Peace Kills: Sweet & Sour Mix

Bravo Romeo Delta

Ok, for the sweet, the Arch-Curmudgeon Satrist, P.J. O'Rourke has released another book, entitled, appropriately enough, Peace Kills (cliquez vous ici por une excerpt and a good explanation of why Murrican 4-N policy is what it is). It looks to be a sort-of cross-breed between Give War A Chance and Eat the Rich.

Musical Interlude: Peace Sells ... But Who's Buying ?.

And now for the sour: Why peacekeeping is one of the most murderously counterproductive and meaninglessly destructive things one can do in a conflict:

First, check out this Foreign Affairs article by Edward Luttwak. Excerpts:

"Today cease-fires and armistices are imposed on lesser powers by multilateral agreement -- not to avoid great-power competition but for essentially disinterested and indeed frivolous motives, such as television audiences' revulsion at harrowing scenes of war. But this, perversely, can systematically prevent the transformation of war into peace. The Dayton accords are typical of the genre: they have condemned Bosnia to remain divided into three rival armed camps, with combat suspended momentarily but a state of hostility prolonged indefinitely. Since no side is threatened by defeat and loss, none has a sufficient incentive to negotiate a lasting settlement; because no path to peace is even visible, the dominant priority is to prepare for future war rather than to reconstruct devastated economies and ravaged societies. Uninterrupted war would certainly have caused further suffering and led to an unjust outcome from one perspective or another, but it would also have led to a more stable situation that would have let the postwar era truly begin. Peace takes hold only when war is truly over."

And before anyone gets their panties in a wad, a letter was written in response to the original article. Luttwak's response to this critique can be found here.

Then, just for giggles, look at his response to a wooly-headed peacenik sort who appears to be very much an advocate of the same kind of strategic thinking behind Kerry's defense voting during the mid-eighties.

So, why don't y'all think about that before anyone gets all up in arms about sending peacekeepers to Sudan or asking for UN involvement to quell the violence in Iraq.

Launched by Bravo Romeo Delta at June 16, 2004 11:21 PM
» Evil pundit of doom! Retaliates with: Alternative peacekeeping