John Cory writes: "War is so normal, so mundane, that we just accept it - like checking the daily weather report - cloudy, with a chance of gloom and death ... No worries though, this will be a short intervention. A matter of days and then it will be handed off to NATO supervision. A few missiles, a few bombs on carefully selected targets and it will all be over. Clean. Distant. Uninvolved. Death by technology. No muss, no fuss. Long war, short war, and in-between war. One size fits all. Step right up. War is our new normal."
A Libyan man flashes victory signs as he stands amid the rubble of a navy facility that was hit by a coalition airstrike in Tripoli, Libya, 03/22/11. (photo: Mohamed Messara/EPA)
The Normal of War
22 March 11
Reader Supported News | Perspective
o here we are.
The 8-year anniversary of shock-and-awe and the invasion of Iraq. 10 years into Afghanistan.
War is so normal, so mundane, that we just accept it - like checking the daily weather report - cloudy, with a chance of gloom and death.
I read a poll that said 60 percent of Americans want out of Afghanistan, but only 2 percent thought about war during the 2010 elections.
No mention of Iraq.
Does anyone else see the irony of the new Operation Odyssey Dawn against Libya on this weekend anniversary of the war in Iraq? Or the inkblot spread of the war in Afghanistan into Pakistan? Or the re-appearance of retired generals on MSNBC and CNN explaining how this new operation is necessary and will lead to good old-fashioned democracy in the Middle East? It all sounds so very familiar.
Wild Eddie once told me, "History is just an old martini with a fresh twist."
The words and phrases spill across the airwaves: Our brave men and women - justified action in defense of freedom - the full backing of the United Nations - neutralize assets - broad coalition - UN Resolution - force is not our first choice - overwhelming airpower with precision targeting.
And so it goes. A new war made of the same old flesh and bombs.
As Obama spoke from Brazil I heard the echoes of Bush and Reagan. The news talkers and analysts have already begun the spin that this sterile war will involve only US weapon technology and logistics without ground forces in order to show us how clean Operation Odyssey Dawn will be. And they warn the public that this guy, this despicable despot Qaddafi, will no doubt trot out footage of "innocent civilians" killed by these attacks but we do not need to pay attention to that stuff because we are in the right and he is evil. He left us no choice.
No worries though, this will be a short intervention. A matter of days and then it will be handed off to NATO supervision. A few missiles, a few bombs on carefully selected targets and it will all be over. Clean. Distant. Uninvolved. Death by technology. No muss, no fuss.
Long war, short war, and in-between war. One size fits all. Step right up.
War is our new normal.
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