
The news today is that the American war in Iraq is officially over only about nine years after George Bush's infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech in May 2003. Just as Glass' opera Satyagraha will be relevant forever because there will always be injustice against which protest and civil disobedience is required, unfortunately there will also be relevance to J.M. Coetzee's 1980 novel "Waiting for the Barbarians" on which Glass wrote an opera at the height of the Iraq conflict in 2005 after having gotten the rights to the story in 1990.
In Coetzee's tale, Empire comes to a small town on the fringe, takes over in an effort to launch a preemptive "short sharp war to safeguard the peace." Torturing and beatings ensue in an effort to get information about the "enemy" Barbarians whom we never see and don't really know anything about. At one point in Act I, the opera's villain Colonel Joll, as Empire is taking over, says "Normally speaking, we would never approve of torture, but I think it's widely understood that this is an emergency."
At the end of the opera, ultimately beaten and frustrated, Empire withdraws its forces after accomplishing absolutely nothing. It leaves the residents of the town ruined and unprotected. The opera's main character, the town Magistrate confronts the Empire's top military commander:
WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS, ACT II, Scene 8
(Christopher Hampton, librettist)
Play: Waiting for the Barbarians Act II Scene 8
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(The town is deserted.)
MAGISTRATE
Tell me...What has happened?
(The Soldier, reluctant, tries to wriggle free; but the Magistrate, whose arms have clearly healed in the time that has elapsed, holds him in an iron grip. Two other Soldiers come to the aid of their colleague, grappling with the Magistrate in order to free him.)
You must tell me!
SOLDIERS
What? What do you want to know?
MAGISTRATE
Where is everyone?
SOLDIERS
Lost; deserted; gone we don’t know where.
MAGISTRATE
Do you mean….the barbarians have conquered?
SOLDIERS
How do we know? We hardly ever saw them
They wouldn’t stand and fight
They lured us on across an empty desert
They cut our horses loose at night
They picked us off one by one
And then they vanished up into the mountains
Where our men froze or lost their footing
Why were we not told it would be like that?
(The Magistrate sees Joll, as he strides back into the square, followed by Mandel and a number of Soldiers, a couple of whom carry armfuls of loaves which they load into the palanquin. The Magistrate steps forward to intercept Joll; as they talk, the square gradually fills with Townspeople, drawn by the unusual level of activity. Joll fixes the Magistrate with a steely gaze.)
JOLL
So you’re still stinking up the place?
MAGISTRATE
Have you come back to spill more innocent blood?
JOLL
You like to think you’re my opposite
But let me just assure you: you are not
You are the lazy lie we tell ourselves
When times are easy prosperous and fat
But I, I am the truth the Empire speaks
When harsh winds blow.
Now step aside.
(There’s a patch of raised ground on one side of the square: Joll moves over to it and turns to address the group of Townspeople who have now assembled.)
I have an announcement to make
In the name of the Imperial command
As a purely temporary measure
Our Army is withdrawing to the capital
For reasons I am sure you understand
Military operations at the front
Will cease for the winter
I expect to be back here in the spring
When we will begin a new offensive
To crush the enemy once and for all.
(A hostile murmur has arisen among the Townspeople, growing in anger and intensity as Joll’s address continues: now the crowd takes up the word “Enemy!” and begins to repeat it insistently. Joll hurries to bring his remarks to a conclusion, aware of the ugly atmosphere.)
In the meantime, my men and I must thank you
For you unforgettable hospitality….
(He’s interrupted by the Townspeople who begins to surge forward, shouting “Enemy! Traitor! Murderer!” A stone thrown from the Crowd crashes against the wall behind Joll. He breaks off and hurries down towards his palanquin, the Soldiers automatically forming a protective phlanx around him. But he’s unable to avoid the Magistrate, who confronts him, as he approaches the palanquin.)
MAGISTRATE
The crime that is latent in us
It is our duty to inflict
On ourselves not on others
(Joll looks at him, his unprotected eyes widening.)
Do you hear me?
The crime that is latent in us
It is our duty to inflict
On ourselves not on others
JOLL
(to the driver)
Go! Hurry!
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Of Course the point of this whole work is that it's not about America in Iraq, or the Soviets in Afganistan, or the Germans in France, or the Japanese in China.
The point is that this will happen again; Great art makes points and poses questions that we can have the courage to answer. Will we ever have the wisdom to prevent it in the future? The truth is that "We've heard this story before and we know how it ends."
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