In Search of New Narratives

We are, as a nation, in search of new narratives, both in our view of the history and destiny of our own country, the United States, and in our attitude to the rest of the world, too; in other words, our foreign policy.

Our national narrative is up for grabs today.  There are those on one end who follow the direction of “1619,” saying our history has been founded on slavery and its perpetuation.  There are others who view our history as growing from the words of our Declaration of Independence, committed to achieving “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” of freedom for all.

Our eyes have been opened more than ever in the past couple of decades to the imperfections and misbegotten chapters of American history:  slavery, our treatment of Native Americans, our aggrandizing spirit as evidenced in the Mexican War of 1848, our imposition of our own values on other countries without due respect to their culture.  This confrontation of reality is essential but it carries the great risk that we will lose sight of the extraordinary goodness of our ideals and the benefits of their realization both for the citizens of the United States and beyond (think of the Marshall Plan).

My own admittedly simplistic view of a correct national narrative pivots around the fact that we are blessed with a brilliant foundational document (the Declaration of Independence) which identifies the right ends to seek but a narrative which at the same time honestly recognizes that have fallen dramatically short of reaching these ends and we must continue on a journey of continued learning and seeking truth to realize these ends.

When it comes to the narrative of our relations with other countries, our foreign policy so to speak, it seems to me that these are the salient points:

1.         We have to confront and take action to ensure that our existence as a nation is not threatened by external forces such as terrorism.  We have to recognize there are some bad people in this world who not only have different views than we do (that’s understandable) but want to impose their views on us violently.  We have to prepare ourselves to deny this happening.

 

2.         We must recognize the futility of trying to impose our values on other countries.  We can and should provide an example of the benefit of our values, hoping others will learn and take note, but to seek to impose these values on other countries while perhaps evidencing a noble humanitarian disposition will rarely if ever be productive.  I think of values here such as same-sex marriage, women’s rights, etc.  We must never relent in our commitment to continuing to learn how to accord every person the respect and freedom they deserve.  But we should not view ourselves as the world’s preacher or policeman when it comes to imposing these values.  We need to recognize how long it took us in this country to achieve progress in these areas, and there is more progress to be made.

 

3.         We must seek common ground to achieve common goals with other countries, even those that are tough competitors like China.

While China’s view of what constitutes good government and stable society is different than ours, there is no objective reason why we should be enemies.  The economic bonds between our countries need no emphasis.  The importance of working together on nuclear proliferation and climate change are self-evident.  The challenge is to distinguish between a country being a competitor and being an existential enemy and act accordingly. 

 

How Will We Remember 9/11

 

HOW WILL WE REMEMBER 9/11

 

Surely, we will never forget the agonizing experience of seeing the Towers fall and bodies as well.  We will never forget the heroism of the firefighters and others who risked and lost their lives in rescuing people trapped in the burning fury.  We will never forget the mind-blowing, chilling, unforgettable demonstration that we are not free from violence from terrorists.

 

We will never forget how for a short time the country came together in unity to mourn the lives that were lost, to herald the heroes who fought the flames and helped survivors to live. 

 

However, an opinion column in the New York Times (9/12) by Laila Lalami reminds us of other things we dare not forget, because they have implications on what we do as a nation in the future. 

 

We have to recognize the unintended consequences of the war on terrorism which 9/11 precipitated, a war which went well beyond, in time and geography, what we set out to do in the beginning, which was to eliminate Al Qaeda. 

 

The attacks served as justification for the 20-year war in Afghanistan, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and the periodic bombing of Pakistan, Yemen, Syria and Somalia.  This led to the deaths of some 800,000 people, including 335,000 civilians and the displacement of an estimated 38 million people. 

 

Over the 20 years, we were constantly reminded that we were attacked on 9/11.  And we should have been reminded.  However, in what became a continually grieving state, the public was understandably more willing to accept what it might not have otherwise. 

 

Along the way, the reporting of the loss of civilian lives was stopped, intentionally.  That was wrong: hiding ourselves from Truth.

 

David Blight in his magisterial biography of Frederick Douglass writes a lot about memory and its uses.  He observes that Douglass understood that although all people crave stories, some narratives are more honest than others.  It is imperative that our stories of 9/11 are honest and comprehensive and that the lessons from it on what is within our capability as a nation and what is not, what is right and what is wrong, never be forgotten. 

 

Fourteen years ago, General H.R. McMaster wrote a stunning book about the Vietnam War aptly summarized by its title, Dereliction of Duty.  Its sub-title extends the indictment:  Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that led to Vietnam.

 

I don’t know what General McMaster will write about the war in Afghanistan.  He served as National Security Advisor in 2017-18 until he was fired by Trump.  I do know that as late as August 2021, he felt it was a mistake to totally leave Afghanistan.  He felt we should sustain a presence and that by doing so we would be able to hold off the Taliban.  I’m skeptical.  They had already taken well over half the country.  They were feeding off the corruption in the government and the collateral damage the U.S. and its allies was doing to civilians.  It seems questionable whether we could have held off the Taliban with as few troops (2,000-3,000) as we had then.  We may have been able to preserve the government for some time in Kabul but not the country as a whole.