Praise for Madonna
Recently Madonna decided not to release anti-war video to promote her song "American Life." "It was filmed before the war started, and I do not believe it is appropriate to air it at this time," she said. "Due to the volatile state of the world and out of sensitivity and respect for our armed forces, who I support and pray for, I do not want to risk offending anyone who might misinterpret the meaning of this video."
Wow. A celebrity with sensitivity and concern for someone beside themselves. Whether or not you agree with the decision to go to war, once that decision has been made I believe we owe it to our troops to be nothing but supportive of their efforts to 1. honorably acquit themselves on the field of battle and 2. survive. We are not talking about the decisions George Bush has made anymore. Now it's about the 18-21 year olds, barely more than boys, fighting and risking their lives and in some cases dying. Whether you are fundamentally opposed to war in any form, or whether you are opposed to this particular war, that's a sacrifice that deserves our respect. Period.
One pundit claims Madonna did this in order to avoid becoming the next target of a boycott a la the Dixie Chicks. ('K. Now that was dumb.) Since when has Madonna given a rat's ass about anyone's opinions but her own? Madonna is worth millions. Hundreds of millions. Do you really think she's making music to make money? Get real.
In all fairness to celebrities everywhere, Madonna is not the only one who has "real" views about the world we live in. I must admit I was very impressed at the restraint shown at the Oscars. I expected there to be a lot more political grandstanding than there was. The one tactless boob who turned his acceptance speech into a political diatribe was actually booed. It's too bad that it's the tactless bores we hear from most and that more moderate voices don't make themselves heard a bit more often.
The War in Iraq
Do we belong in Iraq? That is a good question. For me it is a difficult one. It must be nice to be the radical right where "righteous indignation" and the "wrath of God" are easy fall back positions. Equally easy would be the radical left who fire indiscriminate volleys from the safety of their ivory towers. One of the burdens of being a moderate is you actually have to think about things.
Now with the wisdom of years, I try to reason things out
And the only people I fear are those who never have doubts
Save us all from arrogant men, and all the causes they're for
I won't be righteous again
I'm not that sure anymoreBilly Joel, "Shades of Grey," River of Dreams
The religious right seems to forget that Christ ended the "eye for an eye" philosophy with his ministry and death. At the same time I think the left's yearning for a Utopia where all differences can be settled with words and fine bottle of wine is unrealistic. War is, without a doubt, always a terrible thing. I am never an advocate of war. Once that decision has been made, however, I firmly believe that you fight to win. War is not a game you can play half way. It's all or nothing.
Is it blood for oil? Are we in Iraq so prices at the gas pump will go back down? I'm not so cynical (or simple-minded) as to believe that. Does Saddam have weapons of mass destruction? Many certainly seem to think so. Would he have used them? Who knows. Probably not directly. Dictators like Saddam are all about self preservation. He would never directly challenge the West on any terms. He knows he would be squashed like a bug. Would he make those weapons available to terrorists, let them take the heat and the risk, be able to later disavow any knowledge of the source of those weapons? Yes. That sounds more like his M. O.
What I think is happening is the U.S. is still pretty riled. The Taliban and Afghanistan were too easy a victory. Certainly not enough to sate the outrage, indeed the rage, surrounding the craven attacks of September 11. We were still itching for a fight. I'm still not sure what Saddam was thinking. When someone twice your size is in your face saying, "Come on. Give a me a reason to take you out," it's generally considered prudent to not give him one. I guess he thought we were bluffing. Bad mistake. Is that a righteous cause to go to war? No. But truth be told, I have no qualms whatsoever about eliminating Saddam Husien.
One man can occasion great amounts of evil and suffering. That the Iraqi people have suffered under his rule is not debatable. However, the prevailing attitude is it's not our business. That is wrong. It is our business. I recently watched The Pianist, a story about the Jews of Warsaw and the atrocities visited upon them by the Nazis. My outrage grew as I listened to the Jews express the hope that France or England would declare war soon. But the world sat and watched as Hitler slowly consumed Europe saying, "It's not our problem." Other countries finally did declare war, but too late for the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto. Those not shipped off to extermination camps were slaughtered when they finally decided to try and fight back themselves.
Nature seems to dictate that the strong prey upon the weak. Mankind is a part of Nature to be sure, but we are also above Nature. Ours is the power to govern ourselves and not have our roles in this life dictated to us. Strength is a gift. The strong should protect the weak. That is the purpose of power. There is, however, much resistance to risking American lives to liberate the Iraqi (or any other) people. We will never achieve a global community until we learn to care about all people equally and not just "our own."
A friend of mine once said we should take a lesson from Star Trek, where all men are equal, where integrity and knowledge are more important than wealth and power. What isn't often mentioned, however, is that they had to go through a nuclear holocaust to get there. They were motivated to find a better solution having seen the fruits of their previous passions. I tend to think we will end up following the same course. I don't know that I believe we can get there from here. It might just be that it is necessary to destroy it all and start over. I hope someone proves me wrong.