High life
Hot and bothered
Taki
Despite the terrific sunshine — I do not remember such beautiful weather in the 40 years of coming here — the drums of war are beating even in this peaceful alpine vil- lage. What bothers the hell out of me is that in both the American and British gov- ernments there is only one man who has served in either the army, navy or airforce, not to mention the Marine Corps. He is Al Gore, vice-president, the least influential position in government, a ceremonial post put to good use by the Draft Dodger as a fund-raising one.
Not a single member of either the British or American Cabinet has heard a shot fired in anger, and that, of course, includes a President who gambled in dodging the draft and having it on his record — a lot of harm it did him, too — rather than answer his country's call. Blair's Cabinet can be excused. Britain was not at war, although none of them served in Northern Ireland as volunteers. (Why volunteer and possibly get shot when you can be a student rabble- rouser or a politician?) The Clinton Cabi- net can also be excused. It is a gyno-cabinet, with a few bankers and paper shufflers thrown in.
These two bodies are, as I write, consid- ering military action. It is like the Goldie Hawn film, where a woman who has never seen a football game becomes a very suc- cessful coach. The only difference being that this is real life and brave men will die. One of the bravest men I have ever met is a Mexican-American Marine, Tully Sanchez, who threw himself on to a hand- grenade in Vietnam and saved his buddy. He is blind and missing both arms. The day the Gulf war began I happened to speak to him, and over the telephone I could sense his patriotism swell. He certainly earned it. The people who have decided to bomb have not even earned their tax-free limos.
Needless to say, once the F-18s, Stealth fighters, smart bombs and cruise missiles begin to fly, Monica Lewinsky will come off the front pages quicker than you can say draft dodger. What I'd like to know is the following: if, as Clinton says, the UN inspectors have destroyed more Iraqi weapons of mass destruction than Desert Storm did in six weeks of round-the-clock bombing with 2,000 airplanes, what makes the Draft Dodger and his poodle Tony think that 300 planes in a few days can accomplish more?
What I fear is that Clinton and his poo- dle only wish to send a message to Saddam. This is no good. Anything less than the total destruction of Saddam and his weapon apparatus is window-dressing. And will only raise the stakes. Already govern- ments are complaining that what is not at stake is the principle that every state must comply with all UN Security Council reso- lutions. Israel certainly does not. In fact, the principle at stake is that none of Israel's enemies should possess or acquire weapons of mass-destruction that Israel already possesses. There is even talk that Israel might go nuclear against Saddam.
I know, I know, Israel does not launch aggressive wars except in self-defence, except . er, in 1967, when the fool Nass- er's rhetoric provided the opportunity for Israel to destroy its three neighbours and more or less permanently consign the Palestinians to servitude. I'll tell you one thing. I'd sleep even better than I do now if General Rabin were at the helm, rather than Bibi, a man with a propensity to make things worse rather than better.
Some time ago I wrote about Making the Corps, a book that deals with the danger- ous rift which has developed between the military and civilian society. Stated simply, the military — especially the Marine Corps in America — has become too moral for its masters. The War Hero should only order 21-year-old interns to do you-know-what. Deciding to drop bombs should be a man's decision, not a coward's.
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