War in Iraq: A View from Washington

A new fear is spreading among Americans. To find reassurance, they appeal to the ideals that made this country great, but that today seem to be reduced to ideology

by Melanie Danner, et al

In a country where most Americans gain their understanding of the world through television soundbites and glib talk shows, it is not surprising that the debate on the impending war against Saddam Hussein leaves Americans with few genuine criteria with which to judge the circumstances. Cable News Network (CNN)’s 24-hour television reporting on Iraq–which is closely watched in the White House and the Pentagon–epitomizes this confusion of words and abstract images that assails American viewers, all to the tune of theme music that is worthy of a Hollywood action movie. On the question of going to war against Saddam, the American media routinely twist and manipulate reality so that fundamental questions about Iraq and the Middle East are reduced or eliminated.

As politicians and radio/TV talk-show hosts gleefully attack the French “weasels” for daring to disagree with the Bush administration, Americans remain seemingly oblivious to the role of a handful of men around the President who have shaped a new US national security strategy that has called into question historical American commitments to domestic civil rights and norms of international order. The question of why America is so hated throughout the Arab and larger Islamic world and why the violent ideology of the Islamic fundamentalists is so resonant, is explained by the assumption that those enemies of America are simply envious of our freedoms and economic well being. Meanwhile, the plight of the Christian minorities across the Islamic world is largely ignored, and no one, except the Catholic bishops, warns of the perilous consequences a war on Iraq may likely have on these suffocating communities, from Palestine to Indonesia.

The specter of another attack
Yet, unlike the first Gulf War in 1991, when Americans watched videogame-like TV images of death and destruction in Iraq comfortably from their kitchen tables, Americans today are shaken and frightened as never before. For the specter of another attack like September 11th haunts this nation. An agonizing fear has gripped those responsible for the security of the US, a fear that is the impetus for the undoubtedly sincere belief of President Bush that it is his moral duty to strike Saddam before he has the opportunity to strike America. And because, as so many hold, “God helps those who help themselves,” this country applies the awesome might of advanced technology and laws to try to assure its people of an elusive security.

Thus, we are offered armies of airport security personnel and colored warning codes to indicate the level of the threat, so that we will not be caught off guard when an attack occurs. Today we face “Code Orange,” a serious threat of terrorist attack, possibly with chemical, biological, or radiological weapons secreted into this country by al-Qai’da terrorists who may, President Bush warns, be working in collaboration with Saddam. One very real threat is conflated with another of questionable nature. And so Americans ran to buy plastic sheets and tape to cover their windows from poisonous gases, and gun stores were crowded with persons seeking to buy “protection” from these hidden terrorists.

National “Religion”
This gnawing fear has only been compounded now that millions of Americans have a relative, friend, or colleague in the front lines of the looming war against Saddam. The possibility of street-to-street battles in downtown Baghdad or of attacks against our soldiers with weapons of mass destruction is profoundly troubling to this nation. In response, Americans have turned for assurance to their shared national “religion”: a fervent and sincere patriotism. Across the country, American flags adorn car bumpers and the doorways of homes, and images of eagles hang from office and store walls. These are the symbols of a quintessentially American belief that our freedoms and respect for the individual have formed a great country whose ideals are a gift to the world. Few question whether these ideals have been reduced to a man-made project and ideology. Yet the fear remains, and despite all efforts, even this mightiest superpower in history cannot assure its people of an abiding peace and security. A great yearning and openness remain in the hearts of Americans to know the true source of these ideals and to encounter an Answer that opens the way to knowing the positivity of reality.