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Rumors of War

“Dedicated to those who were murdered on September 11, 2001 in N.Y.C. and D.C.,

such that they do not die in vain reminding us of the insidious effects of hate and corrosive propensity of vengeance. ”

Dr. Kam C. Wong

Chair, Department of Criminal Justice

Chair, Xavier University

Cincinnati, Ohio

USA

Rumors of war are in the air. The citizens are eager.  The Congress is supportive. The President is determined. The soldiers are ready. 

A stopped clock here, a burnt cabinet there, mangled body parts everywhere. Tears dropped, hearts broken, blood all over. Hatred and vengeance married for convenience; destroying understanding and killing compassion. 

The nation, from shore to shore and top to bottom, exhibits a unity of purpose and shared sense of mission never seen before.  “U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A…” rocked the ruins that were once prosperity; exciting patriotism and drowning out reasons.  Efforts of rescue give way to preparation for killing.  Flags and more flags meet the eye; stirring emotions and blocking visions. Resources for rebuilding now devoted to more destruction.

In times of crisis, one finds strength in number and comfort in agreement. Criticisms are silenced.  Dissenters are not welcomed. Thinking is suspected.  Ideas are muddled.  

Provincialism takes center state. Nationalism rules the day.

Truth and justice is best left behind; much too abstract to be relevant in international conflicts and far too distant to matter in times of national crisis. 

If pressed, there are to be more pragmatic reasons.  Truth and justice is too heavy a burden for those who go to war.  The soldiers in the trenches need powerful rifles to execute, not compelling reasons to forgive.

Left behind but not forgotten, the President is quick to add.  This is a just war.  The truth is on our side. Truth and justice has always been on the side of the powerful and on the lips of the victor. Who is there to write history, but the living?

The Congressional representatives come to perform their duty - to God, country and people. One after another, they denounces the secretive and faceless terrorists; as fearsome warriors and ruthless killers. Time and again the terrorists struggled to be heard – in trembling voice and fearful face, over the moaning of the victims and above the mourning of their relatives. “Is that the face that launched a thousand ships?”

A “prime suspect” stands condemned, with atrocities lay bare and violence revealed.  Accuser, judge and executioner all in one, America announced the verdict with legalese to match: “We have reliable and credible evidence to show that Saddam is the one.”

“No time to think. Not a moment to waste. Hate must be served raw. Vengeance has to be delivered on a hot plate.” 

“Let us destroy those terrorists; someone, anyone, everyone. Faceless no more; dark skin will do. Complicity not required; guilt by association sufficed.”

The annals of Congressional records, littered with self-incriminating statements, await the judgment of history.

War tribunal needs not inquire.  We acted in good conscience and with clean hands. By the way, just to be fair, American blood must be avenged, at all costs and by whatever means.

Sorrow deeply felt and condolence sincerely uttered, people from every corners of the world and all walks of life come with fresh flowers for the dead and consoling words for the living. Obligated by divided customs and driven by common bonding, they lined up to shed their tears and share their grief.  Much too distressful to behold, far too moving to forget.

Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, friends and relatives, still more they come; strangers when alive, intimates upon death. Forget about the living, there is time yet. Reach out to the dead, not a moment to spare.

The whole world is watching, waiting; some with sweet anticipation, others with bitter anxiety.  A few want to escape from the humdrum of modernity; to feel something, anything. Many more just want to be titillated; collecting bits and pieces of living memory on way to eternal salvation or perpetual damnation.  The rumors of war have sounded the ultimate alarm – get up and do something, or else …one by one they are awaken, one by one they received the final invitation to hell. 

The eerier silence of war… All quiet on the western front.

Not a word spoken.  Lest we betray our humanity. Silent is golden. Else we reveal our insecurity. 

Our only hope for peace – understanding, shattered by the rhetoric of war. Our best chance for survival – communication, consumed by the silence of despair. 

War is coming…war is coming …

A sleek missile pierces the darkness of the night in deadly stealth with killing speed; promising deliverance to the dead and spreading sufferings amongst the living. “Pay back time for Saddam” the missile roars; passing the market place, passing the town square, passing the school grounds… hurrying to destroy what takes years to build up and centuries to root down. Not fast enough for the senders. Too slow for the wounded. Time makes no difference to the living dead or dead, living.

The missiles hit their targets as intended. The explosions light up the sky.  A compliant stillborn is laid to rest in a sheltered womb; never given a chance to be acquainted with life before dying. A struggling infant suffocated in a protective embrace; not being afforded an opportunity to understand death after living.

Is the faceless mother a terrorist in disguise? Is the stillborn guilty of being born to a terrorist?  Is the infant an indiscriminate killer in the making?  How can the missile tell?  Does it really matter?

Precision bombing hits with precise collateral damages and necessary destruction.

High above in the clear blue sky a pilot in his cockpit floundered. Is the blip on the console a friend or foe? Well intended or evil minded?  It is better to be safe than sorry, so that I can be alive to extend my apology. He survived as a troubled fellow.

Down below in a pitch-dark night a soldier in her foxhole fumbled.  Is the child escaping or charging? A friend or a foe? Is it better to be safe than sorry.

Bombs are dropped. Missiles are fired. Still, the terrorists keep coming. Riffles keep on firing.  Cannons go on roaring.  Still, there is no sign that the enemy is relenting.  For everyone injured, ten more is waiting.  With each one killed, a hundred more appear chanting. “We shall overcome. We shall overcome…” 

Where, where is the enemy rear? When, when is the end of war near?  The only sign of life and creation, in a game of death and destruction.

Then come the army, navy, air force and marines. Brave men and women they are.  In the face of machine guns, they charged.  “Mine is not to ask the reason why.” Surrounded by tanks, they stood. “Mine is to do and to die.”  Mothers and fathers miles away, hoping and wishing that the body found unidentified is other people’s son. Right and wrong entangled; courtesy of a confused and confusing war.

The soldiers march in certitude, full of purpose.  The parents staggered in uncertainty, overwhelmed by ambivalence.  Yet another contradiction of war too convoluted to ponder, too pertinent to ignore. Wait, wait, take your turn… after we consider why loving people kill … after we consider why innocent children die … after we consider why people meet violence with more violence…More questions keep coming, even as the bombs fall.

Little by little, hope gives way to despair and denial turns into acceptance. Rumors become reality, long before the first strike hits and way after the last dead falls. 

Peace .. peace is at hand

Time to rejoice. Moments to savor. A footnote to a victorious military campaign: “Mission accomplished.  Enemy destroyed.  Collateral damages, few.”  A  perfect ending to an imperfect war? 

Words alone do not do justice to the living and the dead.  Much too simply to capture life and living.  Way too bland to describe death and dying.

Bring in the CNN.  Talk to a soldier.  Share with a widow.  War is not suited for the faint of heart, just as peace is not possible with the simple minded.

Another total victory for the terrorists; they come, they see, they conquer. First they killed our brothers and slaughtered our sisters.  Then they destroyed our venerable institutions and undermined our sacred principles.   Finally they captured our souls and tormented our conscience. 

Hate, hate, hate…revenge, revenge, revenge … kill, kill, kill… Terrorists become you and me.

Postscript:

There is no denial of man’s primal identity or escape from human’s collective destiny.  When will we ever learn? Can we ever learn?

Call for Papers

Aimand Scope

The IPES Working Paper Series is a newforum for the international community of police experts, researchers, andpractitioners. It intends to contribute to worldwide dialogue and information exchangein policing issues by facilitating the access to the global public sphere tothe members of the community. Manuscripts will be reviewed and selected forpublication by a multicultural team of editors. Authors will be offered a quickprocess of approval. By essence, the Series will be pluralist in outlook. Itwill publish contributions in all fields of policing and manuscripts will beconsidered irrespective of their theoretical or methodological approach. TheSeries welcomes in particular contributions from countries of the South andcountries of the universe with limited access to the Western public sphere. TheSeries will be in English language and downloadable free of charge form themain IPES website (www.ipes.info/workingpapers.asp).

EditorialBoard

Members of the editorial board are Dominique Wisler (editor-in-chief, Khartoum, Sudan), RickSarre (professor of Law andCriminal Justice at the University of South Australia, Adelaide), Kam C. Wong (associate professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice ofXavier University, Ohio), and Onwudiwe Ihekwoaba (associate professor of Administration of Justice atTexas Southern University).

EditorialLine

The Series publishes in priorityresearch work in progress and papers or reports offering background andpractical information on policies, best practices, and police organization andreform. Pluralist in outlook, the Series welcomes manuscripts from variousdisciplines such as history, sociology, criminology, political andadministrative sciences or law. Acknowledging that the language is a barrier,the language of the Series is “practical” English. Exceptionally, editors orNational Focal Points (see below) may offer some support in editing the finalversion of the manuscripts. Practical guidelines to authors for the submissionof manuscripts are available on the webpage of the Series.

SubmissionProcess

Manuscripts (see instructions to authors) are formally approved by the editorial board - amulticultural team composed of policing experts – through internal review. Theeditorial board is supported by a network of National Focal Points whosefunction is described below. Authors are offered a quick approval process – notexceeding 15 days - designated to allow a rapid release of research data andinformation. Manuscripts can be sent electronically to the editorial board (wisler@coginta.com) or any of the NationalFocal Points.

Copyrights

Copyrights remain with authors. IPES WorkingPaper Series provide authors an opportunity to share research results earlybefore they appear in final form in book format or scientific journalselsewhere.

NationalFocal Points

To achieve its aim, the IPES WorkingPaper Series is establishing a world-wide network of national focal points(NFP). NFP are well established scholars and experts in the area of criminaljustice, criminology or sociology of policing in their country of origin. Theyhave privileged knowledge and contacts with their national police institutionand police professionals. As NFP, their role is to help IPES and the Seriesreaching their ultimate goal to become a global platform for dialogue onpolicing issues and the exchange of research data, best practices and policiesfor the benefit and enrichment of the police profession. NFP play a key role inpromoting the IPES Series within their country, identify key contributions andencourage members of their national community of experts, researchers andpractitioners to submit formally manuscripts to the editors of the Working PaperSeries. Once the editorial standards for the Series will be firmly established,the NFP will be commuted into local editorial boards with authority to approvemanuscripts for the Series.