War, no matter what anyone wants to tell you, is not a morality play, where one side is ever brave and virtuous, and the other ever sneering and evil. And, to amplify that point a little, we shouldn’t end up fighting World War III just because the Russian invasion of Ukraine is deeply immoral. The problem is, as I’ve complained before, speaking unsentimentally about an unprovoked tragedy like the Russian invasion of Ukraine doesn’t attract eyeballs.
Unfortunately, my complaint fell on deaf ears, or, I guess, blind eyeballs. The U.S. media continues to treat the Russian invasion in terms of heroism and suffering—although, of course, the Russians are never heroic and, somehow, never suffer, even when they are blown up or set on fire. We “naturally” admire bravery and are moved to pity by helpless suffering, while condemning cruelty and scorning cowardice, but “complex” political issues can never be settled in terms of these simple, “tribal” human emotions that innocently—and heartlessly— assign all virtue to “our side”, howsoever that entity be defined.
Unfortunately, that was how our supposedly even-handed mainstream media is pitching the war in Ukraine, highlighting one human interest story after another—which viewers consume like little kids eating ice cream—reminding me irresistibly of how George I’s excellent Iraqi adventure was sold to America back in 1989, with deeply unfortunate consequences. The “combat high” the media contracted from “Gulf I”—the utter demonization of Saddam Hussein, a brutal oppressor of his own people who presented no danger to the U.S.—sadly put the America on the glidepath to Gulf II, and the now endless series of calamities that have made the 21st century so much worse than it should have been.
The media has the same combat high today. And trash-talkin’ Joe Biden seems to be having a very hard time walking that line between assisting Ukraine to the extent that it can achieve some sort of negotiated settlement that will leave the greater part of Ukraine as independent, and the longing for “total victory” that the “Ukraine good, Russia bad!” meme is setting us up for.
I think it’s crazy to expect Vladimir Putin to have more sense than George Bush and Barack Obama—that is to say, I think it’s crazy to expect him to admit that he’s made a terrible error and then withdraw. We mustn’t back him into a corner. As Doug Bandow explains, in an excellent article for the American Conservative
It is Ukraine that is being ravaged by war. It is Ukrainians that most need to halt the ongoing conflict. Moreover, they most need a permanent, stable settlement. That is best achieved with an agreement that addresses the causes of the conflict, particularly Russian security concerns. The West wantonly and recklessly ignored both Russian interests and consequent threats, leaving Ukrainians to pay the price. Staging a repeat while reestablishing peace would be foolish.
But that’s precisely what our “passionate” media—its cheeks flushed with righteous indignation at the very notion of compromise with “evil”—is demanding that the U.S. do.
Afterwords
As Aditi Ramaswami and Andrew Perez point out over at the Lever, all the talking heads you’re likely to see spouting wisdom on the war have a vested interest in increased military spending, helping to push the U.S. defense budget to ever more ridiculous levels. Defense spending before Ukraine had already gotten so absurd that I’m afraid I’d stopped bitching about it out of sheer frustration—or, more probably, just laziness. Pre-COVID, Democrats used Republican desire for increased defense spending as a way to gain their support for increased domestic spending. When COVID hit, domestic spending went through the roof, which meant, in a complete switcheroo, that now it was only “fair” for defense spending to rise as well. But now defense hawks are in complete hog heaven. The defense budget, which should be halved, is likely to be doubled. Presuming we don’t end up fighting World War III over Ukraine, this will be likely the worst fruit of Putin’s arrogance and stupidity, though ultimately traceable back to America’s arrogance and stupidity in seeking to expand its power over the entire world after the collapse of the U.S.S.R.
