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Friday, March 21, 2003 |
Tipping Encouraged. If you're an anti-war protester or politician, this theory of warfare should change the way you think and act. Your efforts to generate resistance to the war before there is any evidence of killing, much less atrocities, contribute to the political strength of the enemy regime. You encourage uncertainty about the war's outcome, increasing the likelihood that the regime's soldiers will fight and die. You make it more difficult to separate the regime from its people. You frustrate the tipping and bring on the crushing. [William Saletan - Slate]
What a ridiculous assertion. The premise is as illogical as the Republicans' contention that the way to lower the budget deficit is to reduce taxes and increase spending. Want to stop a country from going to war? Then support it!
The argument falls apart in two main places:
- It assumes that the country going to war (and therefore the target of protesters) is doing so for just reasons. This, obviously, is not always the case. The history of U.S. foreign policy is littered with support for ruthless dictators and unjust motivations. Don't get me wrong, U.S. foreign policy has also waged wars for the right reason (Kosovo and two Gulf Wars come to mind). But shutting down an anti-war voice in all situations would contribute to the government waging more unjust wars, not less.
- As we seem to be seeing in Iraq, the opposition of the anti-war movement worldwide and the anti-war camp in the United Nations appears to have had no impact on the Iraqi regime's will to fight. While I do agree that had the international community been more willing to set a deadline for disarmament, Saddam perhaps would have cooperated short of war, I see no evidence that the opposition of much of the world has done anything to bolster Saddam's cause in the face of an exponentially more powerful foe. Unless there is another power willing to go to war on the "enemy's" side, it is unlikely that any amount of noise made by the global anti-war community would have any impact.
5:55:10 PM 
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Chirac warns on 'post-war' plans. The French president says he will reject any UN resolution allowing the US and UK to administer post-war Iraq. [BBC News]
France continues to use the "Green Eggs and Ham" defense against any US/UK-backed UN Resolutions.
3:16:17 PM
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French Cleaners' Vandalized in Calif.. Pierre Frik feared if the country went to war in Iraq, he might be targeted by zealots because of his Middle Eastern background. He never imagined he'd be vulnerable because his chain of stores was named French Cleaners. [Associated Press]
American Blackshirts on the loose.
2:50:10 PM
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