Forever-War
Weary
The media speak of a ‘war-weary’
American public. This is only partly correct. What we are weary of are these
particular warriors, who know everything about starting wars and nothing about
ending them. In fact our MIC is not in the business of winning wars, it is in
the business of forever waging them.
Recall Paul Bremer, who
after defeating the Iraq army, disbanded it rather than pay it to remain in its
barracks. From the point of view of enforcing a peace on American terms (a.k.a.
‘victory’) this was submoronic; but if war is peace, and the peace terms are a
bigger and better war, then this was brilliant.
Note also the moralism;
we didn’t pay off the Iraq army because they were naughty and so didn’t deserve
our money. Similarly, Assad is naughty, and so doesn’t deserve not to be pointlessly
bombed. The trouble with moralism is its violence. Any police officer can
tell you that most murders aren’t for business reasons, but for moralism; ‘the
SOB deserved it’. Whereas the cynicism of the protection racket is, according
to Hobbes, the foundation of civil law.
The most expensive
military in world history is also the most underperforming, if winning wars is
your metric. Fortunately there does exist a sure exit from any forever war;
defeat. That was the Lesson of Vietnam; and also Iraq; and also Afghanistan.
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