Views » November 16, 2006

A Nation Is Not a Plate

The United States should be held responsible for its crimes and destruction in Iraq with a withdrawl and reparations.

By Brian Cook

Back in April 2004, when the political breeze was blowing rightward, kite-cum-journalist Bob Woodward gave readers of his then-new book, Plan of Attack, an “inside” account of the Bush administration during the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq. Among its treasure trove of conventional wisdom nuggets, the most alluring to the mainstream press was Woodward’s discussion of the “Pottery Barn Rule.”

As reported by Woodward, Colin Powell evoked the rule when explaining to President Bush the consequences of invading Iraq. “You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million people,” Powell told him. And according to the dictates of the rule, first coined by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman in 2003, if you break Iraq, you own it.

Despite the rule’s august centrist origins, one could plausibly argue that the analogy is utterly inane, the kind of simulacrum of analysis offered up by a culture whose social imagination is limited to the confines of a television screen. Its aim is not to provoke thinking, but stop it, as even the gentlest critical prodding makes the whole thing fall to shambles.

For starters, there’s the mundane point that Pottery Barn has no such policy. When accidental breaks do occur, the company simply writes them off as losses. (It’s one of this administration’s lesser casualties of truth, but there nonetheless.)

More on the analogy’s terms: How, one might ask, can a nation of 25 million citizens, brutalized for decades by a sadistic dictator, be seriously equated with an inanimate piece of hardened clay? Similarly, what do you do when you now “own” a piece of pottery that has shattered into a thousand tiny shards? You don’t hold onto the shards. You throw them away.

But such criticisms, however valid, are strictly negative. They tear down the Pottery Barn Rule without putting anything else in its place. Perhaps, despite its flaws, the rule can be resurrected, made more conducive to reality, by adding some imaginative nuances.

Many analysts have suggested that the United States’ actions in Iraq have been incredibly incompetent, akin to a man who walks into Pottery Barn, breaks something but hopes to pay for it. However, on his way to the cashier, he bumps into a shelf, sending an array of earthenware plates and mugs crashing to the ground. Apologizing profusely, he then backs into another shelf, toppling it over and creating another mess. At this point, the fed-up employees simply look at the man and tell him to go, now, before he breaks anything else. (And in fact, according to a September poll by the U.S. State Department, 65 percent of Iraqis favor an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces.)

Unfortunately, this analogy too fails, in that it absolves the United States of the responsibility for its actions, which have been not only incompetent, but criminal. By torturing Iraqi prisoners, indiscriminately using banned chemical weapons like white phosphorus and, indeed, breaching the U.N. Charter by invading in the first place, the United States has behaved more like a disgruntled ex-employee with a grievance, who seeks redress by walking into Pottery Barn and going postal.

But this analogy should not end there. Once a crime is committed, civilized societies hold the perpetrators responsible. And if those responsible are rich enough, they are made to pay for the destruction they have caused.

That Iraq has been broken is now so self-evident that even our faith-based president appears to have become vaguely cognizant of the painful fact. To put it in terms that he might understand, all of our cruise missiles and all of our men will not be able to put it back together again. We should leave now, and use the millions we’ve been spending militarily as reparations for the unforgivable harm we have done the Iraqi people.

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• Reader Comments

  Forget it, Bush has learned zip. He and Cheney need Impeachment Therapy.

  Posted by blondemike on Nov 16, 2006 at 6:16 PM

  First:
  “You Break It — You’ve Bought It!” ...has been posted in thousands of antique shops for years.

  Note: Tom Friedman should only be mentioned when pointing out how little he knows about economics. (He is one hell of a book salesman though.)

  Second:

  Read “Cobra ll” for the context of how Colin Powell used this plate analogy.
  His meaning is very clear by the second part of his statement, “...be sure you use enough troops.”

  Rumsfeld has been given a free hand by Bush far too long and against the advice of many senior officers (now retired after speaking frankly).

  In “Cobra ll” former CENTCOM commander General Zinni said:

  • Saddam was IMO no imminent threat to the US.

  • Rumsfeld threw out ten years of detailed planning to use a sort of decide-as-we-go approach using his newly revised military restructuring — smaller & faster.

  • CENTCOM had four Iraq war plans with varying degrees of US involvement —
  The least was air support to allow the Kurds in the North and the Shiites in the South to revolt and take out Saddam. No US troops.

  • Total invasion (the fourth option and most extreme plan) called for 500,000 troops. Rumsfeld whittled it down to 125,000.

  • There was NO plan to deal with the aftermath. (obvious for some time now) The reason Franks retired ASAP, post phase one.

  • On TV Zinni called for, “At least the resignation of the Defense Secretary.
  ————————
  I am currently reading, “Operation Homecoming” first hand accounts of the war from troops and their families. The project was Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts .  It is a collection of poetry, essays, letters, e-mails, plays, and journal entries which offer views not covered by media types. There was no attempt by anyone to censor the material.
  From Amazon Reviews:

  “Here is what you will not find in the news–the personal cost of war written as clear and beautiful as literature worthy of the name is. These stories are the real thing, passionate, imaginative, searing.”

  –Richard Bausch, author of Wives & Lovers

  
  “Andrew Carroll has given America a priceless treasure.”

  –Tom Brokaw, on War Letters

  Posted by whattheheck on Nov 18, 2006 at 5:34 PM

  Good article…can’t disagree with the end analysis…

  But it skips over the real reason for the invasion…money….

  Oil 18 dollars a barrel when Bush was selected into office…now 72 dollars a barrel..dispite the fact that both the Saudis and Venezuela, were willing to sell at around 52….

  Additionally…400 billion in Gov’t contracts…these guys are literally making a killing in blood and money..if only point ...5 percent is kicked back to these thieves(the Bush team,Dickhead, Rumfuck and boy Blunder)thats still 2 billion dollars….

  And Amerikans want to know why the 9/11 attacks are viewed by many as an inside conspiracy…..

  Whattheheeeeeeecckk…..........................!!!!!!

  Posted by Redhorse on Nov 18, 2006 at 6:36 PM

  Redhorse,

  Lighten up. Broaden your thinking a bit. Read differing opinions and please try to be a little objective. The book I mentioned, “Operation Homecoming” would be a good start, since it literally covers the full range on the war.

  Not everything bad is due to conspiracies. Honest, well meaning people can do dumb things. While there is no shortage in the world of sleazy ones simple-minded ones like Georgie can cause a lot of trouble while truly believing they are right. (Often these are the most dangerous.)

  Of course there have been opportunists involved in the war — all wars bring out the best and the worst in people. During the Revolution Washington was pissed off at people making a bundle on boots and saddles, food and other supplies.

  Last week I read about a Marine (Cpl Dunham) from New York who covered a grenade with his helmet and dropped on it to save his buddies. The NY Times diidn’t even mention it. How sick is that.

  There have been conspiracies alleged for WW2, Kennedy’s assassination, and others — denials of the holocaust, the moon landing, — all kinds of wild ideas, but just plain human failures are enough to account for anything.

  There are various motives for getting ourselves into the Iraq mess, but in my opinion, no excuses for letting it get this bad.

  Meanwhile, if you have any spare cash to sock away for retirement, I’d recommend a Roth IRA with investments in energy related closed end funds (and reinvest the dividends). The Vanguard fund (VAW) is closed to new investors, but it has earned 14% per year for twenty years. That means the initial amount has doubled each 5 years.

  Another which is a good long term bet is OIH which is mostly into refining and related companies. The lack of refining capacity is the bottleneck for the next several years.

  Posted by whattheheck on Nov 20, 2006 at 11:04 PM

  Both of you guys are out to lunch. An extreme rightist white and an extreme rightist racist black. Together you might light up a one-watt bulb.

  Posted by blondemike on Nov 20, 2006 at 11:28 PM

• extended discussion >>>Continued...

  Discussions with more than 5 comments are continued on our special discussion page to encourage continuity and ease of use. There are currently 68 posts.

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