I've been reading that the White House is swearing that they'll find a way of "punishing" those responsible for the horrific mob attack in Fallaju the other day. I'm actually kind of curious as to what they plan to do as the whole thing brings up one of the problems we are facing in our Brave New World. The problem is basically this- it's really hard to be an Empire these days. After all, you can't really do what Empires used to be able to do.

In the good old days, if an Empire ran into something like what happened in Falluja, they'd know what to do. They'd just lay siege to the city, smash it into bits, and then do something horrible to all of the citizens of the city. Not the perpetrators, not the leaders, everyone. They'd do something really ingenious, like killing all the males, or chopping off everyone's hands, or just burning everything down, selling the townsfolk's into slavery and then planting salt into the ground to make sure nobody could live there for years and years and years. The idea was to set an example to everyone so that they'd no not to mess with the Empire.

This was your basic standard operating procedure for most of your major Empires- your Huns and your Mayans and your Spaniards. And most importantly, it was what the Romans did, and if you're going to be an Empire, you might as well learn from the best when it comes to being an Empire. The Romans basically wrote the book on it. They were ripe miserable bastards when they had to be (crucifixion, anyone?) but they were one hell of an Empire. They know how to take care of business.

But you can't do that today. No sirree Bob. We got morals these days, and scruples. Not to mention 24 hour news channels that would broadcast it to the entire world. Now, I'm sure that somewhere in the bowels of the White House some Neo-Cons are arguing to screw it with that whole morality thing, with Dick Cheney leading the way. And I'm sure that if they did it, all the blabbering idiots on FOX and on the radio would then go into apoplectic fury defending the White House, accusing those people who point out that cutting the ears of all the townsfolks as immoral as terrorist appeasars or, even worse, French sympathizers. But that kind of thing just can't happen today. And while we are much better off for it, it does make being an Empire a tad more difficult than it was in the Good Ole Days.