Battleangel

Bertrand Russell once put the prospect of war in a civilized world as a witty moral dilemma (in the same spirit as the barber paradox). He also pointed out that “War does not determine who is right - only who is left”.

Yes, you guessed it. It’s an Iraq special report here at battleangel.org. But I suppose you knew that as soon as you read the word “war”. It’s funny really. As a social psychologist (well, student anyway) it’s fascinating to follow an escalated conflict like this one for many reasons. One is of course that you feel you are more qualified to solve the conflict than the people who currently are in that position
Another reason is the issue of (mass) communication and what kind of representations people get of the conflict and why certain opinions are better at attracting followers. It is also interesting to see what happens when someone challenges a central dogma …

While Sean Penn is now back from Bagdad, other celebrities have also spoken out against the war. Like for example Janeane Garofalo (No Kidding, Janeane Garofalo Fights to Be Taken Seriously).
While I realize that it’s hard to be taken seriously if you’re an actor (mixing with politics that is), being well known is a prerequisite in our modern media hyped society. I admit I am a bit sceptical when I first hear something like this. You kind of assume that it’s all nonsense BECAUSE the opinion was delivered by a bonafide celebrity. And that is also what media would have us believe. At least the media that is mongering war on US television. Ahh .. the media is so clueless .. and extremely dangerous when they do not live up to their journalistic obligations. If you are going to just tell one side of the story you can go work for the white house. But you’re already doing that so .. “WANTED: Real journalists! Fiction writers need not apply …”.
The article deals a lot with attitude that Garofalo has been facing. Accusations of being unpatriotic when she really is trying to prevent US troops from dying on the battlefield. And don’t tell me it’s a walk in the park because it isn’t! All I’m saying is friendly fire .. and inoculation cocktails .. and .. I don’t know .. diarrhea I suppose. Most of these kids would be better off at home watching MTV and playing Nintendo, trust me.

I admire the initiative Ms. Garofalo. At battleangel.org we understand the importance of freedom of speech and the need for debate when the public is deliberately mislead. Go for it!
I mean, even if you don’t mind sending american troops to their death, killing Iraqi civilians and never heard of the word “imperialism” you still have to realize that war is a pretty expensive activity. Not to mention the fact that international opinion isn’t very supportive at the moment. Thinking is essentially free (of charge). War is not.

While I am too young to remember Osirak (the nuclear reactor site that was levelled by an Israeli sneak attack in 1981), you don’t have to be security analyst to see a pattern here. Has preemptive strikes become common practise these days? Has thinking and patience become a luxury? I mean, the Cold War went on for decades without anyone (thankfully) doing anything hasty. Ironically due to the balance of power of nuclear arms. Some would argue that Saddam is crazy enough even to launch an all open attack on a country like Israel (one that thanks to the thoughtfulness of the US has NBC capability and delivery systems). But how would you know that unless you are Saddam’s psychoanalyst or something? A qualified guess and an urge to protect yourself, sure. But at what price? And do are you sure you understand the scribblings on the price tag?
The Osirak mission is debated to this day. Did it accomplish anything? Did it save Israel or just make Saddam a more determined foe. Some reliable sources argue that even with the reactor operational it would have taken maybe 10 years to produce nuclear weapons.
Ironically Iran had a similar program going. One that Iraq in turn obliterated in a less precise but likewise obnoxious series of attacks. The point is that IF certain nations are suddenly so concerned with nuclear proliferation, maybe they shouldn’t have brought the weapon type into the region in the first place. Anyone with half a brain could of course have seen this coming.

For being the ONLY country ever that has actually deployed nuclear weapons in a populated area (Hiroshima, Nagasaki), the US has sure been quick to condemn other nations. To me it seems like some sort of misguided penance.
The real hypocrisy here is when and where GloboCop chooses to interfere. The region around Iraq is special because it a) contains a large chunk of the total oil reserve and b) it has Israel which could be considered the 51st state. Again, ironically, Israel is always going on about how much they dislike the US interfering with their “internal affairs”. And the US link has always been a thorn in the side of the Arab League. Can anyone spot the failing link here? I thought so …
If you are going to be pulling strings halfway across the world then at least show some persistency! And good judgement. The problem with imperialism is that we can’t seem to kill it. And don’t tell me that this is all about Iraq, because it isn’t! Some would argue that the Palestine region has always been a place of conflict. Well, mainly so because of foreigners. While being a place of pilgrimage for Christianity and Islam and Judaism, everything was working just dandy until some nitwit in Europe decided to launch the crusades. One might think that some 700 years is enough to forgive and forget but history is still very strong in some parts of the Middle East. Much later Palestine fell under British mandate and recently it was divided between Jordan and Israel (in 1948). Blah …
Anyway, you don’t see the US getting involved with the Chinese aggressions against Taiwan, Chinese occupation of Tibet, the Pakistan dilemma (which almost became a second Osirak) or Russian affairs in the Caucasus. And the business with North Korea has been quickly brushed off (not that restarting a couple of nuclear reactors was that much of a deal) despite the media hype. Egalitarian foreign policy anyone?

I was going to write a little something on Israeli (social) anticipation of aggression but I’m saving that for a another day.

As a very wise individual once put it, there are no victors of a war. Just losers …