ETIQUETTE
Readers of this space will know that pacifism is advocated here. No Rambo-Billy Jack rah rah macho chest-beating will be found in this space.
Of late there has been much discussion regarding the tactical soundness of continuing the Afghanistan bombing during Ramadan.
A kindler/gentler spin is being bandied about by the spin doctor types on such venues as CNN, the Fox News Channel (we lean to the right as we type those letters), et al. But kinder/gentler goes with the prior George Bush, not the present-day model. That's the post-Iraq effort George Bush (the elder), not the cowboy-boot wearing Osama-hunting, wanted-dead-or-alive Bush the younger.
So goes the spin: Will it anger followers of Islam and make them less friendly toward the US and the Coalition? Will it catch more of the enemy off-guard as they follow their religious observance? Is it ìdirty poolî to bomb them during so holy a period? Does this have implications on how strong the Coalition will be among fence-sitter Middle-Eastern countries, or those giving lip-service while holding their tongues and hiding crossed-fingers behind their backs?
The Pacifist speaks: FUCK, NO! If there is a war going on, then the hell with being polite and politically correct.
Are any of the families who lost their loved ones going to receive a reprieve from their losses, their tears, their fears and their emotional burdens because it is Ramadan?
OF COURSE NOT!
Will a reprieve in the bombing make things right for the victims thus far of this war? Did the suicide bombers or the senders of bio-terror mail take a moment to consider that these actions may have taken place during the holidays of people of different faiths? Will those inflicted with Anthrax get a month off the symptoms because it is Ramadan?
THE ANSWER IS NO.
Am I in favor of this bombing in Afghanistan? Does it really seem as though further decimation of an already bombed-out and starving country will make things any better for the world? Is this campaign going to weaken bin Laden or the Al Qeida? Is the US winning friends throughout the Middle East with this campaign? Is putting more lives at stake and adding more human sacrifice a good thing?
To all this, my answer is also no.
However, if the position of The Coalition is to bomb the hell out of Afghanistan in some mixture of retaliation and counter-attack on an enemy, then a cease-fire during one sideís holy period (while mourners here still suffer and grieve over September 11) makes no sense.
I don't endorse the violence or the taking of life. But I also don't condone this politically correct open discussion of whether or not it is a wise thing to consider the other side's feelings while waging war.
This discussion is bullshit, pure and simple. It may spin a little bit of "gee, aren't we considerate and thoughtful in our approach to war, even taking a moment to reflect on the event of this holiday" for the image-makers. But if you believe for one second that this was a real consideration, then I have some swamp land, I mean development real estate, to sell you.
Bush, of course, used this little spin exercise to come out shooting at the corral: no, he decried, we're in a war, and we'll keep pummeling them, Ramadan or not!
Rah rah. This is the sort of showboating that caused the flag-lapel types to be characterized as war mongers, and the peaceniks to be branded as cowardly wusses with no backbone.
Bad enough there is a war, with casualties in the thousands. Now we are subjected to this rah-rah bullshit, and discussions of war-strategy etiquette.
Again, if you buy the etiquette argument, I would also like to interest you in a bridge I have for sale, connecting Kings County, a borough in the City of New York, with Manhattan Island.
