More war news...
In response to a collapsing door frame, I received a visit from my decidedly liberal carpenter friend today. My friends are not chosen on the basis of political affiliation; I stick by people because they think, and stand for what they believe, whether it’s crossways with my beliefs or not. If I start to hew the conservative party line too stridently, those friends can always be called upon for a reality check.
In the aftermath of restoring a warped, quick ‘n easy doorframe installation, the easy conversation drifted to the Middle East. James [we’ll call him that, since it’s his name] gave me mixed input. He supports Israel, and thinks they’re doing the right thing, in spite of world opposition. He also believes the Bush administration is dead wrong on Iraq, and is driving us into debt on a daily basis by our continued commitment there. A small businessman in his own right, he reports suffering and business failures as a result of National Guard service extensions in Iraq. Those troops should be home, closing our Mexican border.
I am only going to say this once, and it galls me to do it. We are wrong in Iraq. I never thought I’d see the day, but it has turned into another Vietnam. We need to declare victory and get the hell out. If a civil war ensues, so be it. Saddam Hussein is a walking dead man. He will never again hold a torturer’s power. We have done all we can do, for the moment. Our military equipment, the technology we rely upon, is seriously degraded. We have too many boots on the ground in an unappreciative region of the world. I acknowledge that having made the commitment, it’s tough to break it.
Some of today’s conversation included observations that blacks, Muslims, and others are human. Never denied that; we’re all just trying to survive. I have never denied another person’s values or beliefs; just don’t shoot and try to kill me for being nice.
We will have to fight the Iranians, and the North Koreans. There will be a thermonuclear incident. In wishing a friend birthday greetings a short time past, I stated that “I hope you won’t look back on this time and view it as ‘kinder and gentler.’”
One thing my liberal friend agrees upon is that if you have to fight a war, you do it as fast and bloody as it needs doing. America has always been “the good guy”, the cowboy who shoots the weapon out of the bad guy’s hand. The time for that idealization is past; we must shoot to kill. There are those who will always cringe at the idea, but the time comes when we must center up the crosshairs, and squeeze the shot off.
In the aftermath of restoring a warped, quick ‘n easy doorframe installation, the easy conversation drifted to the Middle East. James [we’ll call him that, since it’s his name] gave me mixed input. He supports Israel, and thinks they’re doing the right thing, in spite of world opposition. He also believes the Bush administration is dead wrong on Iraq, and is driving us into debt on a daily basis by our continued commitment there. A small businessman in his own right, he reports suffering and business failures as a result of National Guard service extensions in Iraq. Those troops should be home, closing our Mexican border.
I am only going to say this once, and it galls me to do it. We are wrong in Iraq. I never thought I’d see the day, but it has turned into another Vietnam. We need to declare victory and get the hell out. If a civil war ensues, so be it. Saddam Hussein is a walking dead man. He will never again hold a torturer’s power. We have done all we can do, for the moment. Our military equipment, the technology we rely upon, is seriously degraded. We have too many boots on the ground in an unappreciative region of the world. I acknowledge that having made the commitment, it’s tough to break it.
Some of today’s conversation included observations that blacks, Muslims, and others are human. Never denied that; we’re all just trying to survive. I have never denied another person’s values or beliefs; just don’t shoot and try to kill me for being nice.
We will have to fight the Iranians, and the North Koreans. There will be a thermonuclear incident. In wishing a friend birthday greetings a short time past, I stated that “I hope you won’t look back on this time and view it as ‘kinder and gentler.’”
One thing my liberal friend agrees upon is that if you have to fight a war, you do it as fast and bloody as it needs doing. America has always been “the good guy”, the cowboy who shoots the weapon out of the bad guy’s hand. The time for that idealization is past; we must shoot to kill. There are those who will always cringe at the idea, but the time comes when we must center up the crosshairs, and squeeze the shot off.
posted by Robert at 12:17 PM
10 Comments:
Now your scaring me Possum.
I think much like your carpenter friend (you knew that) and, as my posts on other blogs have indicated, I truly wish that the Iraq "thing" would have worked, just never saw how it could and am, like you, more convinced with each passing day that no matter how hard we try we are not going to "save" those folks, it's not going to happen. We "freed" them but they don't think like us. They may never think like us.
They are busy demonstrating now against Israel (I too believe Israel is in the right) but that's what happens when you give folks freedom, they often use it to further their own interests, not yours.
Cut and run!
I don't know about "Cut and run", but we can honestly say we won, and devote our attention to other causes.
The debacle of Saigon '75 was a nasty example of "cut and run". It undermined our credibility as a world power, gave life to the myth that we don't back our word, and suppllied ther surrender monkeys with endless denunciations that we "lost" that war. No matter how odious the consequences, we can't simply bail on Iraq because it has become an inconvenient diversion.
We'd all like to do things different, based on hindsight. As the saying goes, there is too much blood and treasure invested in Iraq. I don't see an easy way out, nor do I see a quick solution to the commitment. Our troops will be required elsewhere; this is a world war, and other fronts will be opening shortly.
I think we'll get out of Iraq as soon as we're out of Korea, Germany, etc.
As trite as it may sound, we must not stand down until the Iraqis stand up. They will do so eventually and this conflict will be over for us. For them, it will just be beginning...
This conflict and others in the ME are showing the world what the stakes are in this global conflict. The Saudis, Jordan, Egypt and others already know who their real enemies are but won't admit it. Soon they will be forced to.
beerme too. I agree. My guys are convinced they are making slow, but steady progress in Iraq. And, not for nothing, they are also positioned next door to Iran, which is a bad or good thing, depending on how you view it.
The unstabilizing forces in the mideast will definately force the hands of certain ME governments to choose whether they want protection from their neighboring nutjobs or the finest military in the world. Unfortunately, I think, it may come down to this, and I suspect nutjobs may win popular opinion, for the time. That is, in fact, what much of the conflict is about, isn't it?
IMHO, the only thing wrong with the war in Iraq was that we were too optimistic going in. I think a few of us (myself included) thought it would be Afghanistan Part 2... you know, 2 weeks of fighting, and then the people cheering our arrival, hugs & kisses, etc. I don't think we were prepared for the level of insurgency and terrorism we have encountered.
That said, I still think it was the right thing to do. We had plenty of military in the area already. Our over-flights were having missiles fired at them. Iraq was a breeding ground for terror. Hussein was a brutal murderer, and he DID have WMDs many of which are probably now in Syria or Iran.
We seem to think we'll have this won in a matter of weeks, when it's going to take years. Look at how lightly the Israelis have been steping for the last month, and they are reciving nothing but constant denunciation.
There will come a day when matters literally explode in our face. 9/11 will look like a church picnic, and as brutal as the nuclear incident will be, it may wake us up in a way that the loss of the WTC hasn't.
BTW, I don't get out much, and will be expecting full reviews of Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center". I generally boycott Mr. Stone, and don't need to pay $7.00 to cry for two hours. We deal with reality through the medium of movies; is this one worth it?
Darned good thing he chose to lose the war, the country and, most likely his life, rather than use those WMD's, what remarkable restraint from a murderous madman.
Hezbolla seems to be showing far less, throwing the kitchen sink at the Israelis, when their other weapons are gone and they are left with balls of mud, they will throw those too.
So, he will go down as the dumbest ruthless dictator/madman in history (or he really didn't have anything that he didn't use in a losing war, hmmm, nah, couldn't be....could it?)
We are indeed blessed
The WMD are buried in the Syrian desert, where an entire regiment of Syrian infantry is guarding a patch of sand that is worthless, except for what's buried beneath it.
My next blog post will contain graphic evidence why Saddam Hussein should hang. Stay tuned, Bob.
Despite the deployment of what the author of the above comment describes as an "Anglo-Saxonism", I am letting it stand because of the context. Through a private communication, I am assured that such a faux pas will not occur again.
Don't say this at home, kids!
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