From Thomas Friedman, the NYTimes columnist who had the chutzpah to tell the world that we went to war because we wanted to say "Suck on This" to someone (anyone really--even if they were just an Arab), comes a new genocidal meme for the next decade of war: "I.S.=Invasive Species." (This is the title of his weekly column--why burry it in a Charlie Rose interview?) And as genocidal metaphors go, he merely proposes the metaphor rather than taking it to its logical end as Marlon Brando's character in Apocalypse Now did by whispering, "Kill them all." But Friedman doesn't need to say that: you all know what we do with invasive species. So, Friedman ends the op-ed, with the words, "Ask any general — or gardener."
From the title, Friedman announces his clarion call, or genocidal metaphor, if you prefer, with the equation, "I.S.=Invasive Species." In the piece, he expands on this metaphor in milder terms than the logic of the metaphor. Right now, he prescribes "better governance." But he reinforces this logic by ending his article with the words, "Ask any general -- or gardner." And the answer to that question is that if "governance methods" don't work, you have to kill them all.
One might argue, that Friedman does not advocate a "kill them all" solution to this pesky problem of the invasive species. His metaphor is about "good solutions." He states,
How do you deal with an invasive species? The National Arboretum says you should “use systemic herbicides carefully” (President Obama’s air war), while also constantly working to strengthen and “preserve healthy native plant habitats” (Obama’s effort to forge a national unity government in Baghdad with Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds together).
However, the problem is the metaphor itself. An air war, which creates civilian casualties and untold enemies, is not analogous to spraying a plant. Political and military problems should not be guided by bromides as inaccurate as air warfare.
As for the direction of the metaphor, in the past, Jews, Rwandans, and other victims of genocide, or other victims of mass war, did not begin as people who had to be eliminated. They were inferior, like the mentally disabled, rats, or cockroaches, but they could be controlled. They were a solvable problem. And then, the methods of control didn't work, the logic of the metaphor sought it's conclusion--
What do you do with an inferior race?
What do you do with rats?
What do you do with cockroaches?
Congratulations to Thomas Friedman to taking the genocidal metaphor to the next level. Past genocidal metaphors compared "the problem" to insects or vermin, but Friedman one-ups those metaphors by comparing the situation to dealing to life lower than insects, specifically plants. Do not be surprised if our national dialogue asks in the near future:
"What do you do with an invasive species?"
I am not saying that the nation will commit genocide in Iraq, but rather Friedman is setting the metaphor for the terms of the debate.