We are all one world family, Yet the Bush administration, in its quest for controlling the world's oil supply and engaging in limited perpetual warfare in order to keep the American people in line, has wound up turning itself into a lone wolf government. And in wildlife, the lone wolf is the one who is most likely to be killed.
In Julie of the Wolves, about Miyax, a young Eskimo girl who is lost in the wilderness and dependent on a wolf-pack for survival, we come upon a wolf named Jello. Jello is always relegated to the most menial tasks, including babysitting the pups. Yet he is tolerated until he tries to take food away from Miyax. Then, the rest of the pack sets on him and kills him. As Miyax said on discovering Jello's remains, "There is no room in the Wolf society for a wolf who cannot contribute."
In the same way, there is no room in the world society for a country which cannot contribute.
Wolves and dominance:
The Bush administration may bluster all it wants to about staying the course. But beneath the surface, they are already planning how best to retreat with their tails between their legs. The Pentagon has already drawn up plans for the drawing down of troops after the Iraqi elections next week. So, they have pronounced judgement on themselves with their ad accusing the Democrats of surrender. So, by the same token, the Bush administration
is surrendering because they have already drawn up their own withdrawal plans for Iraq.
Or, maybe there is a rift between the RNC and the Bush administration. Maybe the RNC advocates staying the course, while Bush has been forced to acknowledge the painful realities on the ground while covering up that acknowledgement through his bluster. Either way, it does not look good for the GOP, with pundits like the Post's Chris Callizza predicting that the Democrats will cut into the GOP's Senate majority.
At any rate, the Bush administration is showing the classic signs of lone wolf behavior as opposed to Alpha or even Beta behavior:
Wolf social organization, like most animal societies. is based on dominance hierarchies. The concept of dominance hierarchies was first formulated by a Danish scientist, Thorlief Schelderup-Eppe, in the 1920's. He observed barnyard hens and noticed that they had hierarchies of who could peck whom, or "pecking orders". These hierarchies are not necessarily linear but all have a single dominant hen. We recognize wolf hierarchies, or rank orders, by the postures individual wolves display to each other in some social interactions. A dominant wolf has an erect posture, with ears and tail up. A subdominant wolf lowers its body, tucks its tail and puts its ears back. Wolf packs have two separate hierarchies--male and female. Aggression is generally directed toward same sex wolves.
And the Bush administration is displaying all the signs of classic lone wolf behavior - going it alone, not consulting allies on key issues, and bullying people. Bullying is a classic sign of insecurity, where the bully feels inferior to most other people, does not fit in, and thus feels a complusive need to assert superiority over someone else. People can be fooled by such behavior for a long time, but the mask cannot last forever. Jello repeatedly bullied Miyax in the book and was killed for his pains.
And if you wonder why Joe Lieberman is suddenly sucking up to George Bush, it is another classic sign of lone wolf behavior - All the other Democratic Party leaders have repeatedly said that Lieberman is entitled to his own opinion, but that he does not speak for them. He has been cast aside by his own party as irrelevant and as a non-contributor.
Lone wolves are known for their blood-curdling howls in an effort to attract other lone wolves. And so it is with Joe Lieberman. His Wall Street Journal article, debunked in the link, was a blood-curdling howl for attention. For Lieberman, it was easier to engage in lone wolf behavior rather than clean up his act and contribute to a team effort to hold Bush accountable on Iraq. So, birds of a feather flock together.
This picture, incidentally, is from one of the most hilarious blog sites I have ever seen; President's Intern and her companion site Ask George Bush. So, please give these sites a visit after you are done here and leave some comments.
And there are several stories in today's and yesterday's news about how Bush is exhibiting classic signs of lone wolf behavior.
All Iraqi factions meet together to make peace deal; Bush not invited:
If you are wondering why there are fewer attacks in Iraq these days, it is not because of anything that Bush has done. It is because the Iraqis themselves are sick and tired of fighting among each other and are sick and tired of being occupied. So, they got together at a conference at which the US was not invited and cut their own deals. Gilber Archar, guest-writing for Juan Cole, explains:
In the case of the recent conference, the vast array of forces that were represented and that signed the "Pact of Honor" is in itself already worthy of attention. Aside from the Sadrists, chiefly represented by their MPs, those represented and who signed the document included: SCIRI, al-Daawa (al-Jaafari's personal representative even apologized in his name for his absence due to his traveling outside of Iraq), and the Iraqi Concord Front (the major Sunni electoral alliance in the forthcoming election), to name but the most prominent of a long list of organizations, along with several tribal chiefs, unions and other social associations, members of the De-Ba'athification Committee and a few government officials. Ahmad Chalabi -- who definitely deserves to be called "The Transformer" -- attended in person and signed the document in the name of his group. It seems that the Association of Muslim Scholars did not attend, as its name is not mentioned in any of the two sources.
The pact, covered in more detail here, shows that a broad coalition of Iraqi groups - many of whom were at each other's throats for the last two years - got together and cut a peace deal on their own:
The demands subscribed by the signing political representatives include:
* a timetable for rapid withdrawal of occupation forces;
* elimination of occupation military bases while rebuilding Iraqi military institutions and forces;
* removal of legal immunity for occupation troops for acts against civilians and breaches of human rights;
* categorical rejection of normalised relations with Israel;
* recognition of the legitimacy of resistance to occupation while deploring terrorism against civilians.
So, not only is the Bush administration being shut out of the process, one-time allies like Ahmed Chalabi have turned on Bush and signed on to the Iraqi Declaration of Independence. In the wolf pack, lone wolves get shut out of the decision-making process. In Iraqi, the US is now being shut out of the major decisions involving Iraqi's future.
The US as a Rogue Nation:
The US has constantly embarked on a self-righteous crusade against so-called rogue states. But this ignores the fact that the US is acting more and more like a rogue state. They refuse to sign on to treaties and conventions that all the rest of the world has signed on to. For example, The US is the only country in the world that has not signed either the International Criminal Court treaty, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, or the UNESCO Diversity treaty. Another piece of evidence that the US is acting like a lone wolf and not like a contributing member of the pack.
While the vast majority of the world's governments support these treaties, as well as other U.N. diplomatic efforts and conventions, the U.S. government can almost be expected to stand in opposition each time such treaty proceedings arise.
Indeed, the United States, especially in recent years, is increasingly being seen in the world as a lone state, thumbing its diplomatic nose at international pacts on everything from banning the use and production of landmines to curbing global warming.
This staunch refusal to join with other nations on such a wide range of treaties, experts say, is hurting the already tarnished image of the world's sole superpower in the eyes of the international community.
"It sends the message that the United States has been the biggest violator and thrasher of international law in the post-war period," Richard Du Boff, a professor emeritus of economic history at Bryn Mawr College in the state of Pennsylvania, told IPS.
And here are some other treaties the US refuses to sign on to:
Others that Washington has rejected include the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Treaty Banning Antipersonnel Mines, a protocol to create a compliance regime for the Biological Weapons Convention, the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
The U.S. is also not complying with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Commission, and the U.N. framework Convention on Climate Change.
One of the touchiest areas in the rocky relationship between the U.S. and the international community is Washington's overt hostility toward the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.
The U.S. was one of seven states to vote against the formation of the ICC in 1998. In taking this stance, the U.S. defied the rest of the democratic world's support for the court and aligned itself with notorious human rights abusers like China, Iraq, Libya and Yemen.
The U.S. continues to stand alone among even its closest allies in its refusal to recognise the authority of the ICC.
It doesn't matter how good you are; if you act like a lone wolf, you will be killed or shut out of the decision-making process. As an example, Terrell Owens, one of the most talented recievers in the game, was kicked off of the Philadelphia Eagles for repeatedly thumbing his nose up at the rest of the team. He also lost millions of dollars in pay. The Bush administration's lack of respect for law and order has not escaped notice; it has strained relations with Canada. For instance,
here are PM Paul Martin's blunt words for the US:
"Climate change is a global challenge that demands a global response.
Yet there are nations that resist, voices that attempt to diminish the
urgency or dismiss the science, or declare, either in word or
indifference, that this is not our problem to solve. Well, let me tell
you, it is our problem to solve... To the reticent nations, including the United States, I say this: There is such a thing as a global conscience."
John Bolton:
John Bolton is the man who is so brazen, so unprofessional, and so prone to bouts of tyrannical rage that even Joe Lieberman would not vote for him during his conformation battle last summer. Kofi Annan has taken the unusual public step of setting up a meeting with Bolton to tell him his recent comments on Louise Arbour were uncalled for.
Secretary General Kofi Annan on Thursday vigorously defended Louise Arbour, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, after comments she made about detention and torture came under criticism from John R. Bolton, the United States ambassador.
"The secretary general has absolutely no disagreement with the statement she made yesterday, and he sees no reason to object to any of it," said Mr. Annan's spokesman, Stepháne Dujarric. In an unusual instance of a secretary general's singling out an individual envoy for critical comment, Mr. Annan said he was seeking a meeting with Mr. Bolton to make his point in person.
The dispute arose Wednesday when Ms. Arbour made a statement and gave a briefing in which she said that secret detention of terror suspects and sending suspects to foreign countries without guaranteed safeguards meant that the international ban on torture "is becoming a casualty of the so-called war on terror." She said it was "particularly insidious" that "governments are watering down the definition of torture, claiming that terrorism means established rules do not apply anymore." In comments that appeared directed at the current American effort led by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to justify American treatment of prisoners, Ms. Arbour said, "An illegal interrogation technique remains illegal whatever new description a government might wish to give it."
Annan went on to say that Arbour was authorized by the UN to speak out on human rights issues and that she could say whatever she wanted. Translation: "You don't tell me what to do!"
And a group of 20 NGO's signed a letter, which many other nations agreed with, demanding that Rice reign in John Bolton and put an end to his tyrannical rages:
Concerned about an impending confrontation between the United States and other member states over the U.N.'s budget, a group of 20 non-governmental organisations (NGOS) has appealed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to rein in her ambassador, John Bolton, and take a more conciliatory approach.
The groups, which include the U.S. section of Amnesty International, Oxfam America and Citizens for Global Solutions, say Bolton's threats to prevent the world body from adopting the proposed 2006-7 budget by consensus unless it first enacts Washington's reform proposals are counter-productive.
"U.S. negotiating tactics appear to be undermining the opportunity to complete negotiations on and implement more attainable, but equally important, reforms, such as replacing the Human Rights Commission with a Human Rights Council and creating a Peacebuilding Commission," the groups wrote in a letter sent to Rice Thursday.
"Similarly, strategies that threaten to disrupt or delay the biennial budget process, such as Ambassador Bolton's suggestion to adopt a three-month provisional budget, could seriously undercut reform efforts and the United Nations' ability to carry out ongoing, critical activities, like peacekeeping, election facilitation in the Middle East, or earthquake relief missions," the letter stated.
In other words, Bolton is doing exactly what we feared he would - do whatever he could to sabotage the UN unless they did whatever he wanted them to. In so doing, he has isolated himself and made himself hollow and irrelevant. This is a classic sign of lone wolf behavior.
Conclusion:
Lone wolves gain their power through fear and manipulation. They seek to create conflict through manipulation and playing off people against one another. That is how Bush has operated through his five years in office. But if a lone wolf gets exposed for what he is, then they will seep down the drain of irrelevance. The challenge is to expose him for what he is - not a leader, but an omega wolf who only gets the meat long after the rest of the pack has their fill. Miyax was afraid of Jello and his perceived power to take away her ability to survive in the wild. But when she recognized that she had the rest of the wolf pack behind her, she realized everything would be OK even before she found Jello's remains.