What Is A "Long War"?

In the middle of the 12th century a man named Nicholas Breakspear became the first and only Englishman elected Pope of the Catholic Church, Adrian IV. In those days, broadly speaking from the 5th to the 16th centuries, the Catholic Church was invested with both secular as well as religious power. Kings and emperors were chosen and sanctioned by Rome. Well, jolly old Nick issued a Papal Bull giving Ireland to England's Henry II, sealing the deal with a ring containing a large emerald. Thus Ireland became the Emerald Isle, the first colony of the modern world. The Anglo-Norman English landed, officially, on those emerald shores in 1167. Now, 839 years later, the English are still there, controlling the province of Ulster.

Over the centuries of English domination and genocide many millions of Irish died and many millions more were forced to emigrate. To the English the Irish were (are perhaps still?) barbarous and vile. Think of all the nasty, offensive terms of imperialistic chauvinism that the English language contains and have been used in more recent centuries to slander other "colored" peoples of the world: Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Africans. All these had their beginnings in the conquest of Ireland. Policies used in places such as Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) where natives were pushed off land to give it to colonists originated in Ireland. Historical records show that Ireland was almost entirely forested. Today there are few trees. The English cut down Ireland's trees to build English ships, to stoke English iron furnaces, to make English barrel staves. The trees that were left were burned to eliminate hiding places for Irish rebels; in those days they didn't have napalm or airplanes. Not until 1920 did (most of) Ireland get its independence. In our current world we're indoctrinated to believe that imperial, racist domination is something that 'whites' (Causasians) do to 'coloreds' (non-Caucasians) but the history of Ireland gives the lie to this view. In the 16th century, after Henry VIII's split with Rome, religion entered the picture as part of the domination. Nothing in contemporary polemics about a "clash of civilizations" can match the invective used by the English in demeaning both the papist Catholics and the Irish in general. And this was limited neither in scope nor duration. As late as WW I English writers and historians spit venom against Irish Catholics. An oddity about all this is that when Henry VIII split from Rome the Church of England retained the beliefs and rituals of Rome; the only thing that changed was to substitute the King for the Pope, and this replication of authoritarian Church rule was seminal in fueling religious dissension in Britain, with the rise of "puritanism" and Presbyterianism and non-Conformists in general. Of courese, whether C of E Kings/Queens ruled or the Puritans with Cromwell, they were united in one thing at least: the Irish were barbaric subhumans who needed to be led to civilization. Irish history is instructive in many ways.

So the English tried for more than 750 years to subdue and civilize the Irish before they mostly gave up and the Irish Free State was proclaimed. But the English still hold Ulster and as recently as two weeks ago Ulster Protestant leaders were refusing to meet with Sinn Fein (Ourselves Alone) leaders over the structure of police forces. 2006 - 1167 = 839 years! Still the "war" goes on. And showing where official US policy lies (and the history of English influence in America) the Irish Republican Army is still considered a terrorist organization! The English can invade and conquer Ireland and slaughter it's inhabitants and that's okay but if the Irish fight back they are murderous terrorists (and Catholics as well!). England versus Ireland is the longest war in history and it's not over yet.

There is a belief current among the Iraqi war lobby that Viet Nam was "lost" because Americans lost heart and gave up, and these warmongers -Bush, Cheney, Bill Kristol, etc.- think the same applies to the Middle East and the newly coined "Long War," a "generational conflict" in which we are currently engaged. To oppose these "new" imperialistic ambitions is to be defeatist and to give aid and comfort to the enemy, the terrorists. This is a profound premise and must be taken seriously. Attritubed to Stalin is the statement that bombs don't win wars, people win wars. Whether the attribution is correct or not the statement is on point. The Irish never accepted English domination and they never gave up. The Vietnamese never accepted foreign domination and fought the Japanese and the French and the Americans till independence was won. "Long wars" are people's wars and eventually the "people" win. And if the neo-con junta, so well-abetted by their clones the Democrats, can't seem to win our allegiance to their imperialistic designs the problem lies not with us, American dissenters, but with our rulers. For we can see that this "long war" is not for liberation but for domination, is creating enemies not friends, and our anti-democratic rulers don't even bother to try to bribe us for our help and acquiescence(the English monarchy and Parliament had to promise land in Ireland to get soldiers and investors). All they can do is insult us as being weak and threaten us with draconian laws of repression.

Long wars are "won" by following the tide of history and history favors independence and liberty and that requires that "we" stop trying to civilize "them" and maybe find some liberty and independence and civility for and in ourselves.