How To Make A Pony Disappear - The Middle East

By Rowan Wolf

There's an old joke about a person confronted with a room full of horse manure. The punch line is "With this much shit, there's got to be a pony in there somewhere." I am a "news junkie" and it is hard to keep up with the different strategies of reporting; what gets covered and how; what doesn't get covered; what pops to the top of the news, and what does not. I don't know if I can make any sense of the insanity that is coming across the wires, but there are nagging discrepancies that deserve mentioning.

Some reports rightly point out that the Israeli-Palestinian "conflict" is Israel's "forgotten war" in the face of Lebanon (such as the destruction in Gaza and elsewhere, as well as the Israeli "arrest" of Palestinian Ministers(8) and lawmakers (21) - the last week of June 2006). While Israeli bombs have shattered Lebanon, the ongoing offensive in Gaza has faded almost to invisibility.

A similar scenario exists with the U.S. "adventure" in Afghanistan. Since the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan has become the U.S.' "forgotten war." One might think that things are going well in Afghanistan after the U.S. "liberated" them from the Taleban. (Oh yeah, purportedly al Qaeda was the target, but never mind.) Things have been going so well there that the Taleban is retaking the country. Gosh, it was just July 31, 2006 when NATO forces took over responsibility for southern Afghanistan. One might read that as "things are improving," and it is part of the effort to remove U.S. forces from the region. However, just a few days later comes the news that the U.S. is sending 11,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan doesn't seem to be a success on the social front either. UNICEF reports "Schools in Afghanistan under growing attack." Estimating that roughly 100,000 students are shut out of the schools due to attacks.

"There were nearly 100 attacks on Afghan schools in the first half of the year, a sixfold rise from the same period in 2005, according to the agency which blamed "unknown insurgents."

The other U.S. "success story" is Iraq of course. While the Bush administration says that the news media focuses on the negative in Iraq, it is difficult to see any success over shadowing the dramatic escalation in violence. Iraq, seems to be sliding down a slippery slope of death. The UK's outgoing ambassador in Iraq communicated to Blair that civil war is more likely than democracy in Iraq (BBC, 8/03/06). A sentiment that is shared by U.S. Generals - Abizaid and Pace (Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff). However, Rumsfeld's response to that question was essentially, "Well, it depends on how you define civil war."

The Bush administration is moving troops back into Iraq after attempting a troop draw down. However, at least two units - the 172nd Stryker Brigade and the 4th squadron, 14th Cavalry - scheduled to come home have had their tours extended (Army Times, 8/03/06). The military admits that more troops are needed (see also IOL, 7/28/06), which has led to more strategies to expand the forces. One methodology is to relax recruitment standards ... again. The other is to outsource the war - in this case recruiting Filipinos to serve in US facilities in Iraq. Of course there is the other outsourcing of replacing troops (both in the US and Iraq) with private contractors, and security companies. Another strategy has been to raise the age at which people can volunteer to 42 years old. But I digress.

Back to the news.

So Iraq is falling apart. Afghanistan is falling apart. Lebanon is turned to rubble. Gaza is virtually invisible while destruction continues. However, the focus is on Lebanon. While I am not arguing that there should be less coverage of the tragedy in Lebanon, it is striking how much coverage that is getting compared to the coverage of say Iraq - where even more people are being killed on a daily basis. Given the level of violence and bloodshed, I am humbled by the bravery of the people of the region as they rally in large numbers to end the violence between Israel and Hizbullah. Particularly, I am struck by the actions of the people of Iraq. There was a protest march filling 20 blocks in Baghdad.

Imagine this, you are in a city where the death toll from car bombs and attacks exceeds 100 people a day, yet what is likely over 10,000 people march for an end to the violence in Lebanon. (This is not to minimize the people in Lebanon who are marching with bombs dropping around them.) Perhaps the people of Iraq see something that is not being covered. Perhaps they see their lives and fates directly connected to an expansion of conflict across the region. Perhaps they see a threat that challenges the hell they are already in. That is truly a frightening thought.

But there is another tragedy playing out in all of this, and that is the simplistic glossing over of what is real. The issues in Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq make it seem as if there are clear, hard lines in the populations. There are not. There are Arabs, Muslims and Christians, as well as Jews in Israel. Those same populations are mingled in Palestine - and in Lebanon. In Iraq, there is not a clear delineation between Shia, Sunni, and Kurds. Iraq was a secular country for decades, and the intermingling and family ties cuts across all of those groups. As does the labeled distinctions elsewhere. What this points to are huge numbers of people who are caught in the gray areas between the labeled opponents. This effects the conflicts as well as the proposed solutions.

The three state solution keeps cycling around for Iraq. Just divide Iraq into three states (Kurd, Shia, and Sunni). And what of the large populations in all of those regions who are not simply Kurd, Sunni, and Shia? Or what about the fact that in "destroying Hizbullah," that others (including Jews) just happen to reside under the bombs? Or what about those Arabs, Muslims, and Christians that live inside Israel (or Palestine)? These are the realities of war. The labeling does not necessarily reflect the reality of people's lives or societal realities. Just as the fracturing of Germany into East and West left families on both sides of the wall, and the closing of the border between North and South Korea left families fractured on both sides, and the US civil war pitted "brother against brother," so too do current conflicts and proposed solutions fracture lives.

While not discussing the complexities, and maintaining a line of rhetoric, may be easier to convey, it also is a form of propaganda. This is true on all sides. It serves the purpose of solidifying combatant ideologies, and recruiting support for actions. It creates enemies and monsters all around. It does not bring people to peace or wholeness, and those risking the car bombs in Baghdad to march about US and Israeli actions in Lebanon know this. Real people, real, families, and real communities are destroyed and they are not simply "the enemy." Those wounds run for generations. It also serves to create "enemies," and perhaps the force that the US (and Israel) say they don't want to create. People have a tendency to support those who are not terrorizing and killing them. It creates a unity for survival. Fight or die even if the odds are long against you. So more people die, more children die, and it gives people a vested interest in joining the fight - grief and revenge.

Perhaps one good thing can come out of the broadcasting of the massive destruction of societies and lives. That is a realization on the part of everyone that war is not an answer.