“When tyrants tremble, sick with fear,
and hear their death knell ringing;
When friends rejoice both far and near,
How can I keep from singing?”
-19th century Amish folk songTHE RALLYING CRY OF this war, Iraq’s own El Grito, came on April 1st - an Iraqi man in Najaf told a NY Times (it was in the 2 April NYT, but you have to pay to read their archives) reporter that what this war would bring was “Democracy! Whiskey! (crowd roars) And Sexy!”

The call of protesters and the anti-war contingent has been answered. There is peace in Iraq. For the first time in a quarter century. Make no mistake, Iraq was not at peace before the US invaded. Any doubt I had about the rightness of this war has been erased.

This war will go down in history as one of the most successful in the history of the world. Less than 150 allied deaths. The most inflated estimates say about 1000 Iraqi civilian casualties; most unbiased sources say less than half that. Children and political prisoners have been freed from jails. The thoughts of a nation have been freed to the air. In 3 weeks, a nation was defeated on its own turf by a relatively small portion of the US military and our friends’ armies. Saddam’s acid baths, his extravagent gold palaces, his hospitals used as army bases, his torture chambers: all are now shown to the world.

In the long term, the gains could be even greater. If Iraq becomes a democracy (and I will be the one protesting if we neglect our responsibility in the nation) and becomes prosperous, the Arab World will push its leaders into modernity. Kuwait, remember, who who liberated from Saddam in 1991, has nothing but love for America. They’re democratizing more than any other nation in the region.

In the long term, the US’ overwhelming success, with very limited civilian casualties, in Kuwait, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, will not go unnoticed. Dictators pursuing belligerence, nations pursuing weapons that threaten the world, are now on notice that diplomacy, though the best tool, is not the only tool. This does not mean further wars - this means the world’s first truly successful anti-war measure.

And what has the US learned? We have learned who are true friends are, internationally. We’ve learned that the UN is a tool, and a great one, but it is not God. We’ve learned that the claims of the most hysterical war opponents are not true - Neither Iraq nor Afghanistan was a quagmire, neither caused civilian tragedies (though in every war, from now on, the goal needs to be even less of these), neither caused an uprising of the Arab Street, neither caused war to spill over, neither caused increased terrorism in the US or worldwide. Neither was a loss, for Iraqis, Afghanis or Americans.

The US will also remember the limits of warmaking as a power. We remember that diplomacy is always the first option. We remember that war has costs, that in some circumstances, such as DR Congo and N. Korea, war is incapable of solving the problems, and that the benefits must be many times greater to legitimate our use of force. We remember the hope we helped give to people in post-war Japan, in post-SSR Russia, in post-Gulf War Kuwait. We remember, utmost, the human lives on both sides harmed by war, and continue to work on weapons that lower that critical number.

But, most of all, we remember the celebrations. The jubilation in the streets. The statues of pain destoryed, the terrorizers on the run, the lives reborn, the smiles, the joy.

Not all of us will remember this. Today, in the Register-Guard, Eugene peace activist Ingrid Wendt “was bothered by the ‘tone of jubilation’ reflected in much of the TV coverage she saw. ‘I’m afraid it will obscure the harsher realities of the cost of winning this war, of all the suffering and death we’ve caused, of how we’ve alienated so many countries and people around the world.’”

Fine, Ingrid. You said it best yourself: This war is not in your name. Iraq’s celebrations, the end of a genocidal dictatorship, the freedom of tens of millions, all are not in your fucking name. It’s in the name of the military, of the Iraqis who helped us, of our allies, of those who supported what is right even when it was unpopular.

Alas, not all news is positive: Might I direct your attention to the civil war in the DR Congo? There’s not much the govt. can do militarily, as this is a Civil War without any center or regime to get rid of. Nonetheless, it’s estimated that well over a million have died from the war and related famine/disease, so if you can spare a little bit of money, that link about to a Refugee group would be well spent in stopping that tragedy.

Peace.

Prime Cuts

“The Mexican 2002″ by Thalia ft/ Marc Anthony
Cool spanish-language dance/pop song from Thalia. Not as good as “Tu y Yo”, but still pretty tight - sweet guitar riffs.“All Around the World” by the Cooler Kids
Ok, so they took 80’s pop and threw in modern production and lots of rave references. Sweet.