Sunday, January 21, 2007
NOT WHAT THEY SEEM?
In his Psalm of Life, Longfellow put it this way:
Tell me not in mournful numbers,
"Life is but n empty dream!"
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
What if things are not what they seem? This query for contemplation may not be all that easy to express, but let us give it a try.
Based upon our experience, expectations of Mr. Bush are quite low. His utterances frequently fall short of truth and reality. But what if thee is something more behind this troop "surge" in Iraq than appears?
Just as we give Mr. Bush little credit, we tend to extend this to his corps of advisors. Further, since the generals have been under the thumb of the Bush administration, we give them little credit for being competent. We think they have said what they were told to say.
Now there is a different defense secretry, and a new general of repute moves into command in Iraq. The president asks for more troops, but we do not buy his explanation for that need. Are his military people brighter than we think? Is there something new afoot? What would it be?
Let us put a few things together and speculate. We are talking assertively about disbanding the Mahdi militia of the radical Shiite cleric, Al Sadr. The prime minister, Maliki, depends on Al Sadr's support, but he seems to be waffling in his protection of him from American forces. We are again warning Iran and Syria about intervention inside Irq. Iran has raised our ire by atomic activities, support of Middle East terrorist groups, and now aggressive organizing against us in other oil producing countries such as Venezuela. We have moved still another aircraft carrier group into the Persian Gulf. Other Arab nations express concern about Iran's atomic and military build-up. We are still refusing to make diplomatic initiatives toward Iran or Syria, as was advised by the Iraq Commission.
Putting all this together with the "surge," what does all this mean? Will we attack Al Sadr's militia? Does it mean an "incursion" into Iran or Syria to deal with weapons supplies? Doe it mean a bombing campaign of atomic or other key facilities in Iran? Are we becoming aware of the nature of the Shiite versus Sunni civil war in Iraq, and now planning a strategy to deal with the militant Shiite base of the government in place? Are we refusing to talk with Iran and Syria because we still have some actions planned first?
Maybe our usual expectations are correct, and the record of deception and inept leadership in Iraq will just continue on course. But what if there is something new afoot? Will it help or hinder our situation? Just what are these new plans, and how different are they? What if there are secret plans underway which will broaden the conflict and further complicate our world relations? Is Mr. Bush preparing to go beyond the authorization of Congress? Would he admit it, if he were?
The Militant Moderate believes there is a basis for an uneasy concern in America.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
