I cannot believe — no, I’m afraid I can believe. So let me begin again.
I cannot fathom how any one in the United States can seriously think that bombing Iran is anything but an insane idea.
Have we learned nothing from Iraq? from Afghanistan? from Lebanon? from Vietnam? Do we still think we can win hearts and minds with bombs? and do we still think we can win a war without the hearts and minds of the people?
The Other I 
Reminds me a bit of another MarkTwainism: It was wonderful to find America, but it would have been more wonderful to miss it.
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Comment by Chris Lawrence — August 25, 2010 @ 8:59 pm |
Or as Yogi Berra said “The same deja vu all over again”?
My favourite Mark Twainism is the one you have quoted on your Snake Pie post. I laughed out when I read it again. Thank you.
But now I must go prepare the snakes for dinner.
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Comment by theotheri — August 26, 2010 @ 4:12 pm |
war is a wonderful word which comes from several sources one of which is old high german meaning to confuse or to perplex or to bring into confusion. they did not use the form from latin (bellum) because of the concern that it would be confused with bella (beautiful)
seens to me that it has been an integral and really inescapable part of human behavior. however, it is more prolific in non-nomadic cultures but once we became aggregarian, it was inevitable that this occurred have you ever seen the moving the gods must be crazy? i recommend it highly it is many years old but truly a classic and best anti war movie i have ever seen.
because war is always aimed at altering the economic hierarchy of domination beween groups or the psychological hierarchy and because we are all so vulnerable, so alone in this great denial of death, i truly believe that war always has and always will be with us. matters little: old/young gay/straight black/white arab/jew educated/unlettered man/woman problem now is that it no longer is aimed at dominance it is aimed at extinction
anyway my thoughts for the day k
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Comment by kateritek — August 25, 2010 @ 10:30 pm |
Oh K, I know. I am afraid I have reached the same conclusion as you. I went through a brief period in my life when I thought it was possible that we might learn some other way than war. But now I fear it is a race between our destroying ourselves and a small number reaching another planet where homo sapiens may survive until we once again run out of space. Modern warfare also seems far worse to me not only because we have developed such terrifying weapons that can kill hundreds of thousands of people with a single blow, but because we have now combined that with the messianic message that if we all die, that is fine. Because those who have been saved are going to a much better place anyway. In fact, I’ll even get a better place if I’m the one who triggered the killer bomb.
I said once that Hope was the most courageous of virtues. I sometimes think it is merely the most naive. But I am very grateful for your sharing. It helps. Thank you.
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Comment by theotheri — August 26, 2010 @ 4:19 pm |