I've been debating a few folks in an online forum for the past few days about the war in Iraq as well as the shellings in Israel and Lebanon. I thought it'd be just fine to spout a little and wait for some feedback.
Some things I should admit freely, I supported Afghanistan in the hopes of removing the Taliban (some early success but we haven't completed that mission yet), and tracking down and either killing or bringing Osama bin Laden to justice. (so far we've failed) I did not support the invasion of Iraq even though Hussein was clearly in violation of UN Resolutions and had been for some time. I saw him as no threat, and I was unconvinced by Powell's dog and pony show at the UN. It's ironic that among the Bush administration elite, he was the one I had the most respect for, perhaps for being the only one to have experienced battle, perhaps because I never considered him a career politician. Either way, I'm sure he'll look back on that episode of his life and feel regret.
I don't think Bush is a bad guy. Admittedly, I disagree with his ideas on religion, stem cell research, managing the war, and trouncing the Constitution. But I really believe that if you surrounded him with different people, you'd have an altogether different presidency. In short, I think he's a puppet. I don't hold that against him though as many folks do. ""If John Kerry were president, things would be worse!!!" -- I hear this all the time. You can't disprove a hypothetical. Yep, it's a conversation stopper. Seriously, how do you have a discussion with folks like that?
I don't buy the fear argument either. Never have. "They want to kill you Charles, they want to murder you and your family, etc." Blah blah blah. What good is it to live in fear all the time? the minute I start buying that garbage is the moment they have the upper hand. We take US army boots off the Arabian peninsula and tell Israel she's gotta go it alone and Haddji doesn't give a rip about you or me.
I don't care if Bush and his cronies made a bad sales pitch for the invasion of Iraq. I don't really care if it turns out that they knowingly lied. Politicians are not my heroes, I fully expect them to lie. I place blame at the feet of the US citizenry for being too gullible or uninformed to know better. I do get nauseated by the endless post facto arguments for and against this war. We're there. Let's do the job and get out.
I've told many folks this and I still believe it, if democracy takes hold in Iraq and 50 years down the road has a domino effect in middle east, history will be quite kind to Bush. If Islam can liberalize though the intervention of western ideas, the world will be a better place, no question about it. Do I think it has a chance? I'm not holding my breath. We can't kill them all. Correction, we can, we just won't.
I put the dead Iraqi photo up on the top on purpose. Don't like looking at it? Me either. But that's someone's brother, dad, son, friend. There's more where that came from. On both sides.
4 comments:
Yes! I like it! No whining and pooping panties no screaming and shouting in tongues. Well scripted. You should conside a career in journalism. You might educate somebody. Dangerous work and the pay is shit. But who gives a fuck this world needs intel pushers like you to stop the puke and slime blowers from undermining the scripture of common sense.
Very well said. I agree on every point, except I think Bush is an Idjut with a deplorable presidency no matter who he's surrounded by. Barring a neurological impairment, if you can't communicate clearly, then you can't think clearly either. But apparently you can still feel it in your gut.
You probably won't care about this blog for some time after your child is born...but congrats. I'll probably call sometime after your phone line quits smoking.
-Aaron
Aaron - What I meant was that he has enough appeal with the common american that if prodded to shrink the deficit, get the super weathly to actually pay their burden of taxes, get serious about education, etc...Not only could he do it, most of America would absolutely lap it up.
Lap, as in lap dog. He's a figure head president. He would never do anything that would risk losing the James Dobson fan club. Aka, the Jesus party electorate- torture apologists, agression defenders, economic imbalance supporters, and tough unChristlike love promoters. External religion. Pharisee-esque if you will. But all this absurd contradiction that anyone with even a cursory reading of Jesus would reject is trumped resoundingly by...Terry Schiavo. Stem cells. Abortion.
Constantine's warrior Jesus lasted 2000 years for Christ's sake, and counting. We should cast him in our crucifixes wearing a studded leather helmet. It would match the congruency of those German blue eyes.
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