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War and Deliverance

 

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"What's the plan Lewis?" Ed asks him.

"Plan? Just paddle on down to Aintry, get the cars and go home."

In the fiction of "Deliverance," Ed's sanity and bravery eventually save the day when he climbs out of the gorge. What I wonder is whether in the real-world crisis of Iraq there is enough sanity and bravery in Washington to deliver us from the evil that's been created in Iraq. Unfortunately it doesn't look that way. Whether we listen to the Republicans or the Democrats, the woman candidate for president or the men, all the major contenders remain reluctant to challenge the ersatz standards of strength set by the Bush administration. Sure, they snipe at each other, but none want to appear weak on national security. So we're left with "Law, what law? Plan, what plan?" And we continue to float down the river as if without a paddle, unable and unwilling to climb out, with much more violence and in all probability worse humiliations yet to come.

© 2007

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  • Posted By: laudyms @ 10/30/2007 5:40:09 PM

    America was always a nation whose dreams and visions allowed us to reach beyond sordid realities. Now the visions have turned dark and even reality has a hard time matching the horrors on offer by the Bush admin. It's time to call them out and reclaim both our vision and our future. Thanks for speaking up.

  • Posted By: maheshmj @ 10/30/2007 9:05:41 AM

    It is back to "Lord of the Flies by William Golding, which talked about the basic savagery in man. And it is a replay of the events that led up to the Second World War. Germany humiliated, unable to manage itself financially, and unable to protect itself from the goons that took to beating up people on behalf of Hitler. Hitler became inevitable. What caused the aftermath to become horrific was the inability -- more unwillingness -- on the part of the strongest countries to prevent the tyrant from growing bigger. Iraq's problems will also, eventually, be solved by a strongman, a tyrant. There's no escaping that fact. What the world -- not the US -- will have to see is that he does not grow bigger. To do that, ALL oil contracts in Iraq will have to be renegotiated so that they don't become another Ruhr Valley situation

  • Posted By: delraybuzz @ 10/27/2007 5:12:41 PM

    I have long recognized a certain psychosis in the behavior of the current administration, and this article put its finger right on the nub! We are all aware of the preoccupation of this group to attacking Iraq prior to the 2000 election. I just never connected the dots so thoroughly. We had better stop wishing and DO SOMETHING!

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