Globe Column Against Preventive War Drags Butter Home on a Rope

NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Ever heard of the Wise Men of Chelm? They are the well-intentioned but foolish residents of an imaginary Jewish village, and the object of humor that stretches back 500 years. Here's one story. One of the "wise men" is sent to a neighboring village to bring back a horse. On the way home the horse wanders off and is lost. "Schlemiel!" remonstrate the townspeople with him. "Don't you know you have to lead the horse back on a rope?"

A week later the same man is sent off to bring back a slab of butter. Learning from his mistake and taking the advice to heart, he drags the butter all the way home along the dusty road on a rope.

The Wise Men are still with us. They might be gone from Chelm, but continue to populate academia and the MSM. One resident popped up on the pages of the Boston Globe this morning. Andrew Bacevich is professor of history and international relations at Boston University. In Rescinding the Bush Doctrine, Bacevich calls for Congress to learn from the errors of President Bush's ways in Iraq, and "focus on averting any recurrence of this misadventure." And just how would the well-intentioned professor rope in our foreign policy and prevent it from wandering off, so to speak? By formally and legislatively renouncing the use of preventive war. Specifically, Bacevich calls on Democratic leaders to "offer a binding resolution that makes the following three points":

• First, the United States categorically renounces preventive war.
• Second, the United States will henceforth consider armed force to be an instrument of last resort.
• Third, except in response to a direct attack on the United States, any future use of force will require prior Congressional authorization, as required by the Constitution.

Let's imagine how this might work in the future. Many on the left -- from Newsweek to Hillary Clinton -- are raising alarums about the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan. What if, perchance, they are right? There are indications, after all, that Al-Qaeda has re-established training camps in the Waziristan area along the Afghan/Pakistan border. Let's imagine that a couple years or so down the road, we learn that OBL or his successors have rebuilt their networks and resources to the point they are once again capable of carrying out a major attack on the United States. As quoted by Bacevich, President Bush explained the preventive policy in these terms: "if we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long."

Surely any Commander-in-Chief, aware of such threats from a resurgent Al-Qaeda, would want to take military action to prevent them . . . except that if the Bacevich recommendation were taken to heart, the next president could not do so. He would have to await "a direct attack on the United States" before having the right to respond. That's right, rather than acting to prevent the next 9/11, we would have to wait for it happen here before we could respond.That is dragging the butter of the lesson of Iraq home on a rope. America cannot afford to follow the advice of our new breed of Wise Men.

Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Wise-men-of-the-Boston-Globe ping to Today show list.

[zook]

This guy isn't just on drugs, he's the Timothy Leary of Foreign Policy Studies.

[RexBeach]

I know about these people. Here's what he thinks about why the US was attacked on September 11, 2001: We were attacked because of our country's policies in the mideast.

I bet that what he thinks, and means it.

[SquirrelKing]

... use of force will require prior Congressional authorization,

They were screaming for this when Clinton went into Bosnia and the Republicans controlled Congress. /s

[OldFriend]

These fools have many many supporters in NYC, despite being the target of the murderous jihadists on 9/11.

They feel that the US is the reason for the attack and seemingly won't be satisfied until we're all incinerated.

[syriacus]

From the article: President Bush unveiled this new strategy in a speech at West Point in June 2002.

Liberals don't read history books I guess.

In 1950, Democratic President Truman involved the US in the Korean Conflict. North Korea had invaded South Korea, but there was no imminent threat to the US. Truman was thinking about the larger war against Communism, much as Bush is thinking about the larger war against Islamic radicals.

Within 5 weeks of going to war in Korea, 3000 Americans died.

Within 6 months, 11,000 had Americans died and full wartime censorship was imposed.

I'm grateful for your willingness to counter liberal lies, governsleastgovernsbest. It's hard work. Liberal minds are fertile fields for sprouting distortions, lies, and conspiracies.

[Chuck54]

Good analogy Mark.

As always thanks for the ping. I enjoy immensely reading your "take" concerning our current political situation, world events and immediate "happenings".

:)

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Many thanks, Chuck. I particularly appreciate your comment regarding this column, since I was concerned some people would be befuddled by the Wise Men of Chelm analogy!

[Louis Foxwell]

It is a natural function of the post Christian liberal culture to blame all of the world's ills on "outdated JudeoChristian values."
In the Utopian minds of these intellectual efetists all evil will be overcome when the old religions are dead and buried in history's dustbins. Except, perhaps, for Mohammedanism and certain atavistic cults like the Wickins and the Phallus worshipers of Bora Bora and NYC.
Thus, war will cease when all conflict is ended with illiterate third world fanatics and Marxist liberators wherever they may metastasize. All fanaticism, they believe, is aggreived aggression brought on by religious people enslaving the world.
Whatever position is taken as an expression of traditional religious principle these elitist zealots will insist upon its opposite. They are always in conflict in the name of ending the oppression of established truth. This works brilliantly when counterpoised with Sharia law in countries such as Iran. It is, however, the masterwork of the Third Reich which was in perpetual conflict with Judaism and Christianity.
The University lunatic fringe will stand truth on its head to maintain its position as japer of tradition.

[Eaker]

I was concerned some people would be befuddled by the Wise Men of Chelm analogy!

No confusion at all!

Thanks,

[rogue yam]

I thought he was talking about my man Epamenondas.