Force is Weakness: Lessons from the Post 9/11 Years

 (Note: I am indebted to Jane Mayer’s groundbreaking work The Dark Side for contributions to the ideas I wrote about in the following blog.)

Bush Administration Response to 9/11 Rooted in Shame and Humiliation

The tragic mistakes made by the Bush administration provide lessons for those of us who yearn to see a happier world.  Now that the Bush team’s decision making process is coming to light, it is critical that we understand what happened here.

The Bush-Cheney response to 9/11 was rooted in shame and humiliation. They were caught, one might say, with their pants down. They had been repeatedly warned that Al-Qaeda operatives were in the U.S. and chose to ignore that information.  When the planes hit the Twin Towers Bush was the Commander-in-Chief.  Three thousand lives were lost on his watch.  Somewhere inside themselves Bush and Cheney knew they were responsible.

The Lust for Revenge

These two men are not self-reflective people. They instantly denied these overwhelming feelings and converted them into rage and the desire for revenge.  Suddenly “the gloves were off.”   CIA Director George Tenet was eager to oblige with plans for killing squads to go after Bin Laden and terrorists all over the world.  It was pay back and damn the cost.

 You Are With Us or You Are Against Us Approach

The War on Terror evolved into a secretive approach in which President Bush and Vice President Cheney sought and obtained highly dubious legal opinions that allowed them to circumvent American laws and traditions. They deliberately avoided obtaining the advice and counsel that is so much a part of our system of government.

The cost of this approach in lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, is staggering.   The decision to use torture is a debt we will be paying for generations to come. It is clear is that news of American torture has penetrated to the Muslim world and will almost certainly seed future generations of terrorists.  To deliberately inflict such cruel suffering on individual Muslims, many of them completely innocent, is the greatest fuel for the fire of Muslim rage I can think of.

Failures of Bush Team Not Unique in the World

Why were Bush and company so blind?  They were no more blind than anyone else in the world.  The kind of thing that went on in the Bush White House, while new to the US in the extreme degree it was practiced, is not new in the world and it certainly is not new in many of our families.

We Americans are Complicit

We Americans are all complicit in a collective failure here.  I was not effective in my individual actions in calling President Bush to account. Millions Americans failed in our attempts, individually and collectively to stop the U.S. from entering the Iraq War. Throughout four congressional election cycles and two presidential campaigns there has been little fruitful discussion about effectively stopping torture by the U. S.   Time and again the U.S. Congress has funded appropriations for the Iraq War,  ensuring its continuance.  In July 2007 a bill to close Guantanamo was defeated.   We have all been ineffective. WHY?

The Old Conversation Is Running Us

I assert that what is running all of us is what I call the “old conversation”.  This five thousand years old conversation insists that the use of force is power. It suggests that military might is the only way to deal with enemies. This carries over into individual behavior with those who use bullying and intimidation to get people to do what they want.  President Bush and his team have epitomized this approach at the White House. Strong men quivered while bullies like David Addington and Dick Cheney screamed at them. Only a few unsung heroes had the courage to say no to President Bush. And still, many of the torture policies remain in effect.  It is clear, to me at least, that cruelty is as fundamentally unworkable in the field of foreign relations as it is in every other sphere of our lives.

Where do We Want To Go From Here?

The question is, as we elect a new president, is what kind of world do we want to create?  Is bullying and intimidation going to create the kind of world you want to live in? Does military force work to make a peaceful world?  Do you want a world of kindness and human decency or one of cruelty. Think about it.

Please let me hear from you. Send your comments in. Let’s get a conversation going on these critical issues.