I gave myself a day to consider even if I should mention David Broder's loony, monstrous column in yesterday's Washington Post. Rather than treat it as an "argument" needing discussion on the merits, I think a better approach would be to consider the general phenomenon of commentators blithely offering up the bodies of the American military and foreigners in the quest of some goal that is far removed from any notion of the national interest.
It isn't just Broder. Bill Kristol calls for war with Iran so often it is almost a tag line. Charles Krauthammer, seeing a military strike upon Iran as a necessary part of our commitment to Israel - a formula I still cannot fathom - sees such as inevitable.
What unites all these gentlemen is not just the offhand manner in which they offer up death and destruction as a social good. In their war-mongering, they display an almost comical lack of understanding of any of the dynamics of war. Their simple disregard for human life is almost breathtaking. Their refusal to acknowledge the massive costs we would pay as a society is a serious blind spot.
No, what unites these men is simply this - they know they can continue to beat the drums of war because it costs them nothing. With the exception of those on the internet - a constituency they do not even consider, anyway - people who read these columns, strange as it seems, take their words seriously, even as carefully constructed options for us to ponder. Never mind that we as a nation have gained nothing of substance from our invasion of Iraq (we did disperse Al Qaeda in the initial attack on Afghanistan; our on-going presence seems, however, to have reinvigorated it). Never mind the architects of that invasion are viewed, outside the United States (and by some within) as war criminals. Never mind that, as several commenters have noted here and there, any serious attack on Iran would pin the label "Rogue Nation" upon the United States in such a way that we might just find ourselves facing a large number of states quite willing to use force to make us stand down.
Reality impinges not at all upon the fantasies of these gentlemen because it doesn't have to. They will not lose their jobs, or their seat at the table of the powerful and influential. They will not be denied a spot on television, or a speech invitation. Other than the opprobrium of some liberal folks on the 'net, most readers see all of this as a kind of intellectual exercise, really.
Except, of course, offering up death and destruction without serious provocation or even need isn't an intellectual exercise for sane people. It is disturbing. It is frightening, really. The insouciant notion that the American military exists for no other purpose than the gedenkenexperiment of Washington insiders is really quite foul.
I really don't know what else to say about any of this. It would be nice if Broder lost his perch at the Post, but I don't see that happening. I don't even see him responding in any serious fashion to critics. In all likelihood, Broder sees this as just another column, just 800 or so words tossed off to fill a deadline, maybe get some folks talking and thinking. All of which is most disturbing of all.
