Posted on Saturday, September 05, 2009 11:14 AM
The more time passes since I’ve read Paul McAuley’s The Quiet War (2008), the more I realize how astoundingly subtle and well-written it is. McAuley demonstrates that war has become a cynical game for the powerful, that resistance to war is futile, and that the casualties of war will remain faceless while the instigators go scot-free.
The Quiet War left me reconsidering the moral atrocity that was the Iraq-war, much as I want to forget those depressing years. I advise those that think that we should not hold Bush and Blair (and Balkenende here in the Netherlands) accountable but should look forward to the future to read this novel. McAuley looks forward to find a future where we have accepted new standards for what constitutes legitimate war. And don’t be surprised that it mirrors the past 8 years considerably.
By not holding the perpetrators of the Iraq-war crime accountable we are setting the mold for all the ‘quiet’ wars to come.