LIKING KRISTOFF MORE AND MORE
Yesterday,in his New York Times column, Nicholas Kristoff used irony and satire to accuse Dick Cheney of being an agent for the government of Iran.
He points out that the U.S. toppled two governments which were enemies of Iran…Afghanistan and Iraq; and then installed a pro-Iran government in Baghdad. It’s an excellent piece of writing and elicited a huge reader response.
The real point of the column is of course- not that Cheney is a real spy, but rather that he and his boss George W. Bush are simply imcompetent.
But the fact is that the western world has a long tradition of idiotic leadership.
The great Winston Churhill would have fallen into the same pit as Cheney-Bush, if he hadn’t been rescued by the events of World War Two. Until Hitler attacked Poland, Churchill was a failed political hack and his record as a military strategist was abysmal. As First Lord of the Admiralty, he needlessly sacrificed the lives of thousands of young British men in the interests of an expanding the "Empire".
And Adolf Hitler could easily be accused of being Churchill’s secret agent by making decisions that
were obviously destined to "break the German military" by stretching it too thin. Just as the American military is now stretched too thin.
And of course let’s not forget- his little friend- the tragically comic Italian lunatic who virtually destroyed his own country in pusuit of personal power and glory.
It’s a fun game to play, to joke about Dick Cheney as an Iranian agent, but what Cheney-Bush have wrought- both in the United States and in the world at large, is no joke.
It’s easy for us to sit back and guess, speculate, analyze and comment- but we don’t have decision-making power on a scale that defies imagination…they do. Their argument that they have been doing what they think is "the right thing" is a sadly warped view of reality and we all suffer.
More sadly, the real fault lies with us…the citizenry of the western world. We who have failed to become sufficiently engaged in the political process.
It lies also with the legislators we’ve elected; the men and women who have failed the test of democracy by failing to pursue issues with enough study and vigour and yes- courage.
And it lies with our business and academic elites, who have remained cloistered in their institutions and places of commerce and failed to speak out when they knew they ought to.
Humour, irony, satire have all been tried…over and over but they are no substitute- in the final analysis- for intelligence, knowledge and responsible oversight. We need some serious, active citizen involvement in the political process. It is this intellectual and political vacuum, which has embroiled us all in war and conflict that has cost so much blood and treasure.
All the mistakes, all the mis-steps, all the tragedy have been the result- partly of ignorance…and partly the result of a desire for some sort of revenge without taking the time to reflect. They are also the result of hubris on the part of a leadership, which subsituted anger and political advantage for logic and common sense.
Kristoff closes his column by saying "we must identify and abandon the policies that backfired so catastrophically."
It’s difficult to abandon a policy, when there is no policy.
But the best part of the entire column, is the commenting on it by thoughtful Americans. Their comments show that there’s hope for the future.
I remember reading an article in the C.B.C. quite a long time ago regarding the above realization of the gifts the U.S. were giving to their arch enemy Iran. I do believe you wrote it. The only winner in this whole catastrophe might be Iran. I can just see the President from Iran and Bush having a meeting with Karl Rove who was sitting merrily writing their next little make beleive pontifications. Maybe Rove even writes Chavez’s too because they are all so over the top to be taken seriously. Meanwhile while we’re all being entertained with headlines in the Media they are all making little deals in the backroom like they always do. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard that song called “Mad World” but it captures the feeling of sadness better than any song I’ve ever heard.
It’s all very well to say we are at fault for not taking part in the political process, but the sad truth is that many million did (and do) take part, both in the traditional sense (voting) and by raising our voices in protest. Unfortunately, political protest has been subverted and marginalised – those many millions who turned out to protest the invasion of Iraq before it happened were studiously ignored by media and government save for the implication that those who protest are little more than anarchists and troublemakers.
I once knew a man who was a dedicated anarchist and believed, perhaps with tongue in cheek, that anarchy with violence was the only viable political solution.
When I was in my mid-forties and he was in his late seventies he was trying to convince me that his approach was viable. He said “You young people …”
I said “I’m not that young.”
He looked at me for a few seconds and then turned to my 21 year old daughter and started working to convince her.
I think we forgot to politicize our children. We’d best start now before they’re all in their mid forties.
Hi sherry…yes i did write something like that. http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_reed/20051024.html
Iran gave refuge to many Iraqi shiites during the time of Saddam and that has given the Iranians considerable leverage. I’m quite certain that the intelligence available to the Bush administration prior to the invasion would have indicated the possibility of an Iran-Iraq alliance, based on the Shi’ite connection.
The probability is that Cheney/Bush were convinced by Ahmed Chalabi- (The Iraqi crook who advised Cheney)- that Iraqi Shi’tes were different and would readily share power with the Sunni and the Kurds.
Whatever went on behind the scenes though, the invasion was a calculated risk; the possibility always existed that an invasion would increase Iran’s influence in the region.
Unfortunately for everyone the risk assessment was wrong on just about every count.
I think what I meant in the post was not that we should vote…but rather that we should be active AFTER the vote in working to keep the politicians a bit more honest.
Well, I seem to have a bit of a different take on the article re “not funny any more”.Of course it’s not funny, but it seems that open critism cannot get to people who read unless there is a cute quip to the article. And personally the whole disaster called “the war on terrorism” is extremely sick. It is basically all about money and power. I disagree with your comment that Bush is Cheneys “boss”, never was. The whole fiasco is run by power hungry men who have placed the “bumbling fool” in the public eye as a front.
I talk politics with whomever I can, and the great consensus is that we as americans are doing a great job in saving the “free world”
What the United States is doing is exactly what England tried throughout the world in creating their empire, in India, South America, Australia, etc. It’s all about placing puppet governments thru the world where there are resources and gulible people. Wherever there were uprisings by the peasant population, it was an opportune time for the US to step in and appoint “by force and threat and murder” a president who would do our bidding. As in the Phillipines and Nicaragua.
It seems as if Sadam got a bit out of hand there. Seriously have you ever seem such a swift sentencing and hanging? The man had alot to say about how he came to power and who initially placed him in power and supported him with arms and finances. It would have been quite a story if he had actually gotten a fair trial.And I’m not saying he didn’t deserve it and was a mad dictator. The whole Sadam and the Twin Towers connection only shows what an ignorant, gullible and manipulated (read programmed) populace is in the US. Seriously people I talk with actually belive that we are governed by good men trying to protect freedom, and the American way. All we have done is ruin the great effort of goodwill we had prior to this.
thanks for the comment barbara…I was using the word “boss” very lightly. I’m glad you read it and thought it worth commenting on. My question is…what can we do??