Cut and Run vs. Stay the Course
I am actually pretty conflicted about being here. Being here is obviously the culmination of an entire career in the military – even more so to be out here with the Army. But is what we're doing right? Am I right to support this illegal war by my actions? By NOT protesting? Is it even an option for an officer to question where his democratically elected leadership sends him, and what they have him doing? Or do I just think too much?
We were wrong to invade. That much is plain to every one with a shred of sense. I’ll leave it to the historians to pass judgment on whether or not we could have predicted this mess before hand, but the fact is, now that we are here, are we not responsible for the very mess we helped create? Don't we owe it to the Iraqi people to at least hand them back their country in better shape than it was before?
I will suggest this is a valid debt, and I’ll go even further to suggest that we should make it our principle goal to provide a stable, economically viable country and whether or not this includes a democratic government. After all, freedom is much higher on the hierarchy of needs than either sustenance or safety. The sixty-four thousand dollar question is whether or not this goal is even attainable? And if so, whether or not it is worth any more American blood?
At this point I just want to get home safely.
We were wrong to invade. That much is plain to every one with a shred of sense. I’ll leave it to the historians to pass judgment on whether or not we could have predicted this mess before hand, but the fact is, now that we are here, are we not responsible for the very mess we helped create? Don't we owe it to the Iraqi people to at least hand them back their country in better shape than it was before?
I will suggest this is a valid debt, and I’ll go even further to suggest that we should make it our principle goal to provide a stable, economically viable country and whether or not this includes a democratic government. After all, freedom is much higher on the hierarchy of needs than either sustenance or safety. The sixty-four thousand dollar question is whether or not this goal is even attainable? And if so, whether or not it is worth any more American blood?
At this point I just want to get home safely.
posted by KAB at 3:49 PM
3 Comments:
If democracy is not wanted - why force feed it to a populace that doesn't want/isn't ready for it? Just to "fix a mess we made?" Why are you and your fellow warriors and the families of such responsible for shouldering this mess?
You think too much about this which no serious thinker would have gotten us into in the first place.
The roots of our incessent need to make everyone else like us lies in the convergence of Western arrogance in general, American exceptionalism, and the Christian Crusading spirit. Aren't we lucky.
Right. How is it right to force something on someone who isn't ready to accept it? Its like me forcing my five year old son to learn algerbra. He seems to be doing well with simple addition but algerbra? Come on, he's not ready yet. Will he ever be ready? I think so. I hope so. But not yet. Will he embrace it when he is ready to learn it? Who knows?
Will Iraq ever be ready for democracy? Maybe. But not now. Not for a long time perhaps. Iraq will tear itself apart before then with us in the middle spilling our blood or us on the sidelines saving it. I'd rather save my blood and yours and watch from afar.
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