Opinion

The force is with the squirrels

Richard Lutz
Opinion Columnist

The sky is amazingly blue. The sun is shining. The squirrels are frolicking in the grass.

Shocking! I went out to ask them how they could frolic when our nation is embroiled in a controversial war. They answered with uncharacteristic wisdom: "Life goes on."

But we are humans, not squirrels, which is why we donit frolic naked in the grass every time the sun shines. We worry about the stuff that's going on "over there."

I ignored their advice to invest heavily in nut futures, but I tried to take their advice about living. Being human, though, I couldnit help thinking about events half a world away. It seems that in the end, there are two possibilities, regardless of whether we win the war against Iraq or just give up and withdraw.

The first is that we lose not to Iraq but to the world, which sees us as a bit of an arrogant strongman. If the war in Iraq becomes too long, or too bloody, or spills into neighboring countries, it will become more likely we will pull out as we did with Vietnam. Even if we achieve a military victory, those who want to resist American "imperialism" will complicate the rebuilding. Iran and Syria, for example, are especially nervous that our attention will turn to them next, and Turkey is moving its own army to deal with a possible Kurdish revolt. The cleanup from this war will fall to the next president, even if we elect a leader who simply promises to pull out of Iraq.

The danger of this scenario is that the United States could return to isolationism. If we just shut out the rest of the world and play with our squirrels, our enemies will likely leave us alone. After all, bin Laden launched 9/11 because we had troops in Saudi Arabia, not because of some global jihad against Christianity. However, globalization is what kept our economy alive during Clintonis era. If we quit Iraq cold turkey, I suggest investing in nuts because youill need them soon enough.

The other option is that we win everywhere. Iraq, Syria, Iran, North Korea … we donit need to defeat the world with armies. The "most favored nation" trading status is a weapon we used to win over China. Many of you know this already, but itis not just about McDonaldis culture. Itis about how nations can benefit monetarily through U.S. connection and will not wage war against us or help terrorists.

The horror of this future is that charming ancient customs like "religious war" and "tribal dictatorships" will begin to vanish from the Earth. As cultures mix, things everywhere will become blander, like the "melting pot" the United States tries to be. But Iid rather live in the United States than in an ancient nation where dissidents are shot in the street. Even if it means the world ends up covered in squirrels, is unity such a terrible future?

Richard Lutz, a senior English and German major can be reached at drahcir_j@hotmail.com.