The recent uprisings in several Iraqi cities bring to the forefront a debate thousands of years old: does a wise foreign policy call for firmness or compassion?
From Abraham’s dialogue with God outside of Sodom to the contemporary debate between Chaney and Kerry, this question remains a divisive and important issue.
Before I proceed, I would like to note that the majority of Iraqis seem to rejoice at our removal of Hussein. These are the Iraqis who will rebuild their country.
Unfortunately, many rebel cities remain and continue to defy our troops. Likewise, many Iraqis, being bested in war, have turned to terrorism. I do not argue for the punishment of all Iraqis. Keep in mind, one of the most brilliant American foreign policy moves was to implement the Marshall Plan-a wise and compassionate plan that rebuilt post World War II Germany and Japan, thereby turning enemies into allies. Yet those Iraqis who refuse to lay down their arms for the good of their country ought to be treated with the utmost severity.
The most thorough and illuminating dialogue occurs in Thucydides’ “Peloponnesian War.” Here, the Mytileneans revolt against their Athenian overlords. The revolt is quickly subdued and prisoners are sent to Athens.
At first the Athenians vote to kill every male Mytilenean. Yet the next day they reopen the floor to debate. How should a powerful nation deal with a defeated group of people intent on their destruction?
Kleon, son of Kleainetos, cites many compelling reasons to punish all Mytileneans. He argues, “Compassion is a fair reaction towards one’s own kind, not toward those who feel no pity and whose position is both inevitably and permanently hostile.”
It is a shame that Kleon’s speech was not given 2,500 years later on the floor of the U.S. Senate, for he understood the nature of war and defeated peoples: “Do not be traitors to yourselves, then, but try to return to your feelings during the ordeal and the urgency to overcome these people at all cost, and now pay them back, neither weakening in the face of the immediate circumstances nor losing sight of the dander once overhanging you.”
Should U.S. foreign policy makers once again show such resoluteness in the face of war and terrorism, our future conflicts would lessen. Let our allies and our enemies witness our determination to stamp out oppression and terrorism, no matter the cost.
If we continue to deal “gently” and compassionately with subversives and terrorists, we will surrender the fear of deterrence. It is unfortunate that we are being forced to fight civilians firing from the safety of mosques, women loaded with bombs on suicide missions and 10-year-old children armed with rifles.
Yet when a mosque is used as a fortress it loses its sanctity; the female forfeits her womanhood; and the child forfeits his innocence. They surrender their dignity and must be treated as enemies. Not with respect as you would enemy soldiers, but brutally as you would a terrorist. Dealing harshly with such people is justified in that harming them prevents more harm being done to others.
As Machiavelli argues, “By making an example or two he will prove more compassionate than those who, being too compassionate, allow disorders which lead to murder and rapine. These nearly always harm the whole community, whereas executions ordered by a prince only affect individuals.” If a whole city must be punished for the sake of a nation, so be it.
The great Islamic philosopher Ibn Sina (Avicenna) argues, “All fines must not be imposed on the criminal alone. Some of these must be imposed on the criminal’s protectors and relatives who fail to reprimand and watch over him.”
A rebellious people must be dealt with harshly. It is better to be feared than loved. And, harsh, brutal actions, if they prevent more harm, are justified. In dealing with the current Iraqi rebels and terrorists, it would benefit our policy makers to remember an old Jewish proverb: “In the palace there are many doors with many keys, but sometimes the best key of all is the ax.”
Ryan Starrett is a senior history major. He can be reached at [email protected].