Fireman, not Policeman. Dick Morris makes an interesting analogy between "firefighter" (the rad-fem substitute for "fireman") and what he thinks the U.S. role in the world should be. He suggests that we "can't be the world's policeman" (no rad-fem term this time) because that requires us to police (occupy) 24 hours a day, but we can be the planet's fireman: arrive in an emergency, put out the fire, then leave, allowing others to fill the void. Not workable.
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First, the comparison is flawed, because nowadays police usually do NOT police 24 hours a day, but only arrive in emergencies. The 911 switchboard has replaced the cop on the corner, walking a beat. Many neighborhoods don't even have regular police patrols anymore. This is, in fact, a major point of contention over the reasons we still have a crime rate that is much too high. Many critics of modern policing, with whom I agree, contend that we must have a 24-hour police presence, in our worst neighborhoods at least, in the form of "community policing".
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A Connorsville, Indiana webpage defines community policing thus:
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"Community policing is an organization[ ] wide philosophy and management approach that promotes community, government and police partnerships; proactive problem-solving; and community engagement to address the causes of crime, fear of crime and other community issues. [It embraces] proactive, rather than reactive styles of policing. In a reactive police department, the officers respond almost exclusively to incidents of crime and calls for service as the need arises. Usually, these incidents are of an emergency nature and action must be swift and not well planned in advance. [Sound familiar?] On the other hand, a proactive police department will recognize the areas of greatest concern and take steps that will lead to a reduction in the frequency, and seriousness, of incidents in those areas of concern."

Most police departments are primarily reactive, exactly as are fire departments. And they fail to do more than dampen crime. The causes remain, and bad neighborhoods are dangerous places to live. Good neighorhoods are (relatively) safe places not just because they get better police protection but also because the causes of crime are largely absent. In world terms, the U.S. is a very good neighborhood; Iraq, Israel, and much of Africa are very bad neighborhoods.
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However, just as most police departments are reactive, exactly like most fire-department work, fire departments at their best are also proactive. They promote fire codes that are up-to-date and reasonable, and perform inspections to eliminate needlessly dangerous conditions. They work with builders and government to see that building codes are fire-savvy and new buildings have exits that are both easily accessible and fireproof, and that building materials and methods do not incorporate fire hazards. They don't content themselves to see ramshackle slums arise as tinderboxes ready to charbroil children.
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So there's not as much difference between policemen and firemen as Morris suggests. Effective departments, long-term, must address the causes: police of crime, fire departments of fire.
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The defense and state departments must likewise address the causes of war, civil disorder, political extremism, and social intolerance. To leave that work to others would be folly.
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We are the most successful major country in history. We are the most diverse country in the history of the world, racially, ethnically, sexually, religiously, and just about any other way you want to measure. We know about defusing hatreds; we know about creating wealth; we know about substituting political struggle for military warfare. Nobody else can do that work even nearly as well as we can - but only if we are true to our Revolutionary principles and don't become a travesty of those principles in imperial war for the advancement of inequality.
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If we were really to use our occupation to democratize Iraq, we could do so. But we're not doing what we need to do, because that is not the reason for our going there. We went there to defend Israel, and as long as Radical Zionists control the foreign policy of the United States, we will never do anything that endangers the inequality that Israel has inflicted upon Arabs.
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The U.S. election this November should focus on our national purposes. Is the prime value of our civilization Zionism, to inflict violent colonialism on Arabs by Jews? If not, then why is our foreign policy dominated by Radical Zionists?
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The Bush Administration is, beyond question, completely and absolutely Radical Zionist. If Kerry is elected, Wolfowitz and his ilk will, presumably, lose all influence. But if Kerry does not forthrightly admit that the reason we are hated in so much of the world is that we impose violent inequality upon Palestine, then we will have no progress but will have to be policeman and fireman not for the world but simply to protect ourselves from the violence that decent people see as our proper punishment. Forget about world justice. Forget about world peace. As long as we are the only reason Israel continues to exist, we will be hated - properly. (Responsive to "The World's Firefighter", New York Post, May 26, 2004)

- posted by L. Craig Schoonmaker @ 1:09 PM