This year, 'March Madness' is given new meaning

Two thousand years ago, a group of driven, self-absorbed men conspired to rid the world of one of the most megalomaniacal figures in history. They did it for themselves; they did it for their people; and, there can be no question that the decisions made in that March of long ago affected the world as few events have.

Now, in another time and another empire, a group of similarly driven, self-absorbed men and women have set into motion a scheme to rid the world not of their own leader, but the leader of a regime in a land older than the histories of Rome, Britain and the United States combined. More of a megalomaniac than many of those whose legends he is desperate to equal, this man has been a sore on the flesh of humanity for decades, one made blistering and vile with anthrax, mustard gas and twisted passion for the power of the atom. He has recorded page after self-glorifying page in his own blood, even as he has written epitaphs of the innocent in theirs. He has not always been seen as such by leaders of this country, but the present has finally provided an opportunity to correct this wrong of another era, when the status quo was the only thing between mankind and nuclear annihilation. Hopefully, this most formidable military offensive will be truly a blitzkrieg of liberation, not conquest, and the munitions hurtling into Baghdad like bolts from Jove will, in some painfully poetic way, come to represent a new age of freedom, not fear, for the people of Iraq.

One prays that this conflict will not last long. As stated by the leader of the empire opposing this man of death, the sooner a group of high officials revolt against the policy of suicide foisted upon them by a doomed dictator, the fewer people will die needlessly. Their nation would have been spared much suffering at the hands of both their own leader and his enemies if years ago they had recognized a serpent's egg when they had seen it and killed him in the shell. That said, the final pages in the plans of the present imperial cabinet do not likely detail the disarmament of Iraq; on the contrary, Iraq represents to them only the first in a series of battles for the nothing less than the fate of the world.

Within this great empire, however, all is not well. Most citizens have realized that many others resent their greatness, often rightfully. It is a chronic malady of great people to become arrogant, aristocratic and childish, but while it is one thing to be accused of playing the part, it is a much more serious offense to actually do so. What kind of lunacy leads members of an imperial legislature to haggle over the nomenclature of fried foods? Or, worse, to discuss the "repatriation" of soldiers who fell on foreign land half a century ago because the present government of that land now exercises its right to disagree? Citizens and leaders alike mutter how ungrateful are the French, supremely selective in their recollections of the country that rushed to the aid of a certain rebellious colony years ago. One official in particular stands out with haughty dismissals of "old Europe" and similarly offensive remarks. Those in a land of the free should have a better memory for history.

These faux pas may seem trivial, but this brand of ignorance and arrogance on the part of the citizens and leaders of this country does not bode well for the grand vision of an empire. This vision sees a world of stability where poverty, hunger and sustainability take center stage, and a world of order where the chaos and oppression of terror no longer threaten freedom. A grand vision in the mind, it may only see darkness in practice. As people worldwide protest war as proof of evil imperialism, they must understand that the dictator they protect should and must be removed, and that the status quo today is failing humanity. Those who support this war must realize that no matter how quickly the forces of empire streak across the sands, a great deal more political and social damage has already been done than was inevitable. For the Roman people, the assassination of Julius Caesar portended decades of civil war. Now, the same ruthless anarchy will surely come, and on a global scale, unless an empire learns to carry itself with the elegance, dignity, and respect becoming of a great power and necessary to change the current state of human affairs for the better. At any rate, and quite unfortunately, this past month of March has cast into serious question the viability of a Pax Americana.