Clarity, Please

The Limits of Self-Flagellation as an Art Form

by Patrick J. Shanahan
05/16/04

There are times when we as a nation can get downright swept up in the silliest and most inconsequential of debates. One of the curses of vast prosperity and unique security is that small affairs assume proportions well beyond their relevance.

There are few in out culture with the intellect or stomach to put the brakes on such silly and counterproductive behavior. Sometimes we all get caught up in mass hysteria until some external force gets our attention long enough to make us realize just how damn foolish we have behaved.

The brutal execution of Nicholas Berg has provided just this sort of external clarity. It has permitted us to stop for just long enough (I sincerely hope so anyway) to see what complete asses we as a country have made of ourselves in the brouhaha over the Abu Ghraib prison abuse story.

Actually, I should qualify that. Not all Americans made asses of themselves. One of the benefits of being geographically and intellectually “on the ground” in flyover country is that one can quickly see how stories like this play differently. Those who are “in the Beltway” - literally or metaphorically - see things inherently differently than do folks who spend the greatest part of their energy raising families and being productive citizens. I know this, because I have been on both sides of the equation. I sometimes believe that the differences between metaphorically “in the Beltway” or “out of the Beltway” are greater than the differences between “in” liberals and conservatives or “out” liberals and conservatives.” There is not doubt that those “in the Beltway of their minds” are the ones who have no sense of proportion here. Especially liberal folks in the Beltway. Especially Mark Dayton, Ted Kennedy and Carl Levin.

Some of the aspects of the Abu Ghraib story play very, very differently here in flyover country than in Washington, and were thankfully blown away like the chaff they were by the Berg murder.

The view “on the ground” is that this Abu Ghraib thing was a regrettable sideshow that ought not to affect the overall prosecution of the war. Find ‘em, punish ’em and move on. The feeling one gets from the blue state media is that this changes everything! See, we were right, Bush and Rumsfeld are horrible fascists after all. For liberal elites this combines the overwhelming desire of the guilty white liberal to whip himself (and the rest of us) bloody for the sake of our sins, with the equally compelling desire to castigate conservatives as evil and beyond the pale. We are as bad as they are. The glee was palpable.

Most folks in flyover country, being inherently far more perceptive than Ted Kennedy, knew that this was utter nonsense. The video of the barbaric slaughter of an innocent man confirmed what we already knew. There is no comparison between redneck behavior that is, more than anything, reminiscent of a fraternity hazing ritual, and the cold-blooded, brutal torture and murder of innocents. There is a fundamental difference in moral/political systems between one which hunts down in order to punish those who make prisoners get naked, and one which shouts praises to God as the severed head of an innocent man drips away the last remnant of life-red blood.

One thing I know does not resonate with the folks on the ground is the elites’ preoccupation with what others in the world think of us. Is Europe in arms because of Abu Ghraib? Tough cookies. They need to get over it. Most of us who work for a living remember very clearly what our mothers told us: It’s better to be right than popular. There is clearly a tactical/operational impact associated with what others think of us, but generally we do not care. If one has confidence that we as a nation and as a culture have a sound and morally defensible (some - like me - would say superior) foundation, then events like Abu Ghraib are accurately seen as true anomalies. I think almost all of us have the confidence in our culture, our nation and our mission which allow sus to address the occasional anomaly like this without losing faith in the system as a whole. Those who do not should shut up, get off the Senate floor, and get out of the way.

It is fair to think that al Qaeda doesn’t care a whole bunch about what others think of them either. They hate us, and everything we stand for. They want to do to each one of us what they did to Nicholas Berg. That is precisely why we must hunt them down and kill them.

Those (i.e. the virtual Beltway crowd) who care overmuch abut what the “Arab Street” thinks must think of the average Arab as a complete idiot, whose only view of the world around him is based on the latest al Jazeera propaganda. I guarantee you that the people of Iraq understand that they are in the hands of a vastly superior moral power today than they were two years ago. And I strongly suspect that the average Muslim gets this also, despite our occasional mistakes. They would be even more likely to be respectful of our goals an approach if we treated them with respect but not deference. We know what we are trying to do. We know why. We know it is better. That is all they need to know. It is their job to follow our lead or get out of the way. Period.

I suppose that to those within the virtual Beltway that statement sounds arrogant and culture-centric. That’s funny. Out here it sounds like common sense.