LOST and Foundering

I'm not the 1st nor will I be the last to see the plot of ABC's LOST as a thinly veiled metaphor for the Bush administration's misguided adventure in Iraq. The popular TV show ended its 3rd season this past wednesday only one day after President Bush gave the commencement address at the Coast Guard Academy. This speech was of particular interest because Bush divulged some previously classified info regarding Al Qaeda's intentions in Iraq and especially as they pertained to their no. 1 franchise holder Al Zarqawi, the now dead leader of "Al Qaeda in Iraq" ("we put the urgency in insurgency!"). Evidence seems to indicate that Bin Laden wanted Al Zarqawi to turn Iraq into a launch pad for terrorism against the US. Bush argues that a victory by the insurgency would be dangerous for the free world. The only option....stay the course!

So BUSH reveals some answers and a day later so does LOST but let's compare the 2 more closely and look at a couple of striking parallels:

1. The island is inhabited by a group of people led by the creepy Ben who had serious father issues and consolidated power in a bloody massacre using poison gas among other weapons...Iraq was led by the creepy Saddam Hussein who also had father issues, rose to power after a bloody coup and used poison gas and other weapons against his own people.



2. George Bush (president of the USA as was his father) invades Iraq and engages in a war where each side views the other as evil and leads his nation and the world into potentially greater peril.....Jack Shepard (esteemed spine surgeon as was his father) leads his flock on LOST, outsiders all, to do battle against the "others" with what could be disastrous consequences for all those on and even off the island.



3. The catalysts for both the show and the war were plane crashes.

We could continue in this vein but you get the idea. I can hear the doubters arguing that if one were to look hard enough, similarities could be found between Iraq and any TV show. I don't believe this to be the case so I randomly selected a program from TV Guide using the time honoured "flip through pages and point" method. Try as I might I found nothing to metaphorically tie Everybody Loves Raymond to the war in Iraq (with the possible exception of the Abu Ghraib situation and famous "Debra's Sick" episode of 1/3/1997 where as the blurb states: "Debra comes down with the flu and is bedridden. Inexperienced Raymond must take care of the three kids and resorts to questionable parenting techniques with hilarious consequences. Ouch!!")

So Bush invades Iraq under false pretenses and says we must defeat Al Qaeda there lest it become a base of operations and breeding ground for terrorist plots against the US. He conveniently overlooks the obvious fact that it was his very policies in that country that opened the floodgates for foreign terrorists such as Al Qaeda and Al Zarqawi while other more established areas such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia go relatively unpunished. The ill conceived war has also radicalized Muslim youth in the West and created a "homegrown terrorist" mentality where almost none existed before. The circular logic implies that the war must continue in order to stop a problem that was created by the war itself! I believe his best argument would be to simply state "We created this mess now let's stay here until it's cleaned up". If there can even be such thing as a so-called war on terror surely this is far from the best way to fight it. President Bush stubbornly (a la Jack Shepard) continues his military crusade while policies based on diplomacy and consensus building, both domestic and international, are given short shrift. On the home front even Republican support is quickly dwindling....perhaps the commander in chief would do well to remember the old adage: No man is an island.