November 23, 2007

Might Does Not Make Right

The temptation to use force to cut through a web of complicated issues is sometimes over-simplified and overrated as a means to an end.
The theory that overwhelming use of force can quash the will and spirit of those at the receiving end is, at best, spurious.
Four-and-a-half years ago, George Bush declared the Iraq war over and the conquest of that nation complete when, aboard a ship, under a banner “Mission Accomplished”, he prematurely celebrated his triumph.
Condi Rice, too, talked of a new Middle East when Israel went on the rampage to eliminate Hezbollah during July 2006.
The Bush-Condi claims have turned out to be dubious.
World War I was heralded as the “war to end all wars.” Instead, it ushered in World War II. Hitler then boasted of the beginning of a 1000-year Reich. Stalin had his own grandiose fantasies of the Soviet system. History proved otherwise.
When Israel crushed the regular Arab armies during the 6-day War of June 1967, many surmised that it meant the end of Arab resistance and the beginning of unchallenged Israeli writ in the Middle East. Instead, it rekindled the flames of Palestinian resistance.
The current drama at home is too crude and the force too brute to be sustainable. It is equivalent to someone slaying his parents and then pleading for clemency on becoming an orphan. Matters never should have been allowed to reach the boiling point. It is a tacit acknowledgment of inept stewardship and an admission of continuous misjudgments and poor selection of key personnel.
Pakistan is too precious to be someone’s personal playground. Compromise works but over-compromise never. What is morally weak cannot be politically strong.
The rules apply to all. Bad decisions produce bad results. What is unfolding today is bad karma. Has any ruler made a graceful exit?
But then there is always a silver lining of hope. When things become bad, they don’t stay bad. Agitation has its own dynamics. Sometimes an agitator has a cleansing impact on politics and society. Slowly, it creates a constituency for self-correction.
It is hope which can overcome the paralysis of fear.
The time is now to ponder whether the path undertaken is tenable. Staying the present course is no longer a viable option. Changing the course is.
A two-fold realization is vital to move forward: First, a brutally honest diagnosis of what ails the nation. Second, a recognition that might does not make right. It is right which makes might.