You will not be surprised to hear that I do not know what to
do about “Isis.” Or “Isil.” (Because “Isis” sounds too much like the
“Forces of Evil” in a James Bond movie and we do not want to cede them the sexy
marketing cachet. “Isil” sounds like a
mistake. Or a diminutive for “Ise.”)
As usual, I have no answers, suggestions or strategies for
what to do about this terrible situation. But I think I have an inkling concerning what not to do.
After the attacks on Paris, the president of France
announced that his country was at war with “Isis.”
One could imagine that that French president was speaking
metaphorically. But then he bombed
“Isis” strongholds in Syria, so apparently, he wasn’t.
Here’s what I know. Not
from attending a War College, but from just thinking about things in the
comfort of my hardly overtaxed brain.
You know that saying:
“If it looks like a duck and acts like duck and quacks like
a duck then it’s probably a duck”?
Well, the opposite, of course, is also valid.
Consider the following:
Things We Think About
When We Think About War:
War involves a declaration of war.
War involves two sides – not one side and innocent victims
drinking in a cafe.
War involves armies and navies and Air Forces and
Marines. It also involves submarines.
War involves a deliberate plan of battle.
War involves face-to-face confrontations, the lines drawn
up, including trenches so the opponents can comfortably relax between
onslaughts.
War involves countries.
War involves flags.
War involves uniforms.
War involves a hierarchy of participants, from the generals
down to the privates.
War involves swelling pride, inspiring marching bands and
patriotic music.
War involves medals of valor, and memorial statues down the
line.
War involves advances and retreats.
War involves “Rules” – actions that are acceptable in war
and actions that are not.
War involves objectives, sometimes, small ones like the taking of a hill, or the objective that winning
that war will ultimately achieve.
War involves an at least theoretical understanding of why
that war is going on.
War involves negotiations, armistice and/or surrender.
War involves the imaginable possibility of peace.
By these recognizable standards, the conflict between the
rest of the world and “Isis”…
… is not a duck.
I am not sure what it is
– an extremist eruption, an unstoppable plague, a murderous street gang –
But I do know
this.
When a thing is not a duck…
It is unhelpful to treat
it like a duck.
1 comment:
Sad to say, in case you haven't noticed....nobody is trying to be helpful here.
(Your liberal arts education is interfering with the cultural indoctrination process).
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