Chicago Boyz

The Autumn issue of Parameters is up, and has several good things in it. It has an article by Ralph Peters, who is always worth reading, for the force of his rhetoric as well as the merits of his ideas, some of which are offbeat, but never less than interesting. Peters makes a bunch of points, in his inimitable fashion, though a little more haphazardly than usual. But, let’s go ahead and hang onto his stirrup-strap as he charges ahead. You can either read my many quotes and pithy commentary below, or just go read the article.

First, Peters tells us, policy-makers give up too easily on Africa and South America, because they are too Eurocentric, even racist, and set in their ways. He then proposes a new Atlantic entity, whose outlines remain blurry even on repeated re-reading:

Nor is this about forging a neo-classical American empire. Rather, it’s about creating strategic partnerships to supercede our waning relations with continental Europe and about structuring alternatives to an over reliance on the states, populations, and markets of East Asia. Although the United States, where all the relevant cultures converge, would be the most powerful member of an Afro-Latin-Anglo-American web of alliances, this would be a new kind of informal, democratic network, based on shared interests, aligning values, cultural fusion, and mutual advantage.

This proposal sounds pretty similar to Jim Bennett’s notion of a “Network Commonwealth”(discussed here):

Far from a centralizing federation, the best form of association is what I call a “network commonwealth”: a linked series of cooperative institutions, evolved from existing structures like trade agreements, defense alliances, and cooperative programs. Rather than despising the variable geometry principle, it would embrace it, forming coalitions of the willing to respond to emerging situations.

That’s Bennett. Notice how he is more concrete, focusing on existing institutions and building on those to create an articulated Anglosphere. Peters’ posited unifying elements for his proposed “community” are a lot more diffuse, maybe even imaginary. Institution-building for such a community is not even started, probably not even contemplated. Not yet, anyway. So Peters’ proposal is all very much a chalkboard exercise at this point.

Anyway, Peters goes on to invoke America’s frontier spirit to buttress his proposed “Southern” policy approach:

America always has done best on frontiers, from our own West through technological frontiers to our pioneering of the society of the future, in which gender, racial, and religious equality increasingly prevail (to the horror of our enemies, foreign and domestic). And the great human frontiers of the 21st century lie to our south.

I find that a bit of a stretch, actually.

Peters goes on to tell us that Old Europe is at odds with America in all kinds of ways, which is manifestly so, and that the Arab/Muslim world is going to be a hopeless basket case effectively forever, so we shouldn’t get our hopes up about anything good happening there:

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“Night Patrol”

This column entitled “Baghdad Journal,” by an artist named Steve Mumford, is remarkable. In this entry, Mumford is going around in Baghdad drawing pictures. I got a kick out of this:

During my first trip, I spent a couple of weeks with the 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad, specifically Task Force 2-7, commanded by Lt. Col. Scott Rutter. Rutter was very helpful; I showed up one morning at his headquarters and explained that I wanted to accompany his soldiers and make drawings. He was perched atop his command Bradley, engines roaring. Make art? Terrific! That’s great, just great! Jump on! Hoo-ah!

So much for the purported philistinism of soldiers. His descriptions of his day-to-day dealings with Iraqis in Baghdad demonstrate that not everyone in Iraq is seething with rage at the Americans:

Drawing here takes a little getting used to. The Iraqis are intensely interested in most things western, so the presence of an American sitting on a stoop or at a cafe making a drawing always elicits an avid audience. Every brushstroke is watched, and people have many questions. The Iraqi sense of personal space is very different from a westerner’s; here people crowd in so close they’re touching me, and men feel free to stab at the paper to point out someone I’ve drawn whom they know. If an onlooker blocks the view, however, he’ll be shouted at to get out of the way. Sometimes a passage is greeted with a round of “tsk, tsk, tsk,” which in Iraq doesn’t necessarily connote disapproval as much as interest (I think).

In this most recent journal entry Mumford visits some National Guard troops based at a former Iraqi officers’ club. Mumford notes that:

… the guard defines itself less in terms of fighting wars than in taking control in disasters and helping to improve the situation. Since they normally train on weekends, the men all have regular jobs, which generally makes them more understanding when dealing with civilians and brings a large pool of experience from the civilian sector to the force. One of their first acts was to rehabilitate the soccer stadium, which had been used for dug-in fortifications by the Republican Guard (the inaugural game was played between the guard and a local team; the guard was trounced).

Mumford describes the daily activities of the guard soldiers in Baghdad, who are clearly make a very big contribution to getting the place back on its feet:

In general, Baghdad seems to me to be better than it was two months ago, despite the rise in bombings. Many of the huge mounds of trash are cleaned up, the curbs repainted, less gunfire at night. The endless gas station lines are much shorter, the traffic snarls less intense and there’s more electricity at night, although still far from enough. Most importantly, the Iraqis of Al Wasiria seem to like these Americans, often calling out to them by name as they’re on patrol.

Mumford does not downplay the dangers, but it is obvious that the situation in Iraq is much better than the mainstream media would have you believe.

Also, his pictures are good.

(Via Arts & Letters Daily)

A dream about being in a coal mine prompted some googling. The historical reality isn’t pretty:

UK Mine Disasters — “Between 1880 and 1910, over 1000 fatalities occurred every year in British coal mines.”

Account of 1814 Visit to English Mine

List of Welsh Mining Disasters

U.S. Dept. of Labor Mining Disasters Exhibit

List of U.S. Mining Disasters

List of Major Coal Mine Fires and Explosions in Pennsylvania

Interesting site devoted to the conflict in Coal Creek, Tennessee over use of convicts as slave labor to mine coal. Note the obvious RKBA implications.

Here’s a book about the 1958 Springhill, Nova Scotia disaster. I looked this one up because I remember from childhood a dreary folk song about the same event. The reality seems to have been more interesting than the song.

Happily, things are better now. But note that even in 2002 there were 27 coal mining deaths in the U.S., and an average of 40 deaths annually in 2000 and 2001. Keep these numbers in mind the next time someone asserts that nuclear power generation is dangerous.

While searching the giant’s lair Rex the Komodo dragon encounters a wheel.

Our friend Jeff Lin, who is a fount of stock-trading ideas, has started a blog.