Let's Have a "Long" War, So You Can Go Die

The phrase "The Long War" has been bandied about by various minions of the Bush admin., though little attention has been paid to the Orwellian implications. Even Big John McCain has mentioned that there will be "many more wars," if he has anything to say about it.

Back in September 2001, Rumsfeld put it this way: "We have a choice -- either to change the way we live, which is unacceptable, or to change the way that they live; and we chose the latter." In this context, "they" represent the billion or so Muslims inhabiting the greater Middle East. [...] Well into the first decade of this generational struggle, Americans remained oddly confused about its purpose. Is the aim to ensure access to cheap and abundant oil? Spread democracy? Avert nuclear proliferation? Perpetuate the American empire? Preserve the American way of life? From the outset, the enterprise that Gates now calls the "Long War" has been about all of these things and more.

From Andrew J. Bacevich's fine piece on the L. A. Times' op-ed page today. And he doesn't even bring up the Orwellian perpetual war concept that the "Long War" feeds into, nor the damage that can be done to even an allegedly democratic nation by putting it on a continuous war footing.