Fighting a War That's Already Been Lost
The important battle was over preemption—of the U.N.

Jonathan Hershfield, DMY Columnist, 3-30-03

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Now a warning has been issued to Iran and Syria, ironically the countries that make up what we call Saddam's neighbors. Wasn't the argument used to attack that Saddam is a risk to his neighbors? Oh, we must mean those paragons of human rights—Turkey and Kuwait.

But why get upset with the details when the real war is already over... because the only war that mattered was the one to decide if the inspections were to continue or if Bush was going to reject the will of the United Nations, international popular opinion and international law to invade. Well, the American people lost that war before they even started protesting because the people elected spineless Democrats to represent them in congress. And the United Nations lost the war because they became divided under threat of US sanctions and other forms of blackmail. Not that it would matter since the US made sure a war resolution was never voted on. Further evidence that Bush stole the election in 2000 - if he ever imagined he would lose, he would have pulled out.

The inspections were working, despite the Americans' desperate attempts to convince themselves that they weren't, and for a few moments, there was a dream available that the Ba'ath would pass the requirements, sanctions would be eased, and the Iraqi people would be healthy and employed - just enough to organize and throw off the shackles of tyranny. And maybe this time, these benevolent American-led forces we keep hearing about will help them instead of egg them on and abandon them like we did in 1991.

But now that the war over international diplomacy and the definition of legality has been lost and our children are being forced to give their lives killing others, what is there left to really hope for? The UN ambassadors to Russia and China, as well as France of course, each gave eloquent speeches at the UN meeting the other day explaining how the US is in direct violation of UN resolutions. Shall Iraq invade us to enforce them? The representatives of these major world players each demanded a complete halt to the bombing and a complete retreat of the American and British forces. But what would a sudden end to this carnage actually accomplish?

The illegitimacy of pre-emption has already been destroyed, so any country with a good propaganda machine can find an excuse to bomb its enemies. Contrary to popular belief, there are powder kegs in this world much greater than Saddam Hussein and his weapons. If war is to be defined by the Bush administration, then there is a reason for war in nearly every region on Earth. The State of Israel and the Palestinian people, India and Pakistan, China and Taiwan, Russia and Chechnya, civil war in Colombia, Venezuela, the Philippines - not to mention the apparently forgotten war between the Bush family and bin Laden.

At this point, maybe the best thing the Iraqi people can hope for is that the US and UK win quickly and decisively. If they have to pull out, it will be with much death on all sides. Remember, the Iraqi's were slapped down with sanctions after the last Gulf War. These sanctions were much more pervasive than the kind seen in other countries. These are sanctions that, regardless of Hussein's actions as president, ensure the suffering and impotence of the Iraqi people. These are sanctions that affect the sterilization of hospitals and drinking water. Every attempt by the international community to ease these sanctions for the sake of the Iraqi people has been shot down by the magic of the US veto, the same veto that protects Israel from having to obey UN resolutions. Since 1991, these sanctions have only functioned to do one thing, to make Saddam stronger in his country so that he will be a more legitimate target for attack when the timing is right (for the administration). If the so-called Coalition pulls out now, we will again slap them with sanctions, only harder. And then the Iraqi people will suffer more and Saddam's power will grow even further.

Yet by winning quickly and decisively, we are also ensuring our position as colonists, a situation in which the indigenous in every region throughout history have been known to suffer. This is why the war is over and we have all already lost. Defeatist, I know. But it truly is a no-win situation at this point.

So what do we do now? I think certain ideals are unattainable... world peace, true equality, etc. But if we constantly move towards these ideals, at least we know we're going in the right direction. So while Bush supports the troops in his special way by paying $150/month combat pay-while cutting veterans benefits, let's give some real support to the troops by promoting whatever is best for minimizing their mortal sacrifice. If you think the best scenario is a quick and decisive victory, let's protest the bizarre military approach we seem to be taking. If you think it should be a full and immediate withdrawal, let's stay in the streets fighting for that. Just don't give up. Although the war for legitimacy has already been lost, there's still the impending battle to remove Bush from office and try the administration for war crimes. And there's still the uphill climb to clean up after him.

Don't pretend this war doesn't concern you. It may be "over there" but it knows where you live.