The situation in Iraq has gone from horrible to catastrophically bad. As I listened to bits and pieces of the Iraq Study Group report being discussed on NPR, I was torn between wanting to get out of Iraq, TODAY, and doing what I believe is the morally right thing to do...which is hard for me to comes to grip with.
It was morally wrong for the U.S. to invade Iraq. Regardless of how bad Saddam Hussein was, it was simply wrong for us to go in. The reasons we were given were based on lies and many of us knew that was a fact from long before we started the invasion. Many of us, and I am very definitely among them, protested loudly that it was not in our interests nor in the interests of world peace to start a war under the policy of preemptive attack.
Just as it was morally wrong for us to go in to start with, I think it would be morally wrong for us to walk away from the problems we created and leave them for the Iraqis to sort out. We effectively facilitated the ongoing explosion of sectarian violence and what amounts to a civil war. The honorable thing to do, if we have any honor left, is to facilitate an end to the sectarian violence.
I don't know precisely how to do that, but I rather doubt the way is based on U.S. soldiers continuing in a military role. But I do think we are obliged to try to help rebuild a country we wrecked. I think we are obliged to try to restore order and infrastructure to a country we essentially obliterated. I think we are obligated not to say, "we didn't do it, it was our President, and now that he is without a majority in Congress, we can rub his nose in it by making a quick exit." I would dearly love to rub the President's nose in the shit for which he is responsible, but there will be a time to do that. In the interim, I'd like to think that the U.S. and its people will not abandon the Iraqi people simply because w are angry about the fact that about half our population were misguided and put George Bush in office.
George Bush lied, he caused many people to die, and he still doesn't regret it, not for a second. He is the epitome of greed and abnormal nationalism and patriotic dementia. We would fail as a nation if were were to use those facts as an excuse not to try to correct some of what he did.
3 comments:
ALL of this bunch need to be put on lifeling community service in Iraq, or until they step on an IED. I honestly don't care. They need to be punished.
"The honorable thing to do, if we have any honor left, is to facilitate an end to the sectarian violence. "
This presumes that we can discern a faction or a coalition that we care enough about to help out. I'm no expert, but I don't see anything on the horizon there that I'd risk my kid or anyone else's kid to nudge towards power.
Unless we get oil.
I'm with you, isbelita. Phil, I don't have kids to risk, but I know if I did I'd never risk them for the sort of fragility that I see for the forseeable future in Iraq. Come to think of it, if enough people would reach the conclusion that risking kids is never acceptable, maybe the answer would sort itself out.
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