Guest guest Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 > e > Tue, 07 Sep 2004 07:26:38 -0700 > Krugman: War's Mythic Reality > > War's Mythic Reality > > Paul Krugman, The New York Times Op-Ed Page, > September 7, 2004 > > http://nytimes.com/2004/09/07/opinion/07krugman.html?hp > > The best book I've read about America after 9/11 > isn't about either > America or 9/11. It's " War Is a Force That Gives Us > Meaning, " an essay > on the psychology of war by Chris Hedges, a veteran > war correspondent. > Better than any poll analysis or focus group, it > explains why President > Bush, despite policy failures at home and abroad, is > ahead in the polls. > > War, Mr. Hedges says, plays to some fundamental > urges. " Lurking beneath > the surface of every society, including ours, " he > says, " is the > passionate yearning for a nationalist cause that > exalts us, the kind > that war alone is able to deliver. " When war > psychology takes hold, the > public believes, temporarily, in a " mythic reality " > in which our nation > is purely good, our enemies are purely evil, and > anyone who isn't our > ally is our enemy. > > This state of mind works greatly to the benefit of > those in power. > > One striking part of the book describes Argentina's > reaction to the 1982 > Falklands war. Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri, the leader of > the country's > military junta, cynically launched that war to > distract the public from > the failure of his economic policies. It worked: > " The junta, which had > been on the verge of collapse " just before the war, > " instantly became > the saviors of the country. " > > The point is that once war psychology takes hold, > the public desperately > wants to believe in its leadership, and ascribes > heroic qualities to > even the least deserving ruler. National adulation > for the junta ended > only after a humiliating military defeat. > > George W. Bush isn't General Galtieri: America > really was attacked on > 9/11, and any president would have followed up with > a counterstrike > against the Taliban. Yet the Bush administration, > like the Argentine > junta, derived enormous political benefit from the > impulse of a nation > at war to rally around its leader. > > Another president might have refrained from > exploiting that surge of > support for partisan gain; Mr. Bush didn't. > > And his administration has sought to perpetuate the > war psychology that > makes such exploitation possible. > > Step by step, the fight against Al Qaeda became a > universal " war on > terror, " then a confrontation with the " axis of > evil, " then a war > against all evil everywhere. Nobody knows where it > all ends. > > What is clear is that whenever political debate > turns to Mr. Bush's > actual record in office, his popularity sinks. Only > by doing whatever it > takes to change the subject to the war on terror - > not to what he's > actually doing about terrorist threats, but to his > " leadership, " > whatever that means - can he get a bump in the > polls. > > Last week's convention made it clear that Mr. Bush > intends to use what's > left of his heroic image to win the election, and > early polls suggest > that the strategy may be working. What can John > Kerry do? > > Campaigning exclusively on domestic issues won't > work. Mr. Bush must be > held to account for his dismal record on jobs, > health care and the > environment. But as Mr. Hedges writes, when war > psychology makes a > public yearn to believe in its leaders, " there is > little that logic or > fact or truth can do to alter the experience. " > > To win, the Kerry campaign has to convince a > significant number of > voters that the self-proclaimed " war president " > isn't an effective war > leader - he only plays one on TV. > > This charge has the virtue of being true. It's hard > to find a > nonpartisan national security analyst with a good > word for the Bush > administration's foreign policy. Iraq, in > particular, is a slow-motion > disaster brought on by wishful thinking, cronyism > and epic incompetence. > > If I were running the Kerry campaign, I'd remind > people frequently about > Mr. Bush's flight-suit photo-op, when he declared > the end of major > combat. In fact, the war goes on unabated. News > coverage of Iraq dropped > off sharply after the supposed transfer of > sovereignty on June 28, but > as many American soldiers have died since the > transfer as in the > original invasion. > > And I'd point out that while Mr. Bush spared no > effort preparing for his > carrier landing - he even received underwater > survival training in the > White House pool - he didn't prepare for things that > actually mattered, > like securing and rebuilding Iraq after Baghdad > fell. > > Will it work? I don't know. But to win, Mr. Kerry > must try to puncture > the myth that Mr. Bush's handlers have so > assiduously created > -- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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