Essentially the Only One

Come then, pure hands, and bear the head
That sleeps or wears the mask of sleep,
And come, whatever loves to weep,
And hear the ritual of the dead.

It's Memorial Day today here in the United States. A day that really should be spent in reflection and sorrow, and not in partying to celebrate summer's beginning but that's the way it has become for some. Not all though - there will be visits to cemetaries and remembrance services for many.

For me, it's a strange day due to my own particular history. Firstly, thanks to my British upbringing, I always associate Armistice Day (November 11) with the dead of war. Indeed it was that war - World War One - that killed members of my own family. I first came across Memorial Day as it used to be called, Decoration Day - a far more upbeat name. I heard this name as one of a collection of orchestral pieces by Charles Ives. Again, music that is more celebratory than lamenting. So there's an emotional tug pulling this particular day away from deep gravitas.

So's there a duality in my mind as well as in practice. This is only reinforced by the extraordinary duality between domestic America and America at war. Unless you happen to be in the military, have a relative in the military or be deeply concerned with the war in Iraq, either for or against, you can essentially tune out the entire war.

To be sure, there are news reports on the fatalities and the car bombs and squabble between the Adminstration and Congress, but there is no sense at all - those exceptions I mentioned above excluded - that the war has any direct impact on the average person. For the first few months, when the news was good, the battles were won, and none of the quagmire to come was made clear except to the few (including, it seems, the intelligence community) who really understood the grimmer prospects to come, there was an upbeat air of success that effectively squelched any criticism.

But once the big battles (not that there were many of those) were won, the statues toppled and the grand photo ops finished, most people assumed the worst was over and in a year or so we'd have a nice, stable and friendly Iraq.

Today, as we know, all of those upbeat assumptions were false, and the removal of dictator who was at that point far more bluster than real threat had simply removed the brakes on a society riven with internal conflict and itching to tear itself apart. And of course, each group of extremists from whatever faction could always point a finger at the U.S. as the big bad ogre and continue slaughtering their neighbors and American soldiers, content in their justifications for murder.

War is never good, but if you are going to fight one, fight a real one against a nation that attacks you and bring everyone into the fight on the home and foreign fronts. Issue War Bonds - at least attempt to pay for the thing directly instead of borrowing, as the U.S. is doing, Chinese and other overseas monies and squandering its financial future in the process. Instill a sense of shared sacrifice - not this unreal and hideously unfair split where just a small segment of American society is giving its lives and accumulating terrible disabilities in a war that has no real purpose or goal anymore.

It's hard to look back on World War One - the war that claimed some of my great-uncles - as a 'good' war, given the death toll and the dislocation of Europe into a precursor of an even greater slaughter. But at least everyone shared the sorrow and sacrifice directly, even the U.S. with its much shorter exposure to the killing machine lost 116,708 military dead (the United Kingdom lost 885,138 military and 109,000 civilians). You might argue - erronously in my opinion - that the very low iraq casuality numbers in comparison somehow classify this as a different sort of war, one that can indeed be parceled off to a small segment of society and ignored by the rest. That's just bull - one death, one hand blown off - is too many, and everyone should be involved.

Involved to stop it as soon as possible.

Four years ago, I attended, along with my family and a good number of friends, this peace rally in Forest Park in St. Louis. We didn't believe in Bush's claim of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction; nor had we been lured into linking Saddam Hussein with al-Qaida. At the time, we were a pretty small and lonely bunch - what you see here is not much less than the entire rally. Views such as ours were not popular or accepted by most Americans. The war would begin in just a few days.

Well, here we are, four years on. It is too sad.

From the just released National Intelligence Estimate for Iraq.

Iraqi society’s growing polarization, the persistent weakness of the security forces
and the state in general, and all sides’ ready recourse to violence are collectively
driving an increase in communal and insurgent violence and political extremism.
Unless efforts to reverse these conditions show measurable progress during the term
of this Estimate, the coming 12 to 18 months, we assess that the overall security
situation will continue to deteriorate at rates comparable to the latter part of 2006.

From Dick Cheney:

Bottom line is that we've had enormous successes and we will continue to have enormous successes

The title quote is from John E. McLaughlin, former director of central intelligence. I know who I believe...

A polemic eerily similar to the 'red scare' hysteria that accompanied the Cold War from Liz Cheney in today's Washington Post. It's an instructive read because it opens a window into the type of bunker mentality that characterizes the current administration's foreign policy.

Reminds me of a penultimate scene (in a movie with a lot of endings) in "The Lord Of The Rings" movie where a spectacularly deformed orc is shouting the exortation that titles this post at his similarly evil-looking cohort. Unfortunately, when it comes to the world of men, such simple divisions into good and evil that characterize popular fantasy do not apply.

No, to get a better idea of what is happening, better to read far deeper literature such as Virgil's Aeneid or Melville's Moby Dick. Just as Nicolas Kristof details in today's New York Times (subscription needed).

Perhaps the most depressing aspect of Iraq today (apart from the hideous slaughter) is that the country is just as dangerous to the Middle East in its current destabilised condition than it was under Hussein. Perhaps even more so. And the sole reason that it is in that state is the American/British intervention.

President Bush must be feeling miffed that his complete cock-up valiant success in Iraq is getting so much bad publicity. When even the most conservative of neo-cons stick in the knife what is there to say?

Stay the course, of course. Oh, I think he's trying to change that one. I wonder why?

A year before the war, Adelman predicted demolishing Saddam's military power and liberating Iraq would be a "cakewalk." But he told the magazine he was mistaken in his high opinion of Bush's national security .

"They turned out to be among the most incompetent teams in the postwar era," he said. "Not only did each of them, individually, have enormous flaws, but together they were deadly, dysfunctional."

George Bush is really getting me down.

All over the wires, newspapers, internet, radio & TV, are pictures of his mug and quotes from his Iraq boosting speeches and news conferences.This man is in charge of a huge country and the largest army in the world and he's living in a la-la land of his own creation.

It is very depressing. He's now talkng about keeping troops in Iraq for the remaining years of his presidency. Lord knows what this will cost in lives and money. And not one lost life and spent dollar is going to make America any safer, securer or stronger.

Iraq is a debacle. As Eugene Robertson says:

This is not good. The people running this country sound convinced that reality is whatever they say it is. And if they've actually strayed into the realm of genuine self-delusion -- if they actually believe the fantasies they're spinning about the bloody mess they've made in Iraq over the past three years -- then things are even worse than I thought.

I can just about put up with an incompetent leader. But a delusional, incompetent, one? No wonder I feel like the U.S. is swirling down that proverbial plug-hole in the sky, soon to disappear with a vulgar gurgle. And if it did, there would be many worldwide sagely nodding their heads and saying 'told you so'.

So, I play the beautifully melancholic songs of Death Cab For Cutie (on the wonderful Plans album) - something of an American Smiths for this day and age - and wonder where it will all end.

The temptation to simply withdraw, throw the newspapers away unopened and block all the news internet sites, is strong. If our leaders can create their own fantasy world, why can't I? We all know that Bush is the bubble-boy, and he still seems to be cheerfully spouting the same nonsense of years ago with no personal ill-effects. Perhaps delusion is the way to go. Trouble is, reality has a habit of kicking you in the teeth sooner or later if you adopt that sort of attitude. Perhaps the most astonishing thing to me is seeing Bush oblivious as that great hobnailed boot gets closer and closer. Maybe it's even kicked him and he doesn't even know it.

Scary thoughts, but these are rather scary times.

And what is it about that multi-echoed piano sound straight out of John Lennon's early solo work that seems to be attracting so many artists these days? It's here on Plans, it's on the latest Oasis album. As Lennon sang on the Imagine album, Gimme Some Truth. Maybe that's what we need.