March 20, 2003

When they call you un-patriotic…

Here’s a little spine-strengthener for those of us who were in “shock and we” long before the first bomb dropped:

[W]e should be prepared now for what the pro-war camp will say… Gloatingly, they will tell us our “credibility is destroyed”…

When the time comes, we will have to remind our accusers that we did not question this war because we believed Saddam was a cuddly grandpa: we knew the depths of his depravity. Our doubts resided elsewhere. For one thing, we never believed that Iraqi liberation was the real motive of this war…

It will be hard to say all this once the killing begins in earnest: the drama of war will make opposition look pale and passe. But doubters should hold their nerve. Our reason for opposition was never that victory would not come easily: most predicted it would. We feared instead for what that victory would cost and what would happen afterwards — and those fears still stand.

Jonathan Freedland
Dilemmas of war
The Guardian
March 19, 2003

The Guardian is unquestionably one of my all-time favorite sources of news and commentary. It has a greater effect on me now more than ever; I never forget that the Brits are in the same boat as we Yanks — dragged into a military action a vast number of citizens abhor, and ignored, dismissed, marginalized, and demonized by a leader who refuses to listen, and will not be dissuaded.

Same goes for the Aussies — save for the fact an even greater percentage of Australians are outraged by this attack in their name.

It’s easy to understand, especially if you know a little Aussie history: Save for the kangaroos (and an extraordinarily high ratio of gorgeous blondes rivaled only by Sweden), Australia is a country more similar to the United States than most Yanks realize. Our countries are about the same age, and share certain odd historical quirks — we had cowboys, they had sheepherders; our West was buoyed by a gold strike in 1848-49, their East was buoyed by a gold strike around 1849-50 (in fact, an Australian who came to California looking for gold was struck by the similarity of the Antipodean landscape, and dashed home to find there really was gold right in his own backyard); they’ve been looked down upon by the Brits as somehow inferior (and still are), we’ve been looked down upon by the Brits as somehow inferior (and still are)… There are lots of similarities; the end result in each country is a people known as loud, casual, friendly, and obsessed with popular culture.

None of which is necessarily a bad thing, mind you. The Aussies more than make up for their mass consumption of fun-fun-fun by their much more European view of the world; the most unschooled Australian is far more aware of lives and cultures far beyond its sun-soaked beaches than the average American. And far more respectful.

But I digress. We were talking about the Aussie people and their reaction to having 2,000 of their youngest and finest sent to Iraq, against the general will of the people.

Not being Australian myself, I can speak only as a friend to (and major fan of) Aussies. And what I glean is a terrible sense of confusion, shame and shock. With the sole exception of the early treatment of Aboriginals (which was little different from our treatment of Native Americans — although Oz has made much greater strides than we in healing that ugly rift), Australia is not, and has never been, a warring nation. The U.S. has. The U.K. has. But not Australia.

I think there must be a special, particularly stinging tinge to the Aussies’ grief over the Iraq invasion that even the most peace-loving, 1960s-vintage, American hippie could not even begin to fathom.

Incidentally, if you’re not familiar with the macchinations of Down-Under politics (and have any interest in politics whatsoever), Australia is a fascinating study. They have a Prime Minister reviled by what appears to be the majority of Aussies (as one acquaintance put it, John Howard and his entire base of support could hold a meeting in a phone booth right now), a brilliant, eloquent, and charismatic opposition party leader (Simon Crean, almost certainly destined to be the next PM), and rousing, uninhibited sessions on the Parliament floor. (If you think the British MP’s create a scene with their shouting and interruptions, you haven’t seen anything until you’ve watched Aussie senators in action.)

Curious, isn’t it? While the warmongers feel a bond with the U.K. and Australia as the three nations’ unite military forces, so we who desire peace feel a bond (a greater and more lasting bond, I sincerely believe) with the commoners across two oceans, who, just as impotently and helplessly, are being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the history books as the unwilling pawns of aggressor nations.

God, please do allow the history books to recognize us as unwilling pawns.

Posted by: Sapphocrat