Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 3, 1991 TAG: 9104030495
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAYMOND J. LAWRENCE JR.
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Count me out. Kuwait is not free. Hostilities have not ended in the Middle East. And the troops have not returned home.
What is more, I cannot celebrate the restoration of the Sabah family dictatorship to power in Kuwait. The family has a long history of autocratic rule. For years, it has abused those who call for representative government. The brutality toward foreign menial workers in Kuwait, particularly Palestinians, is dismaying. I have not been able to figure out which is worse, the Saddam or the Sabah tyranny. The claim that peace and liberty have been established in Kuwait is a lie.
How can we celebrate the end of hostilities? By my reading there is more hostility, not less. We have thrown American military and economic power against the poor of the Middle East. We are in bed with the corrupt and tyrannical House of Saud, the Sabah family and the dictator of Syria. When the wretched poor of the Middle East rise up against their masters, they will rise up against us, too. Have we forgotten what happened in Iran?
How can anyone celebrate who knows of the continuing and worsening plight of all the children of Iraq - not to mention adults - whose future is threatened by disease and disorder?
Celebrating the return home of American troops might be more appropriate after it has happened, rather than before. A few troops have returned and a few more have been sent over, but the number of troops has hardly diminished.
We know why most of our troops remain, of course. The turmoil in Iraq may yet result in something worse than a rule by Saddam Hussein. The prospect of a religious fundamentalist coup in Iraq, similar to the one in Iran, is giving Bush second thoughts. So Bush, who has been been fixated on dethroning Saddam, is belatedly beginning to reflect on what manner of leadership might replace him. Thus we have not heard much lately about the Saddam-as-Hitler metaphor.
The devastating environmental damage, particularly from the oil wells that continue to burn, gives any attempt at celebration a macabre quality. Scientists are still trying to estimate the full impact of that catastrophe.
We are fond of expressing contempt for Iraq for setting fire to the wells. However, we knew that Iraq was planning a scorched-earth policy when we attacked. Iraq's deed differs not one bit from Sherman's march through Georgia. We were eager to fight, and as Sherman put it, war is hell.
Any celebration of the war must be dampened by the ugly mood in the United States. Those who several months ago advocated political and economic pressure on Iraq, rather than military confrontation, are now treated as unpatriotic fools.
One example is CNN reporter Peter Arnett, branded a traitor by Sen. Alan Simpson. The public mood is to punish those who dissented from Bush's war policy. This ungenerous impugning of the patriotism of a large segment of the population, including many congressmen, is a troubling ugly streak in American life.
Also disturbing is Bush's cynical attempt, in concert with his political allies, to use the popularity of this war to propel his fellow Republicans to more political power.
Most disturbing of all is the canonization of this questionable little war. What exactly did it achieve?
In the words of our honorable president, we got "to kick some ass." We finally shook the Vietnam syndrome. Our weapons seem to work. Allied with several other nations and armed with advanced technology, we were able to defeat a nation of 16 million people. Bush may not feel so much like a wimp anymore.
In summary, I guess Americans got some kind of rise out of this war. Is that really a good reason for the dozens of American and the tens of thousands Iraqi dead?
Never did I doubt that America's military might could whip Iraq even without nuclear weapons, and certainly with them. We might even be able to whip the Russians, if they were in a fighting mood and wished to prove their manhood on the battlefield. That gives me no cause for celebration.
The war is over, but the overall situation in the Middle East looks as bad as ever. A very few people have virtually all the wealth. The United States has consistently joined with the few super-rich autocrats who cruise around in their stretch limos. Representative government is virtually nowhere to be found. Saddam and his clique still control Iraq, if barely.
So count me out of your National Days of Thanksgiving, Mr. President. My consolation is that history will bring to light the truth you so cleverly conceal, that the only ground for boasting is your muscle. The world desperately needs what you unfortunately lack - wisdom.
Raymond J. Lawrence Jr. is an Episcopal minister and pastoral counselor in Roanoke.
by CNB