muninnhuginn | Macbeth, Act III, scene iv, line 48

Feel rather like a ghost at the feast. So much gung ho¹ iconoclasm (described in sceptical fashion, by Jonathan Glancey) leaves me cold, regardless of the evil nature of the man represented.

Sure, it's good that Saddam's regime seems to have been toppled, though the jubilation may be a little premature. Until we see the tidying up, the reconstruction, the, dare we mention it, reconciliation worked through properly, there is little to celebrate.

On the one hand, the fact is that, even before this week's coalition "successes", there have already been thoughtful, reasonable, sometimes hopeful, voices talking about the next steps. Voices that speak of the possiblity of rebuilding not just Iraq but those parts of the wider system that need seeing too. At the risk of getting repetitive, it's a time when we might just be able to bring on the spanners². (Roy's not the only one, but the other relevant links escape me at the minute.) There may even be potential benefits arising from the emergence of the, however ineffective, peace movement: Depression and its Activism Antidote

But, I get the impression that the satirists and cynics are much closer to the mark. McDonalds Launches Peace Plan states Babylon Express; Knock it down, then build it back up again says Mark Steel in the Indy. To which the only sensible comment would be to play long and loud The Marching Song of the Covert Battalions (admittedly not one of Billy's best and the first verse dates it rather, but the sentiments ring true):

"How can a country large as ours
Be scared of such a threat
Well if they won't work for us
They're against us you can bet
They may be sovereign countries
But you folks at home forget
That they all want what we've got
But they don't know it yet
...
Here we come with our candy and our guns
And our corporate muscle marches in behind us³

Then there's that other strand of thought, darker by far, that sees even less good in the supposed alliance victory. Take John Kaminski, for instance, with his A prayer of Iraq. Now, whilst I feel he protests a little too much and whilst I don't necessarily agree with all of his assumptions nor all of his conclusions, he does paint an outrageous apocalyptic picture whose less extreme and insidious cousin may well be looming into view just round the next corner. Okay, his unending war's not a new idea.⁴ Think of the ongoing conflict in Orwell's 1984⁵; I get Haldeman-shaped thoughts forming in the back of my brain too. But if all that seems like too much overstatement, the simple headline from the Indy, Garner plan will divide the country into three zones, rings alarm bells. Divided countries, eh? Like those carved-up-with-straight-lines states in Africa? Like India's partition? Like Germany post-WW2? Like Korea and Vietnam? Yes, I know there are crucial differences between all of these. But the examples serve at least to show that dividing up a state is not generally a route to success.⁶ And in some of the cases the telling problem is our walking away from the problem as if the meal is done when the plates hit the table, forgetting the washing up and tidying that need to be done later.

How many horrible shadows and unreal mockeries will it take to remind us all of our responsibilities? Darker days, indeed.

¹ Just checked the derivation of this. It's from the Chinese (should probably have guessed that): kung=work + ho=together. "A slogan adopted in the war of 1939-1945 by the United States Marines under General E. Carlson (18961947); hence as adj.: enthusiastic, eager, zealous." [OED]

² Can't, to rather blur that positive call to "arms", quite get an instant association with those marching ranks of hammers in the video for Another Brick In The Wall, Part II out of my mind.

³ That was from May 1990, btw.

⁴ Actually, I can't quite get used to the notion. Growing up with a fear of nuclear annihilation and two plans for when the balloons went up according to whether I wanted to survive to catch a cold from the 'roaches or not, the notion of a global war that goes on interminably is novel.

⁵ The general Orwellisation of discourse at the moment is amazing. I'm sure other people have been quicker off the mark than me on this. From the explicit use of "Airstrip 1" to the repeated image of boots stamping on faces (as in the Glancey piece, above, and then mocked in the Steel) to the notion of that never-ending conflict maintaining the worldwide status quo. That Saddam Hussein has always closely matched my internal image of Big Brother just adds to the pervading sense of unwillingly being dragged into the novel.

⁶ There's an interesting piece of double standards being shown in operation in this article, too. Just like in Afghanistan the interim adminstration is going to find it difficult to find trustworthy folk to work for them who aren't tainted by contacts with the ousted "bad guys". Only the whiter than white need apply. Of course, we on the holier-than-thou other side are not compromised in the least, ever, no sirree.