Six options beyond war and peace

Quotes from What Happens Next? by Jesse Walker

“1. The Gandhi Option: Wouldn’t it make more sense just to stop these clumsy interventions into other people’s battles? Why make ourselves a target for every tin-pot maniac in the Third World?"

“2. The Kojak Option: A terrible crime has been committed. … So it’s time for some expert policework, to track down and capture the people who did this."

“4. The Bugs Bunny Option: This one’s named for the great American who, when attacked, routinely remarks, “Of course you realize this means war."

“3. The Bronson Option: If we cannot be policemen, let us be vigilantes."

5. The Caesar Option: The war will not merely be long. It will be perpetual. We will not be fighting an army, after all, but a tactic–terrorism–that can be adopted by small cells anywhere in the world. More: We will be fighting a mindset, one which will probably be inflamed still further by the battle against it. We will never know when the war is over, or when we’re finally safe. Innocent civilians will die–not just abroad, but here …

“6. The Strangelove Option: Sam Donaldson asked the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, whether we can “rule out” the use of nuclear weapons. “I’ll have to think about your answer,” said Donaldson. “I don’t think the answer was no.”