Monday, February 06, 2006

Plan "A" preceded Plan "B"

In the late 1980's the U.S. Military could be heard on Public radio (NPR) saying we must transform our military into a releif organization with the end of the cold war. Here is a story by someone catching on to plan "A". We are obviously well into our plan "B" of hot wars, sometimes on "Terrorism". Most Americans as of this writing like plan "B".

ED

[An earlier version of this essay appeared in _Z_ magazine, Feb. 1993. This version was revised in November 1993.]
GRAVY TRAIN: FEEDING THE PENTAGON BY FEEDING SOMALIA
STEPHEN R. SHALOM


Imagine that in a house down the block someone is behaving in a way that you do not approve of. Surely it would not normally be right for you to break down the door, storm in, and try to set things straight. On the other hand, suppose the behavior in question were truly horrendous: for example, a child has been tied up in the basement and deprived of food. Suppose further that you had called the Division of Youth Services and the police, and for some reason they were unwilling or unable to act. In this case, it would certainly be proper for you to put aside any concern for principles like "the sanctity of the home" and to intervene, forcibly if necessary.
Many Americans saw the situation in Somalia in late 1992 as analogous to this hypothetical example. Generally, a country's sovereignty should be respected and one should not intervene in its internal affairs; on rare occasions, however, the situation will be so monstrous that basic humanitarianism will require that the principle of non-intervention be set aside. According to many, the massive starvation going on in Somalia was one of those horrific occasions where intervention was justified, and the dispatch of the U.S. Marines was a welcome and necessary means for saving large numbers of lives.
But consider another hypothetical case. Imagine that there's a house in which a parent regularly abuses a child. Mr. Moneybags, the richest man in town, has often stopped by the house, had a drink or two with the parent, and even provided a pair of brass knuckles. Some neighbors try to get a Youth Services worker or the police to visit the house, but the town's upper class, led by Mr. Moneybags, has made sure that taxes are so low that these agencies are understaffed and unable to act. In the meantime, Mr. Moneybags has a retinue of bodyguards who have been routinely harassing the town's citizens. A few brave voices begin to question whether armed thugs ought to be allowed to roam the streets. At this point, Mr. Moneybags volunteers to send some of his "boys" to the house to prevent child abuse.
In this situation, we might reluctantly indicate our support for Mr. Moneybags's thugs going to the house, believing that it's the only way the battered child is going to survive. But our praise for Mr. Moneybags would surely be muted. He helped create the terrible situation and he blocked all alternative ways of dealing with the situation that didn't at the same time serve his interest by enhancing the reputation of his thugs.
It is this second hypothetical example that I will argue is the real analogy to what has gone on in Somalia. In making this argument, I will replace the simple question, "Should U.S. Marines have been sent to Somalia?" with two separate questions: One, "why did the United States send troops to Somalia?" And, two -- logically distinct from the first -- "Did the Marines help or hurt the Somali people?"
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