Left Behind: Trust, Truth And 15 Sailors

Next to being trapped in a flooding compartment, being kidnapped at sea has to be the worst nightmare for any sailor, military or civilian. Certainly no “misunderstanding”, no mistake, the Iranian seizure of 15 British sailors operating under the auspices of the United Nations at the request of the Iraqi government is a high crime that must be addressed. Global indifference, especially in Brussels, Beijing and Moscow, betrays a delusional political acumen and must invite incredulity. Operating under the UN flag, if Chinese soldiers in Lebanon, Russians in Sudan, or Europeans in the Congo were kidnapped, outrage would be the norm, and in Russian & Chinese circles, harsh, “mysterious” deaths for those involved would soon ensue.

Britain now finds itself at a crossroads; beset by a citizenry that appears hostile to any forceful measures taken on behalf of their sailors and a serious lack of options at this point to pressure the Iranians.

(ed. note: I feel the consequences of this kidnapping (and long-standing Iranian support for insurgency in Iraq) should be something along the lines of a ramped up campaign to sow chaos within Iran amid its rebellious groups as well as sabotage of Iranian petrol facilities.)

Of great interest here is the indifference portrayed by the British people. Could a similar crisis erupt in America in the future with a like reaction? What has caused this indifference and what lessons can be learned from it? Is the common challenge here analyzing this for the purpose of identifying ways to restore lagging faith in government, institutions and leaders or is this reaction really just self-serving public behavior?

Its obvious that in the British run-up to the war in Iraq, lies were concocted, exaggerations made and serious bonds of trust and faith ruptured once these deceptions were uncovered. Yet in all honesty, much as in America, the truth was reported in the media, the facts largely available from the beginning. The anger of the people is thus misplaced, for many of them, the truth was before their very eyes, but they chose to ignore it, for whatever reasons. Claiming “Blair lied” is not acceptable, unless one is to believe these people had previously assumed politicians were the most upstanding and honest citizens in all the land. Thus a “pox on both their houses” attitude from the general public is the worst kind of response, dodging critical self-review and missing larger trends that could endanger the public’s interest in a variety of nasty directions.

A similar attitude may be hard to envision in America, but the lack of faith in public officials and the nation as a whole is alarming, to a degree that it could be reasonable to compare it only slightly favorably to the Vietnam debacle and the “malaise” diagnosis of Jimmy Carter. Adam Elkus notes that 1/3 of Americans suspect ulterior motives behind 9/11, prominently USG support and/or acquiescence. Scandal after scandal in Washington from the compounding disgrace of Katrina to pressuring US attorneys to pursue partisan political charges against the opposition only make this “crisis of confidence” more acute. Again, like the British, Americans are not innocent here; much of this has gone on with their rudimentary knowledge (from torture to flawed intelligence) and they can no longer reasonably claim to have been “misled.”

Yet in spite of all this, the prospect of military personnel held hostage by a foreign power raises the reasonable specter of enraged Americans across the partisan divide demanding action (even some of those who don’t buy the official line on 9/11).

Unless…. The military’s halo of truth, honor and courage is long due to be removed regardless. Public worship of the military is incorrectly placed and certainly emboldens the political and institutional failure to punish disastrously poor leadership from the likes of General Tommy Franks, Ricardo Sanchez, Peter Pace, George Casey and others. It prevents hard questions about tactics, direction and accountability to be asked in any meaningful fashion.

The continuing use of abuse and torture by US forces or their private proxies, the fatalistic acceptance of ethnic cleansing in Iraq, the constant lying to the American people for the past 4 years (marching up to Capitol Hill and other public platforms on a routine basis and claiming “we’re winning”) and the propensity to “support the troops at any costs” are helping to rot the core of the US Army, just as much as extended, repeated deployments.

In due time, it is likely that political operatives will begin to use military leaders and by extension, the military itself, as scapegoats for the failing wars in Iraq & Afghanistan. That’s strike one. Strike Two will be drastic public disillusionment after the likely failure of the “Surge”. Strike Three is a nightmare in itself; the kidnap, torture and execution of American soldiers in Iraq. Insurgents have been trying this for years now, but their chances for success have to be increasing with the vulnerability of lightly manned outposts emphasized by the military in Baghdad. The propaganda effects of such a tragedy are almost too terrible to imagine, but its reasonable to expect that after years of failure the American people will turn even further against the war. Even if Strike Three were not to unfold, the negative light fostered by Strike One & the disgrace of Strike Two are alone enough to scuttle the love affair with the military. If and when American troops are captured by Iranians or another nation, it is thus likely a casual indifference like in Britain could ensue or worse, a desperate public push to “bring them home” at whatever costs.

Fixing the frayed bonds between society, the military and the government will require a full, honest effort from all sides. Nothing less than the continued ability to pursue national policies and goals on a sustainable level abroad and at home is at stake.