HERE'S A PARADIGM< CALL SOMEONE WHO CARES:

Americans are latest crusaders (James P. Pinkerton, December 12, 2003, Newsday)

The West is no longer "Christendom," but we, as first cousins to the Europeans, retain the old faith and bring new kinds of idealism, such as democracy and human rights. But the Crusader spirit is still there; it's still about bringing civilization and salvation of a backward people. As the born-again George W. Bush says, "This is about good vs. evil."

Of course, the Bush administration has made other arguments, too: that the war against Iraq was, in fact, defensive. And that's the way many regarded the earlier Crusades: as a pre-emptive war against evil. Here's the same Catholic Encyclopedia: "From the outset the Crusades were defensive wars and checked the advance of the Mohammedans who, for two centuries, concentrated their forces in a struggle against the Christian settlements in Syria."

Syria. That country was ancient when the upstart Muslims conquered Damascus in 636. It's seen more wars than almost any other place, and yet many believe that peace in the Middle East depends on political decisions made by the Syrians - or imposed on the Syrians. So I need to make my own trek to Damascus, armed with nothing more than a little knowledge about its history and a lot of curiosity about its future. Because I have the feeling that, back in America, the 13th Crusade is being planned.

Mr. Pinkerton has never quite gotten over the fact that the paradigm shift he predicted never materialized and the country's shifting back towards Christendom instead, so you can see why the war upsets him so.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 14, 2003 7:23 AM