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The
Non-war is Going Pretty Well If America's at war, there is precious little evidence of it. We're "getting back to normal" after the September 11 attack, but that's a little too "normal" for my taste. My fear is that we'll get back to our obsession with the trivial instead of learning, growing, changing, and handling our very real problems. OK, I'll grant you that it's not a declared war. After all, there's no foreign state to declare war against, and a "war on terrorism" has a hollowness similar to our famous (yawn) "war on drugs." But just the same, we were attacked and I'd like to see our country adapt quickly to deal with the circumstances. Hanging up flags and buying fire trucks for the City of New York is fine, but those are not our serious issues. So how are we doing so far in addressing the situation? Actually, we're doing a very good job abroad and a fair-to-poor job at home. First, we are making a credible military response. As I write these words, there is a bombing campaign underway against Kabul and other Afghan cities. We have moved from night bombing to the first daytime bombing. The San Jose Mercury News reports, "Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia said at least 115 people had been killed nationwide in overnight strikes late Wednesday and early Thursday... The claims could not be independently confirmed." The US will claim that it's targeting military command and control centers. The Taliban will claim that only hospitals and orphanages were hit. I believe my government. Now if you're a serious pacifist, or one of those "Nuke 'em, G.W.!" types, you will not be satisfied. However, I think the bombing is a good move. Why? We are, I hope, pounding Afghanistan's military infrastructure into the ground with a minimum loss of life. Our casualties are two (so far). The economics of measured violence are pretty favorable, too. While cruise missiles are pricey (between $1 million and $2 million each) compared to the Taliban's used Soviet tanks, we can afford to lose the missiles while they can't afford to lose the tanks. Second, we are sending in troops. The Merc goes on to say, "U.S. troops and equipment continued to arrive Wednesday at the Khanabad air base in Karshi in southeast Uzbekistan, Uzbek military sources said. About five transport planes are landing each day, and at least 1,500 American soldiers already are in the former Soviet republic." The troop deployment will, I understand, grow to at least 3000. The soldiers are from the 10th Mountain Division, and will ostensibly form posses to go out to find Osama bin Laden. However, if they engage Taliban forces, this is excellent. The Taliban believe that the U.S. will not fight "man to man" and measure us by that yardstick. Fighting with U.S. ground forces will help clarify their thinking. Third, we have not botched the diplomacy. Surprising good news it that the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the world's largest Muslim organization, handed the United States a diplomatic victory last Wednesday, avoiding condemnation of the U.S.-led attacks. Fourth, we are dropping food to Afghanis. This should provide a clear (blatant, actually) message that the U.S. sends food to the "good guys" and bombs to the "bad guys." Fifth, Taliban rule may end and someone from Afghanistan's Northern Alliance could assume power -- someone with a favorable attitude toward the U.S. My caution is that we have a history of supporting the wrong people, notably the Shah of Iran and Saddam Hussein. I hope this doesn't happen in Afghanistan. On the domestic side, we're not making much progress. I've not heard of any moves to make airline cockpits inaccessible to passengers. What's the delay? I've not heard of any new methods to prevent "losing track" of foreigners who enter this country. Unfortunately, I caught several TV and radio shows discussing placing cameras in public places to compare random faces with those of "bad guys." Now there's an idea with evil written all over it. We must not make war on ourselves or our freedoms, including the freedom
to protest the country's policies and actions. Columnist Molly Ivins says,
"We cannot make ourselves more secure by making ourselves less free."
I couldn't agree more. Barry Schoenborn is a technical writer, and a 13-year resident of Nevada County. His column appears the second Saturday of the month. barry@wvswrite.com is his e-mail address. The opinions of columnists are not necessarily those of The Union. |