Land of Lime

Read Andrew J. Bacevich’s reflective WAPO OPED on losing his son in Iraq earlier this month. Haunting is his question:

What exactly is a father’s duty when his son is sent into harm’s way?

Bacevich, a military historian who also served in Vietnam, teaches History and International Relations at Boston University. A persistent critic of the Iraq war and of the post-Cold war American foreign policy (and its reliance on militarism) in general, Bacevich has been a thoughtful and reflective voice asking important questions both in scholarly and public forums. See his book The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War. Today’s OPED is in part a response to hatemongers, who in fact blamed Bacevich himself for his son’s death, arguing that his stridently anti-war writings emboldened the enemy. I wonder where they got that idea!

It seems to me that Bacevich is asking his question as a father but his response is as a citizen and a scholar.

Not for a second did I expect my own efforts to make a difference. But I did nurse the hope that my voice might combine with those of others — teachers, writers, activists and ordinary folks — to educate the public about the folly of the course on which the nation has embarked. I hoped that those efforts might produce a political climate conducive to change. I genuinely believed that if the people spoke, our leaders in Washington would listen and respond.

This, I can now see, was an illusion.

The people have spoken, and nothing of substance has changed.

Trying to make sense of his son’s actions and death, Bacevich concludes:

I know that my son did his best to serve our country. Through my own opposition to a profoundly misguided war, I thought I was doing the same. In fact, while was he was giving all, I was doing nothing. In this way, I failed him.

In these days of intense patriotism, dissent has minimal space and strangely anti-war activists have not embraced civil disobedience as a moral and political option. I just began reading David Shulman’s latest book Dark Hope: Working for Peace in Israel and Palestine, which raises similar questions in the context of Israel. More on that soon.

PS: Also read this earlier OPED (JULY 2006) in WAPO when Bacevich asked: What’s an Iraqi Life Worth?

I missed the European Cup finals between Liverpool and A C Milan earlier this week. Doesn’t look like I missed much but as I browsed through reports in the Guardian and Soccernet, here is something that caught the attention of ever perceptive Richard Williams:

Kaka, incidentally, reacted to the final whistle by heading for the centre circle, where he went down on his knees and raised his arms to heaven. Having stripped off his shirt to reveal a T-shirt bearing the message I Belong To Jesus, he remained in that posture for a good two minutes while his team-mates enjoyed more conventional and collective forms of celebration. While acknowledging the general excellence of the way Kaka appears to conduct himself as a player and as a man, one can only wonder what the reaction would have been if the shirt had said Allah Is Great. (emphasis mine)

Indeed.