Essay 3 Draft

[DanielaD]

Daniela Debergue
November 21, 2009
Essay 3, Rough Draft
O'Connell, English 101

Alcibiades, Apemantus and Timon of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens
provide three critical examples of how "war" can be waged, which
coincide directly with Andrew J. Bacevich's "second illusion" of U.S.
military culture and proposed solution to America's "military crisis"
in his 2009 Limits of Power, and also with the manner in which the
U.S. wages war at present. In the story, the three men wage personal
"wars" on humankind after the realization that all people are innately
dishonest and evil. The "strategies" of Timon, Alcibiades, and
Apemantus are, in essence and respectively, war by: total force at
expense to oneself, "necessary" destruction with extra baggage, and
effective negotiation. The strategy that is at the expense of the
least amount of human lives is effective negotiation, which is,
therefore, the one that will be pleasing to all parties involved, thus
ending the dispute on the best terms possible.
After Timon realizes that he is completely broke and believes he was
betrayed by every man he knew to be his friend, he curses all of
mankind and runs off to a cave in the woods outside of Athens to be a
hermit. There he finds gold, which would make him the richest man in
Athens were he to return, but instead Timon uses this gold to pay all
of his visitors from Athens, asking them to wreak havoc on the city by
all means possible in exchange. Timon's ultimate goal is to bring down
the entire city of Athens with an army of his own. This strategy can
be directly paralleled to how America wages war today: by total force
at its own expense. It is not uncommon since America waged its "war on
terror" in 2001 to hear news reports of Iraqi and Afghani citizens
being blown apart by the U.S. army's guns and bombs that accompany
their occupation in the two countries. [Find source(s) for number of
Iraqi and Afghani civilian deaths so far from war]. With an ever-
increasing national debt to foreign countries, the U.S. feels it is
necessary to apply military force upon foreign nations in order to
continue the flow of oil and cheap consumer goods into American
borders....
When Alcibiades is banished from Athens for pleading the senators to
beg the pardon of a good friend of his, he is filled with hatred for
the lack of appreciation on the part of the senators for the well-
being of himself and his friend, who had both fought as soldiers to
protect the wealthy senators' lives and the city of Athens. Upon
meeting Timon in the woods outside of Athens and hearing of his
plight, Alcibiades is further enraged at the ungratefulness of the
people of Athens and, with the gold that Timon gives him, agrees to
Timon's requests of destruction [insert quote]. Some time later, after
gathering an army large enough to plunder Athens, Alcibiades and his
troops arrive at the entrance to the city. However, by that time there
are completely different senators in charge, and they plead with
Alcibiades to only kill those who have directly wronged he and Timon,
and Alcibiades agrees. Alcibiades' decision can be seen as "necessary"
destruction with extra baggage. It is often taken for common sense in
America that by killing an enemy, the bad blood that fueled the death
is exterminated. In reality, that bad blood is only spread to everyone
affiliated with the enemy, thereby creating even more enemies than
there were in the first place - the "extra baggage." His decision can
also be compared to the Weinberger-Powell doctrine, referred to in
Bacevich's second illusion of U.S. military culture. The doctrine
states that the U.S. will only engage in war with clear, obtainable
goals in mind, and end occupation as quickly as possible with no loose
ends [find quote]. Although this is how every idealistic war would be
fought, it is completely unrealistic. When it comes to war, there will
always be death and there will always be loose ends. War is
uncontrollable, messy, and someone always gets hurt. [insert quote
from page 160 Bacevich]. Unfortunately, the U.S. government wrongly
maintains that its reasons for engaging in war with Iraq and
Afghanistan are obvious, that the necessary actions to resolve these
wars can be clearly defined, and that a quick exit is obtainable.
According to the United States Policy in Iraq Resolution of 2007,
proposed by Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. on May 25, 2007...[discuss how
this congressional bill gives a solution that is not easily
attainable].
Throughout the story of Timon of Athens, Apemantus remains the sour,
negative nay-sayer of Timon and all of the wealthy senators and lords
who attend his feasts and parties. He is forever warning Timon that
these men who eat his food and accept his gifts are not real friends,
and that if put to the test, they would not come to his aid in a time
of need. Apemantus hates these rich "liars" and never hesitates to
openly display his distaste for the dishonest: [quote from Apemantus'
toast at Timon's feast]. Even after Timon has abandoned Athens, broke
and tormented by the betrayal of his so-called friends, Apemantus
finds him and teases Timon for disregarding his constant warnings and
ending up homeless in the woods. Apementus' strategy of "war" against
the dishonesty of humankind can be seen as effective negotiation
because he uses words instead of actions to express his hate for
dishonest people and this allows for him to sufficiently display his
feelings while simultaneously proving his point without death or
destruction. It satisfies Apemantus' hate to make fun of corrupt rich
people and make them look foolish, and although his warnings to Timon
were ignored at first, the outcome of the situation proves his
original point and will give his argument more merit in case of
similar scenarios in the future.