From gprasadrao@vsnl.net Thu Sep 28 16:49:26 2006
Subject: Wars, Wars and Wars
From: Ganga Prasad Rao
Reply-To: gprasadrao@hotmail.com
To: mboldin@populistamerica.com
Cc: gprasadrao@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 16:49:26 +0530
Dear Mr. Boldin,
Your article 'Wars And Debts And Taxes, Oh My!' reads a bit one-sided.
There is not much mention of the rationale behind wars and what sustains
them. I believe there is a story to be unearthed there. The ordinary
person with his parents, wife and children to take care off does not
wish for a war - whether he is a citizen of US, Iraq or any other
country. And there are innumerable such families in every nation. On the
other hand, a country does not go to war for frivolous reasons. When the
very existence of a country, its founding principles, or the
international order is at stake, a war sometimes is inevitable. At other
times, control over the future - access to energy and material resources
(or denial of the same to the enemy), access to low-cost intellectual
pool, securing strategic geographic regions and control over political
and economic power centers seems to be the implicit rationale, though,
often times not acknowledged publicly. The problem is that this mad rush
to secure the country's future at all cost (to others) is ultimately
self-defeating.
Many around the world question the role of US as the global policeman. I
am not as unforgiving. I realize that certain systems and basic tenets
that are in place - international law and order, religious freedom,
human rights - must be protected, lest we fall back to the medieval era
of looting, torture and mayhem. At the same time, I do believe that war
has become a favorite tool of the US to bear upon countries that can't
match its military or economic might. So much so, war is preferred over
other potentially more productive means of resolution. That is because a
war has many 'beneficial' impacts on the domestic economy, if one looks
the other way at the loss of lives. The heightened economic activity and
research allocations has both immediate and long-run payoffs. Indeed,
appropriations for war can find their way to nooks and corners that even
seasoned political observers might be surprised at. Besides, most
incumbents of the party in power will be returned in a show of
solidarity. The point is, war is sometimes a convenient tool to impose
upon a foreign nation, its people, resources and induce an 'implicit
transfer' from their future to our present. Iraq is a point in case.
Your article dwells on decades-long wars that the US has been involved
in. A contributing reason why the US tends to get involved in protracted
wars across the seven seas is the taboo among its electorate to 'ditch'
a President at war come election time. No incumbent President will back
away from a war during campaigning. A President at war who wins at the
ballot is unlikely to back off from his ventures abroad. Even in those
instances when the President completes two terms, election politics
induces the incoming President to vainly follow in the footsteps of his
predecessor simply because one cannot but support the war during
campaigning. I also have a sneaking suspicion that domestic opposition
to war is rooted in the loss of 'own' lives. I suspect the public will
turn less sensitive as the US transitions to robo-wars that impose
lop-sided losses on the enemy. I hope I am proved wrong.
Now there are many means to resolve wars, but the one that seems most
potent at resolving it, at least to me - having the enemy - leaders,
farmers, mothers, grandmothers, children, thinkers, workmen, academics -
visit and talk to our people in cities and countryside - is something
that is worth a try. Perhaps they achieve something that stiff-necked
bureaucrats don't (or, as the conspiracy goes, are loathe to)! If only
our leaders are willing to put their ears to the ground and listen to
the heartbeat of their people. If only.
--
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
Aparna 19 New, 30 Old Janakiram Colony
Arumbakkam, Chennai 600106
044-24754691
gprasadrao@hotmail.com
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
