In one sense I have respect for those who have defeneded the War on Iraq. We DID kick Saddam out, elections WERE held, and a Constitution WAS drawn up. In that sense - and with "just" 2000 American dead (compare that to the toll of our other major wars), you could say that the war has been a success. We won.
That said, there is no reason to stay there any longer.
Except, as we all know, that's not the plan. Sixty years later, we are still in Germany. Over fifty years later, we're still in Korea. The war is "going badly" precisely because we intend to stay in Iraq forever. And it's a real drain when the natives keep blowing up our convoys. Yes, Iraq has become a terror magnet, in which foreign terrorists with little regard for the Iraqi people blow up soldier and civilian alike. We "fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here." But it seems that the Administration didn't really mean it. We were supposed to be projecting into Iraq and Syria from Iraq, not stay bogged down in it. Bush didn't imagine that the terrorists would actually show up!
The pro-war people who have turned against it are of three kinds. The first are angry over the "incompetence" of the occupation, but "now that we're there we can't just leave." These people are worse than the pro-war people; the war had gone about as well as could be expected - which is why I opposed in the first place. They have a faith that the people who break things are the ones capable of mending them.
A second group are angry that the justifications for the war have been proved false, view the war as a mistake, and want to end it as quickly as possible. They're on the right track, but their problem is that they will probably be fooled by a future President, much as some of them still think our useless bombing of Serbia was just. Democracy myths and war myths in America are too embedded in the unconscious for some people to question.
A third group regrets their support for this war. Their eyes have been opened; they have a better clue as to how government really works. They will be more reluctant to trust anything any President says, let alone have enough faith in the system to enlist or encourage their children's enlistment.
I don't know how large this third group is. I just hope it's big enough to make an impact.
James Leroy Wilson's one-man magazine.
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In looking at American wars, even where the US "won", it is hard to tell whether we really secured any advantage for our sacrifice. Sure, the things you cite happened in Iraq, but are they in our interests, and I mean all our interests not just the contractors who profit from the war and occupation?
ReplyDeleteWhat did we "win" in Korea? What did we "win" in WW2? We fought brutal dictatorships (Germany and Japan)in Europe and Asia only to end up with different even more brutal dictatorships (Soviet Union and Red China) in Europe and Asia.