Yesterday, George Bush invoked Graham Greene’s "The Quiet American" in an effort to explain why we should remain in Iraq:
In 1955, long before the United States had entered the war, Graham Greene wrote a novel called "The Quiet American." It was set in Saigon and the main character was a young government agent named Alden Pyle. He was a symbol of American purpose and patriotism and dangerous naivete. Another character describes Alden this way: "I never knew a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused."
After America entered the Vietnam War, Graham Greene -- the Graham Greene argument gathered some steam. Matter of fact, many argued that if we pulled out, there would be no consequences for the Vietnamese people. In 1972, one anti-war senator put it this way: "What earthly difference does it make to nomadic tribes or uneducated subsistence farmers in Vietnam or Cambodia or Laos whether they have a military dictator, a royal prince or a socialist commissar in some distant capital that they've never seen and may never heard of?"
What other literary masterpieces will he invoke and totally misunderestistand?
How about Joseph Heller’s "Catch-22?"
In 1961, long before the United States had entered the war, Joseph Heller wrote a novel called "Catch-22." It was set on a tiny island off the Italian coast and the main character was a patriotic young bombardier named Yossarian. He was a symbol of American purpose and patriotism who continued to fly dangerous missions over enemy territory despite his own misgivings. Another character described Yossarian this way: "Crazy for flying, not crazy enough to stop flying."
After America entered Iraq, the Joseph Heller argument gathered some steam. Matter of fact, many argued that we were crazy to go into Iraq, but we would be even crazier if we pulled out. That’s what you call a Catch-22.
Maybe he can cite "Slaughterhouse Five" as a source of encouragement:
Kurt Vonnegut wrote a novel about war a long time ago called "Slaughterhouse Five". It’s the story of people trapped in a basement during a terrible bombing. In fact, those people are the only ones to survive the bombing because of their indomitable will to live. You see, the Iraqi people are those people trapped in the basement. And Saddam Hussein was the bombing. And, through their indomitable will to survive, we will come to dig them out of that ruined basement so they survive.
Perhaps he could mangle "Gravity’s Rainbow":
Iraq would be in much better shape today if we had a guy like Tyrone Slothrop. You see, everywhere he banged a chick, a V-2 would fall on that spot soon after. Imagine if we had had a Tyrone Slothrop who could detect mustard gas – then we’d have found those WMDs! Heh, heh, heh.
"Bridge over the River Kwai?"
You see, those prisoners, they are like the Iraqi people. They are just trying to get along with their lives, living under the terrible yoke of brutal overseers, who are like their Japanese guards. And every once in a while, terrorists come along to blow up everything they have worked for. We are there to help stop that.