Maxims of Peace and War

"The thing we ask ourselves these days is, 'What will the Americans do next?'" This was said in 2004 by a London editor of wide experience; how strange for an American to hear! For, though gently spoken, the words suggested the horror of a Colossus; a feeling evidently shared by allies who knew the United States as a friend in friendlier days.

The Americans. As one might have said, "The Romans," "The Germans." The sentence also served as an unpleasant reminder that the people in a democracy are felt to bear some responsibility for acts their leaders perform in their name.

Kant, in his essay "Perpetual Peace," lays out the maxims of cynical despotism and misjudged realism by which the leaders of great powers and colossi have generally accommodated their hunger for power to the need for an explanation. The maxims are: (1) Fac et excusa. (2) Si fecisti, nega. (3) Divide et impera. Roughly translated: (1) Act now, justify later. (2) If you committed the crime, deny it. (3) Divide and conquer.

Of how many acts of the present administration can it be said that they were guided by one or another of these bad maxims? The invasion of Iraq; the policies of domestic surveillance of millions of citizens, and the torture of unnamed prisoners; the subdivision of Iraq itself into containable warring units based on ethnic and religious loyalty. "They gave us a constitution that set us at each other's throats" -- this sentiment, among Iraqis, has been widely reported by foreign journalists like Patrick Cockburn, and by some Americans; yet it has scarcely penetrated the public understanding of what we are doing in Iraq.

The imperial gamble of Cheney and Bush is that the jolts and shocks of domestic attack, foreign wars, and anti-constitutional government founded on perpetual emergency, will "change the DNA of the American people." (The revealing phrase is General Michael V. Hayden's; he said that he prayed against its happening -- but, oddly, the thought had entered his mind.)

As we enter the final year of the first government of what is intended to be a new regime for America, let us hope this will be the last such year of the last such government. Opposition to the permanent war, on behalf of republican ideals and constitutional principle, has come from certain court decisions, from parts of the intelligence community, and from the large remnant of empirical prudence that still pervades the armed forces. Resistance from the political opposition, and from the press and the mass media, has been less consistent, less coherent, less articulate, less audible. Nobody could have predicted any of this; and in the surprise is encouragement as well as a warning.

If America is to rejoin the world of nations, the help will have to come from institutions outside the executive. From our representatives, but, when they falter, from ordinary people doing the work of conscience against the continued assaults of arbitrary power. That work has barely begun:

Oh the lines are long
And the fighting is strong
And they're breaking down the distance
Between right and wrong.

Comments

[itsnotmyfault]

After committing hideous and heinous acts, with the compliant approval of the Congress and the American people what are the steps necessary for complete redemption?

When we think of the German people, they are still painted with the taint of the Holocaust and will be well beyond the day when the last Nazi is dead.

We, at the hand of George Bush, have committed acts and atrocities, which we as a Country have, in our previous lives, condemned since our inception. Going forward we will always operate under this new cloud, regardless of what the next administrations does to realign our path.

[realpolitic]

Things may get on track again when Bush leaves office, in terms of restoring our civil liberties and leaving behind the secrecy of this administration. His need for a perpetual emergency to get his way with Congress and the Courts is well examined here. There is something about Bush's arrogance which emboldens the Courts to make bad decisions and instills fear in the press not to take him on. How a president with such low approval ratings who stands for such unpopular policies can get his way so often is mystifying.

[mamacat]

Good blog, and a lot of good comments. Thanks.
I wonder how much of a chance we have against corporations and lobbyists. We citizens can vote only every two years for legislators, and only every four years for a president. Our ability to give money to politicians is meager compared to what the corporations can offer. Is it any wonder that the oil corporations managed to finagle a $13 billion/year giveaway from the public coffers to the their own?
And what do oil corps do with that money? They can use the $13 billion to fund some green research, so they can then pay for advertising to tell us what a wonderful job they are doing to put themselves out of business. They can pay off the executive and legislative branches to ensure that those bodies remain friendly to the corporate interests.
None of the above facts are new. Perhaps it is the unimaginable extent of the crime that makes it so difficult to comprehend. What I have always wondered, is, do oil companies make any profit on the dole handed out to them, or is it only sufficient to ensure that they maintain control of the government?
The oil companies are but the worst example of government graft and corruption.
It is very signifigant that the recent Democratic bill to remove the $13 billion corporate welfare to Exxon et. al. was killed by the Republican minority in the Senate.
In the vein of the conversation in the comments, it can be argued that we have less a democracy, than we do a corrupt Republic.
Thank you President Bush, Thank you Republican Senators, Thank you Exxon.

[realitytrumpsbull]

I can only speak for myself(good thing, that, or
I'd end up channeling Elvis, or something),
but I'd like to see:
A balanced budget MANDATE(meaning, 'it has to
happen, or else you're all fired', no government
doughnut)
US troops back on US soil, other countries
standing up and dealing with their own problems,
and
a return to bona-fide representation, where
the views and input of the People are reintegrated into any and all Congressional
goings-on, to where it'd be Damn Difficult
as the representative of any given corporation
you'd care to throw a rock at to be able
to walk into Sen. Lardbody's office and
plunk down a Fat Suitcase Of Money and have
their way with the whole process. Congress
can't permit itself to be bought out. Period.

Enough with the partisanship and the hyphenated-
american divisive stuff, let's see some
reform.
Main Entry: 1re·form
Pronunciation: ri-ˈfȯrm
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French refurmer, from Latin reformare, from re- + formare to form, from forma form
Date: 14th century
transitive verb
1 a: to put or change into an improved form or condition b: to amend or improve by change of form or removal of faults or abuses
2: to put an end to (an evil) by enforcing or introducing a better method or course of action
3: to induce or cause to abandon evil ways

[research]

Kucinich is the only candidate consistently working for the 98% of the American people. He has proven as mayor that he is not for sale.

Kucinich is so feared by the MSM that his impeachment of Cheney got zero headlines. Russert was tasked with "Moon beaming" Kucinich, and finally Kucinich was just excluded from the debates, since he was getting huge applause for impeaching Cheney.

Google Kucinich Wins

Strength Through Peace!

Kucinich!

Studs Terkel writes a great article about Kucinich:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020506/terkel

Who are the top three candidates?

We don't really know.

Kucinich trounced everyone in the two largest polls for far: the DFA and the independents polls.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?pid=249126
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/29506
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2007/08/5255_kucinich_wins_d.html

Great link on problems with modern phone polling.
http://www.pollster.com/blogs/cell_phones_and_political_surv.php
posted 12/31/2007 at 16:43:41

[mydogshakespeare]

Was it Kant who also said, "You can fool all the people some of the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on"? No, it was George W. Bush, but it have been. Yet while Kant would have been summarizing his three cynical maxims, Bush was explaining how he exploited, and planned to continue exploiting, his American Sheeple.

[thebarbarian]

Bin Laden is Dead and Bhutto named his assassin
on live TV in an interview with David Frost.

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/242.html

Perhaps that is why she was killed?

[desmirl]

When, oh when, will 1984 finally be over? Only when the voters go to the polls and elect those who do have an honest sense of duty, honor, and country.

[martinchill]

three words - MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX.

none of today's circumstances are surprising to me. pitiful, yes, but not surprising.

remember, folks - we live in a republic. we don't elect our presidents. the electoral college does. it's a scam and we faithfully participate in it every four years.

i took umbrage with the statement that we're all responsible for this mess, but short of leading a revolution in the streets - i suppose it's accurate.

read http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Democracy_America/Democratic_Facade.html

[Berettasskeeter]

I certainly agree that the author's description fits the Clintons. While dallying with interns, he managed to transfer massive amounts of restricted technology to China and Russia. He pardoned people for donations. He pardoned Puerto Rican terrorists. More friends and acquaintances of the Clintons have died violently than any allegations of the Bush's or Reagans.
I thank the author for portraying the Clintons in such an accurate light.
Semper fi

[malaprop]

"...that the people in a democracy are felt to bear some responsibility for the acts their leaders perform in their name"....w­holehearte­dly agreed, in a democracy.

By overwhelming numbers in all polls (mostly forgotten by the media), American's core concerns are diametrically opposed to, and routinely ignored by, the policies of this regime. That the interests of the corporate state should be eclipsed by the common good of the citizens to whom they owe their office is merely annoying and irrelevant to the purveyors of the "permanent Republican majority".

Perhaps, finally, Americans are coming to terms with, and may one day mollify, the huge damage done to their country in their name, but without their consent.

[arvo]

I enter the new year with a heavy heart, for all the reasons you mention.
When history demanded that we be led with intelligence and honor, we got... this bunch.
When it demanded alternatives to oil, we got oilmen.
When it demanded a reaffirmation of democracy, we got
plutocrats and fascists, and surveillance addicts.
When it demanded a Congress to fight, we got nothing.

And future history will condemn us all, and rightly so.

[Beecham]

DB: Thoughts on the contenders for the next administration? Am hopeful that the candidates for nominee don't begin falling back on these maxims, even in a less-charged political and strategic way.

[DrBlizzardo]

What Mr. Bromwich says offers hope, thankfully, but no prescription. I do not pretend any wisdom here, but allow me to illuminate the obvious.

The Neocons didn't come to power over night; they won't leave quietly or quickly at the end of Mr. Bush's term. These people are now embedded at all levels throughout the government and their employment is protected by Civil Service statues.

No, these Neocon fascists have infiltrated in exactly the way the Republicans once scared us the communists might; they are neither leaving nor relinquishing power any time soon.

Prescription? All politics are local. Be careful who you vote for school board, for city council, for state government--these are the next crop of national leaders. For years fascists used single-issue-voters to get men and women into office on the basis of abortion or gun rights and so forth--yet, once elected, did absolutely nothing to help the constituency who elected them...why? It gave the fascists a perpetual war cry elect more and more of their fellow fascists.

It’s the old bait and switch, and America fell for it hook, line and sinker.

And of course, Big Business gave the fascists billions of dollars to seduce, confuse and lie to you, to convince you to vote for their anointed favorites even though they governed in direct contrast to your best interests.

Don't be a single-issue voter--it's how the fascists have used us over and over again through their past 35 years of post-Nixonian maneuvering.

The cure will not be simple or quick, but start locally and root out fascists and single-issue candidates. Make sure campaign finance reform, not the economy, not Iraq, not global warming or even teaching evolution in the schools is their priority.

Once decent, honest politicians who are not beholden to makers of massive campaign contributions are installed, other problems become secondary; they become manageable, become solvable.

Care, campaign, write letters to the editor, vote, be passionate about your democracy--the Neocon fascists are taking it away from you as fast as they can.

[Arleang]

"the subdivision of Iraq itself into containable warring units based on ethnic and religious loyalty." I repeatedly ask myself why John Q. Public doesn't get this. And why is there no feeling of responsibility for the dead and maimed Iraqis. Why doesn't anyone recognize what PERMANENT military bases and the largest "embassy" in the world signify in Iraq.

Why do I feel such shame for all of this while others continue to beat their breasts to self-satisfied chants of victory.

Is it that a large percentage of the American people actually believe in an imperial America? Or is it that we are simple-minded, brain-washed or unable to think beyond what's at the mall or on TV.

Or perhaps the answer is that the USA is also Balkanized and therefore incapable of responding "against the continued assaults of arbitrary power." This may be closest to the truth.