Hi Hawkmoon; Re: "This war must be waged just as we've waged the war on racism and social prejudice, through education and legal enforcement of non-discrimination laws."
The war on racism and social prejudice were waged entirely within the United States. Both the wagers and the wagees spoke the same language, shared the same history, had pretty much the same skin color, believed in pretty much the same God, and ate the same food. That is, it was the white majority in the US that decided to end racism, not the black minority.
None of this is at all similar to the situation in Iraq or in the Middle East.
When we send troops over there, our troops are the hated minority, in that I agree. But it wasn't the hated minority in the US that did the converting. And it wasn't the case that all the black population was armed to the teeth with a license and proclivity to shoot to kill.
If you will look at the differences you will see that it is only the Arabs that can modify Arab beliefs.
Sure, we could modify Arab beliefs by doing what we did to the Germans and Japanese, but dropping napalm (or nukes) on every Arab city that we can for 6 years isn't possible in the current environment. Nor is there a united Arab government that could surrender to us. Instead, we'd be left with the same situation as in Iraq, but about 8x bigger. And long before we'd actually pacified the locals, we'd be eating nukes.
The neocons constantly repeat the joke that the Arabs hate us because they envy our great lifestyles. This is partly true, in that they do envy our lifestyles. Who wouldn't? And to the extent that they can, they are already imitating our lifestyles. If we left them alone, (like we left the Iranians alone) simple envy would have them imitating us, which is what the cultural war is all about. It is the presence of our own prejudice against them (and in favor of the Israelis) that keeps the Arabs from accepting our culture faster. It is their hatred for what we do for Israel that makes them fail to imitate us.
This is what Osama was afraid of, Barbie, not GI Joe, LOL. The army never changed any civilian's minds, but Barbie, now that's a thought provoker.
Barbie comes with collections of clothes that imply that she is a successful working woman. Just the kind of thing that scares Osama the most. All the other products of the West are similar, they all carry cultural baggage from the culture that made them, baggage that cannot be separated from the crap. A can of coke carries the baggage that life should be enjoyed by drinking things that taste good. And our movies reinforce this by using the things as props. Our violent movies that the Arabs love (unrealistically) cast dainty women into the parts of soldiers, and show different races getting along together to a degree that our own still somewhat segregated society cannot match. Our cameras enable the taking of photographs of humans, something forbidden by Allah, but such an incredible human instinct (especially among women) that it is uniformly disobeyed throughout the Moslem world. Our computers and printers help individuals to communicate, and open closed minds (though after being on SI for 5 years I'm not convinced, LOL).
We export almost nothing to Saudi Arabia that is designed for their culture. Instead, they take what we consume ourselves, and their consumption, and therefore their lifestyles, are slowly brought into conformance with our own.
This is how the cultural war is waged, which is something that Osama knows. To battle it, he has to keep the Arabs hating us. As soon as the Arabs quit hating us (and they hate us for our Middle Eastern foreign policy, not for being successful, or Christians, or whatever), their culture will drift faster into the same channel as our own.
But there is no way for us to force Barbie on the Arabs. Instead, she must make her way there as a result of their own choice. And she will, as is evidenced by her many victories in other parts of the world. As is evidenced by the fact that the Saudis had to outlaw her.
If we really wanted to use government to win the cultural wars as quickly as possible against the Arabs, we should make it clear that we will do whatever is possible to help the Saudis keep Barbie out of Saudi Arabia. That will turn her into what every human really wants, what he or she cannot have, and human nature being what it will, a whole generation of Saudis will be raised who are insanely desirous about Barbie.
US soldiers in Iraq are increasing the hatred of the Arabs for us, this delays our inevitable victory in the culture wars. Not only that, but the continuing political discussion in the US proves to the Arabs that they are very close to making us cry "uncle" in Iraq, and that gives them the feeling that the US can be beat. So in addition to hating us, they despise us.
In WW2, the political will of this country was fully engaged, very close to 100% in favor of the war. But in Iraq, as in Vietnam, the American people were divided going in, and support for the war, while still over 50%, is slowly eroding. The Arabs are not stupid. They look at this and know that their road will be far easier than the ones that the Vietnamese already proved is passable.
Your program to dominate the Arabs the way that the Germans and Japanese were dominated is hopeless because people like me, a right wing Republican to the core, do not support it. You don't even have the support of the group that should be your true believers, how do you think the rest of the country can be brought on board?
-- Carl
P.S. Already 10% of the Republican party would vote for Gore in a rematch. Bush is a lame duck. When he goes, so will the war in Iraq. Instead, the US will pull out and let the UN handle it, which will probably leave the place dissolving in anarchy, but at least it will have a better chance than if we remain. |
