Evil is good when a spokesman speaks

Dear George,

For evil to prevail, those who perpetuate it must be convinced of the fundamental goodness of their acts. They must be adept at sopping up the gore that evil produces with the sands of euphuisms mouthed with a monotone drone that conceals even as it purports to inform.

If properly repositioned, evil becomes a common place banality that is fully integrated into the mundane sameness of our daily routines. With the passage of time, evil acts, no matter how horrendous, lose their ability to shock and move us.

Oh sure, you still have your do-gooders who are unable to adapt to the dynamic changes our culture has experienced over the last seven years. They are Luddites who have dug their heels in against the unstoppable march of progress.

Their latest effort was to gather 110 nations in Dublin, Ireland to hash out a treaty banning cluster bombs. Anyone who thinks America is going to go down that road is sadly mistaken.

The cluster bomb is not an instrument of war, it is an instrument of diplomacy, and diplomacy is all about persuasion. For example, let’s say we want a country to do things our way, and that country refuses to do so. Can you think of a more effective argument to change their minds than maiming their children when they start playing soccer with unexploded bomblets? It sends a powerful message.

Anyhow, 110 nations signed the treaty. We were not one of them.

Some might think us evil for refusing to sign the treaty. Thank God we had a military spokesman on the scene that effectively deodorized our decision. He explained that, “Well we—the number one priority of any country’s military is to defend its country. And if our military planners are determined that these are necessary to protect America’s interests, we—it’s not something were going to unilaterally get rid of (emphasis mine).”

What a wonderful smokescreen he threw up! He didn’t fall back on the old cliché that the West has a long and noble history of bombing natives into submission. Instead, he evoked that most bland of individuals, the military planner. There’s a poetic phrase for you. It is a phrase that reduces evil to the humdrum boredom of endless meetings and thick position papers that dull the mind with the monotonous flow of their syntax.

Our intent isn't to maim children even though we do; we simply want to be prepared for any contingency, such as maiming children to make a point.

What was fascinating about the statement was that embedded within it was a seismic shift that was so subtle the mainstream media missed it altogether. The spokesman didn’t speak about defending “America”; he spoke of defending “American interests.”

Resource wars, we have arrived.

Your admirer,
Belacqua Jones