(Cont. from Part 1) You know, I was going to post something on sex roles from 9,000 years ago, but I got caught up in this series that FDtate313 did. Anyway, picking up on the comment I just quoted.
I love the way the war's cheerleaders toss the question in the critics' faces, "Well, what is your alternative?"
Hey, Bush and Rummy created this mess. Those of us who were against the war were proposing alternatives like, let the inspection regime work. Bush and Rummy weren't interested in those alternatives. Now the war fans are asking us for solutions - as though they would listen to the war critics now. Sure they would. And Rush Limbaugh isn't a junkie. And George W. Bush was elected President.
I understand the considerations that make a rapid pullout risky. But I also reflect that things could have been very different. We could have had a much larger international presence in Iraq, and a more secure situation could have been established earlier. Working with allies like the French and the Germans might have meant that someone would have made the Administration think twice or three times about just dissolving the Iraqi Army, now almost universally recognized to have been a disaster.
But the same group of decision-makers that passed up those opportunities is still in charge. And if the Administration had had sense enough to stick with inspections and bring the allies along with the plan, we wouldn't have had this war at all.
Yes, we have moral obligations to the country we invaded under false pretenses. We have legal obligations as the occupying power. And we do have to be concerned about not looking like we'll cut-and-run at the first difficulty.
But let's think about this. Moral obligations: Halliburton. Legal obligations: we're already re-structuring Iraq's economy in blatant violation of international law. Looking tough: looking stupid also has its risks in international affairs.
Bush and Rummy created this mess. It's Bush and Rummy's duty to make the best of it. Unfortunately, if experience so far is any guide, they won't.
1 comment:
That's the worst part, having Bush and Rummy running things. I love how they're banning the French, Germans and Russians from the reconstruction contracts, while at the same time asking them to forgive the Iraqi debts.
Tell me they're not just making this up as they go along...
Thanks for the support, and thanks for trying to help. I guess we all have our crosses to bear. Come back and pitch in if you want to get your hands dirty.
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