I shall do nothing in malice. What I deal with is too vast for malicious dealing.
Abraham Lincoln, in a July 28, 1862 Letter to Cuthbert Bullitt
Lincoln wrote those words during the height of the Civil War, the single most traumatic event in American history. He expressed his decision to abstain from acting out of anger or vindictiveness at a time when the passions of the country, both North and South were inflamed with hatred one for the other, and with the desire to eradicate all those who disagreed with them, whatever side they had chosen in that terrible conflict. It’s a revealing statement about the character of Lincoln, the character of a leader who found himself forced to confront the greatest crisis of our nation, a war of brother against brother, a war in which more Americans died than in any subsequent war in our history, a war literally over what sort of nation we would become.
Contrast that with the following words spoken or written by our media and political elites who advocated a preventive war against Iraq in the wake of the attacks of 9/11/2001, or who supported the war with their votes in Congress.
(cont.)
Thomas Friedman on why we had to invade Iraq.
The real reason for this war—which was never stated—was to burst what I would call the “terrorism bubble,” which had built up during the 1990s.
. . . This bubble had to be burst, and the only way to do it was to go right into the heart of the Arab world and smash something—to let everyone know that we, too, are ready to fight and die to preserve our open society. Yes, I know, it’s not very diplomatic—it’s not in the rule book—but everyone in the neighborhood got the message: Henceforth, you will be held accountable. Why Iraq, not Saudi Arabia or Pakistan? Because we could—period.
Charles Schumer (D-NY) commenting on Saddam Hussein’s death sentence.
[Saddam Hussein] was a brutal, evil dictator” who is “getting the punishment that he deserves.
President Bush, taunting the Iraqi insurgents who threatened to continue to attack US forces following Bush’s announcement that major combat operation in Iraq were over.
“Bring them on.”
Of course, it’s easy to cherry pick quotes expressing malice and ill feeling from those who enabled and supported Bush’s war on terror, and therefore easy for some to dismiss them as an act of mere sophistry on my part. After all, there are just as many speeches and op-ed columns expressing other, better rationales for our actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, such as the liberation of subject peoples from evil dictatorial regimes and the establishment of democratic governments, which is usually the noblest explanation advanced for the Bush administration’s policy of preventive wars in the Middle East. But what is not so easy to dismiss is the manner in which we have carried out those policies, or advanced those so-called “freedom agendas” in this so-called “War on Terror.”
For example:
The indefinite detention without trial and the failure to provide the treatment guaranteed prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions for thousands of Afghanis and Iraqis unfortunate to fall into the hands of our military forces.
The use of torture as the official policy of the American government.
The extraordinary rendition of prisoners to countries who use even harsher methods of torture than those deemed legal by the Bush administration.
The establishment of secret CIA prisons in foreign countries accountable to no one.
The abuse of prisoners, including the rape of women and children held in US custody, as well as the physical abuse, and sexual and religious humiliation of prisoners held in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanomo Bay.
The use of white Phosphorus and and incendiary weapons against Iraqi forces and civilian populations.
The deliberate massacre of Iraqi civilians both by US troops and by mercenaries employed as security forces by the US government.
The deliberate destruction of hospitals and the cut off of water and electricity to the civilian population during the US military assault on Fallujah, which problems continue to this day.
The US government’s training and support of shi’ite militias to operate as death squads to murder, intimidate and ethnically cleanse Sunni populations in Iraq.
Baiting Iraqi civilians into American sniper traps.
The indiscriminate use of air power to attack “insurgents” with the resulting “collateral damage” to civilians in heavily populated areas.
The casual acceptance and even promotion of bigotry and religious intolerance by the US military.
This list of atrocities committed by Americans in pursuit of the “terrorists” could have been much longer had I the time or patience to document all of the misdeeds done in furtherance of that nebulous goal. What is apparent, however, from even these few examples, is that a pattern quickly emerges regarding how this war on terror has been prosecuted by America. And that pattern is one of extreme malice and ill will toward the Islamic world, and toward any Arabs or other Muslims unfortunate to live in countries where the US military holds sway. In defense of our freedoms we have reacted, not by calling on “the better angels of our nature” (as Lincoln once asked his fellow citizens to do), but by resorting to our basest instincts. Instincts of vengeance, hatred and a reckless and depraved indifference to the lives of those who live in Iraq and Afghanistan or anywhere else we perceive terrorists to reside (e.g., Gaza and Lebanon, to name but two examples where civilian populations have suffered the horror of war and occupation by a foreign power).
Now one cannot argue that such evil intentions, such pure hatred and desire for revenge, completely explains the policy decisions by the Bush administration, and I would heartily agree with you. Greed, the military industrial complex, the neoconservatives’ desire for world domination and the imposition of an American imperial agenda, and no doubt the belief that we needed to secure access to Middle Eastern oil for the bloated American economy all played a role in those calculations. But in carrying out those policies there has been a deliberate, top to bottom emphasis on employing the most ruthless measures to achieve those ends, measures that violate all of our most cherished ideals and beliefs.
In our fear of this unknown, but well exploited, terrorist threat we have adopted the most immoral policies, the most sordid and depraved stratagems and tactics. We have become the mirror image of those who sought to terrorize us. We have become the face of state sponsored terror, torture, death and destruction, waging war mercilessly against people who were not our enemies before we invaded their countries and exposed them to our worst fantasies of vendetta for the trauma we collectively suffered on 9/11.
It goes without saying that none of this could have been done without the “leadership” of George W. Bush, upon whom the greatest share of our opprobrium should rightly fall. But also, none of it could have been done without the willing acceptance and/or silent acquiescence of millions of Americans, including most of the political leadership of the Democratic Party. That is an embarrassing and ignominious fact for which the Democratic Party should rightly feel ashamed. And one that they must rectify following the November election.
For if there is one truly monumental task facing the next President, it is to restore our country to the path of morality and legality, to justice rather than revenge, to respect for the rule of law over the rule of a fearful mob. For under Bush that is what America has become — a rogue nation who seeks to impose its will by force of arms. A nation that has ground the law into dust beneath its guns and bombs and tank treads. To reverse that course will be the highest priority our next President must set for this nation. Otherwise we will slip ever closer to rule by whomever can seize the levers of power, i.e., a rule by tyrants, despots and demagogues.
And his or her first order of business must be leading Americans away from the climate of fear and hatred, and the desire for unmitigated revenge against any and all enemies, real or imagined, which Bush and the Republicans have engendered in far too many of our fellow Americans. For only by conquering our fears can we reverse the evil we have allowed to happen. Only through a re-dedication to the principles of justice and human rights for all peoples can we begin our journey to redemption.