The Dogs of War

At With A Grain Of Salt!, BeadY has a meditation on dogs:

The first time I heard about the strange juxtaposition of Americans and dogs was when I read about the running dogs of US imperialism in various Marxist publications. Since then and looking around now, we have Pakistan being described as America’s hunting dog, Blair being described as US President George Bush’s poodle and so on and so forth. I know USA is the hyper-power today and allies/sympathisers of hyper-powers do get more than their fair share of stick. Still, can we call these client states and people as dogs? Surely, that is not so bad, is it? I am a dog lover and as everybody knows, dogs are kind, gentle, loveable, adorable, faithful, beautiful, and intelligent and so on and so forth. Just what is the problem with these people, eh?

First, one thing should be clear. It is human nature to denigrate other people. Swearing seems to be a rather common human trait. However, what I found interesting was this propensity to call people as dogs. As a self-confessed dog lover, I do not understand why people think of dogs as bad. I have had years of dog companionship, they are loveable and adorable. They protect your homes, herd your sheep, listen adoringly to your drivel, hump your legs in sheer joy and widdle all over your nice new carpet, chew on your furniture and lick your ears, leave hair all over your bedspread and your kids cry when they die. I used my little doggie, Koko, as my audience when I used to prepare for my lectures. If he would not sigh, fall asleep, yawn, whine, yowl, or snore, then there was a good chance that the lecture would be good.

“Dogs are good guys”, Morley said, “No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does” and Aldous Huxley corroborated, "To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.” Then again, Edward Abbey took a contrarian view saying: "When a man's best friend is his dog, that dog has a problem.” Dog is man’s best friend, so to say, although a Karel Capek quote goes: "If dogs could talk, perhaps we'd find it just as hard to get along with them as we do with people." It is a strange thing. People, who are homeless, at least on the streets of London and NY, frequently befriend a dog. It is indeed a sad reflection that we as human beings have forsaken other human beings to such an extent that the only companionship that one can get when completely down is a dog. Then again, the dogs don’t really want much, a bit of food, a good scratch and you have a permanent companion.

Read it all.