Benign Bombers
March 27, 2003

by Joe Sobran

     At risk of being called a liberal -- defined as one 
who won't take his own side in a fight -- I must enter a 
few demurrals at some of the American press coverage of 
the war on Iraq.

     The Iraqi army is putting up surprisingly tough 
resistance to what is, after all, an invasion of their 
country. Many hawks thought the war would be over by now. 
So did many doves. Now we are told it may go on for 
months.

     One of the New York tabloids describes the Iraqi 
soldiers as "savages" and "hardcore fanatics." Really? Is 
it possible that at least some of them might be more 
fairly seen as brave men -- and boys -- defending their 
country to the death against an awesomely powerful 
invading force? Invaders often regard the natives as 
savages; when has an invader ever thought of himself as 
an aggressor?

     We are constantly told that Saddam Hussein is a 
moral monster, and no doubt he is. But do his troops know 
that? The very fact that he is a tyrant means the Iraqi 
press is tightly controlled and no criticism of him is 
permitted. The gruesome facts that are familiar to us are 
known in Iraq only to his victims and their families. 
What most Iraqis do know is that their country is under 
terrifying attack.

     It used to be a mark of chivalry to honor your enemy 
for his bravery. That spirit is notably absent now. We 
hear of the courage of American soldiers, which may be 
real enough; but surely, given the huge advantages they 
enjoy in training, technology, and other resources, the 
most remarkable courage is on the other side, among the 
soldiers who fight when they are apparently doomed.

     Yet much of our coverage treats them as cowards and 
villains for refusing to surrender, for resorting to 
ambushes against an inconceivably stronger foe, and for 
generally refusing to follow the script. After all, they 
were supposed to throw down their arms and welcome their 
"liberators."

     These are people who remember the last American 
attack, which destroyed water and electrical plants (in 
breach of international law), producing widespread death 
and disease. You and I may think America means freedom, 
but their experience has created different associations. 
Why should they welcome another American visit?

     Can't we even imagine how the situation appears to 
simple people on the other side? Many of them are 
helpless conscripts, like our own soldiers in World 
War II, Korea, and Vietnam. They go into battle knowing 
it is likely that they will never see their families 
again, or that they may come home horribly mutilated. The 
terror they must feel is nothing more than realism. But 
they have to suppress it and fight.

     Soldiers often comment on feeling the moral 
absurdity of being required to fight other young men, 
strangers who in different circumstances might have been 
their friends. But such reflections usually come too 
late. Normal humanity is out of place on the battlefield.

     It also disappears in wartime propaganda, where life 
becomes crude melodrama. And wartime news tends to become 
propaganda. Civilians too are expected to get caught up 
in the spirit of war. The national religion becomes Mars-
worship.

     The perspective of the naive Iraqi may be hard for 
Americans to imagine, but the rest of the world 
understands it very well. From France to Indonesia this 
war is seen as an American invasion, pure and simple; the 
word "liberation" just doesn't fit. Having made much of 
the world hate us, President Bush thinks he can make the 
Iraqis love us?

     Americans are used to basking in the world's 
admiration, but we had better get over that. It will be a 
long time before this country is regarded with anything 
but fear and loathing; and we had better learn, if not to 
see ourselves as others see us, at least to understand 
why they see us as they do. The time for national self-
congratulation is long gone.

     The louder our jingoism gets, the wider the gulf 
between us and other countries. They marvel at American 
arrogance. They might grudgingly come to terms with mere 
power; but insolent power combined with moral vanity is 
too much.

     Invade and bomb another country if you must; but 
don't insist that you are doing it a favor. People could 
easily get the wrong idea.

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