“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Volume 1, 1905
Yesterday I got into a heated argument with a friend about the war – are American soldiers more moral than Iraqi soldiers? Is liberating Iraq a worthy cause for war or not? In the course of the argument (and many similar ones raging across the world) each side tries to show how the “lessons of history” support their own opinions. And herein lies the problem: what are the lessons of history? If these are so clear cut, why do we end up waging war over and over again?
In one of my feature articles, I talked about the fact that one may look at Samson as the first recorded instance of the suicide bomber. I made that point with tongue-half-in-cheek. But not long after writing it, I came across this article. Apparently some scholars are taking this very seriously:
“Was Milton a terrorist sympathizer? John Carey of Oxford University, co-editor of an edition of Milton’s poetry, seems to think so. Writing in The Times Literary Supplement of London on the anniversary of Sept. 11, Professor Carey said that in the weeks following the atrocity he had been haunted by the similarities between the biblical Samson and the hijackers. ‘Like them Samson sacrifices himself to achieve his ends,’ he wrote. ‘Like them he destroys many innocent victims, whose lives, hopes and loves are all unknown to him personally.’ Professor Carey wondered whether ‘Samson Agonistes,’ with Milton’s sympathetic portrayal of his hero, should not be ‘withdrawn from schools and colleges and, indeed, banned more generally.’”
“The remarks set off a controversy that is still raging in the letters pages of the journal.”
Why do I note this? Because, in fact, the “controversy” is absurd. The Biblical story of Samson has no real relevance to modern-day suicide bombers in Gaza. Banning Milton’s work is preposterous. While Santayana’s aphorism seems so compelling, it is really quite useless as an intellectual and moral guide.The one universal lesson of history is, perhaps, that the issues that seem so central at any given time, are almost always of little moment in the long view. So we often focus on the wrong factors when making analogies. Moreover, are any two historical events truly analogous? Human nature and societies are so complex, the factors involved so diverse, that analogies are most often meaningless.
In short, history can’t be our sole guide. That doesn’t mean I believe history should be ignored. In our individual lives we draw on past experience as one of the tools in dealing with new situations – along with our intelligence, intuition and other capabilities. History is the experience of the human race, which we must combine with other tools in trying to understand and influence complex social and political events.
Which brings me back to the original point I made in that article. Compassion and concern for our fellow human beings are the key principles in dealing with tribal conflict. Any analogies and lessons we draw from the past, must be guided by these over-arching principles.
Recently, I was reading an article which contended that Americans must overcome their love for neat endings to war and get used to long and protracted guerilla warfare. Along with this they must get used to the larger casualties and loss in civilian lives characteristic of guerilla conflicts. Perhaps the author of this article was making appropriate historical analogies in his analysis. But to say that such barbarism is something we must “get used to,” shows little imagination on his part for finding constructive solutions for resolving conflicts that avoid war and bloodshed.
So as we watch this war unfold we must all work to make sure it ends speedily, with as little loss of human life as possible. Now that the war has started, the most important goals are that the soldiers come home quickly and safely to their families, that the suffering of the Iraqi people ends soon, and that they are allowed to determine their own, better future. Nothing else really matters.
Sadly, I don’t believe these are the goals of the Bush adminsitration. So the peace movement must continue it’s work, to ensure that these become the goals of the American people.
Tags: Iraq
