Re: [ejlist] Re: Titanism and Modern War

[Olaf Schroeter <olaf.schroeter@gmx.de>]

Gary Kern wrote:
> 
> Apropos of the war on Serbia, I would like to propose a concept that
> strikes me as consistent with EJ's writings on Titanism and
> desinvolture.  It is the concept of two wrongs.  For the last two
> decades, perhaps longer, I have found that debate in the USA proceeds on
> the basis of two sides missing or distorting the essence of the issue.
> Slogans, political positions, life-styles attach to both sides, assume
> fixed oppositions (like left & right, Democratic & Republican) and
> meaningful contextual interpretation without strict adherence to one
> side or the other goes begging, or perhaps gets buried in publications I
> do not see.  So with the abortion issue, so with Monica, so with Serbia.
> 
> In my view, the high-tech bombing of Serbia marks (or consolidates) a
> new stage in history as significant as the bombing of Hiroshima.
> America is demonstrating to the world that all countries are defenseless
> against it.  You may have anti-aircraft arsenals supplied by Russia, the
> erstwhile enemy of the USA with the highest level of development, and
> you will be helpless:  it's like shooting fish in a barrel.  The US
> military can barely contain its glee: it is justifying its past budgets,
> won against liberal critics, to liberals and conservatives alike; it is
> testing its weapons, developed for an SF war against a superpower that
> now has dropped to the level of an African country; it is informing the
> world that US technology is king, can scramble all your information and
> shoot rockets down your chimney and up your tailpipe.  This military
> might is not political in the sense of parties; it is raw power, world
> dominance available to the American government, whichever party is in.
> 
> Milosevich, of course, is a monster.  That makes the war a holy one.
> But whether American strategy brings about a desirable solution or
> exacerbates the problem or leaves an area of the world in rubble and
> misery for decades to come does not matter to the Titans.  Since the
> home population watches the war on TV, the picture can be switched next
> week to another front, and the rubble can be left behind for those in
> distant places on the ground.  Last week Osama ben Laden threatened the
> peace and security of the world; the USA bombed two countries, killed
> people in an attempt to stop this terrible threat.  Now Osama is
> forgotten and Milosevich takes his place.  Saddam is held in reserve as
> a reliable bogeyman.  Khadaffi has gotten the message and cooperated
> with the Lockerbie inquiry.  The TV attention-span is short and
> manipulable.  The main thing is not to bring the entertainment too close
> to reality with pictures of US body bags; unmanned aircraft is the
> perfect solution.

Yeah, that's just the way it is. Another thought: Cui bono. I truly wish
I had a few Cruise Missile shares (and then again, not really). Now they
are going to spend 51 million bucks or some such figure to turn A-CMs
into conventional ones. These go bang! in Serbia. Gee, we're going to
need a whole lot of new hardware... Good thing Clinton has put an end to
the deficit, so we got money to burn....

Where would EJ be? On the roof of a Hotel, sipping, no, not champagne,
it actually was Burgundy with strawberries, I seem to remember? Wouldn't
be fun for him, as he'd be safe due to American precision bombing. And
the roof would propably be crowded with this year's Peter Arnett and his
Media GAng anyway....

The whole thing is just sick, really.

Greetings from BErlin nonetheless

Olaf