The Big Green House

Tuesday, March 18, 2003

 

Why I Oppose The War

A war to enforce the will of the UN, which itself undermines the will of the UN, smacks of the �we had to burn the village in order to save it� mentality. While I�m all for dark irony, it stops being funny when people start dying.

And there will be people dying - Americans who wanted to serve their country, and Iraqis who made the mistake of being born in the wrong place at perhaps the worst possible time in history. (The press to the contrary, it�s not just going to be Bush vs. Saddam.) Here�s a couple of things to keep in mind when the casualty reports start coming back: 1) the military will lowball numbers which the folks back home might find distressing, and 2) �collateral damage� means civilians blown to pieces and/or burned beyond recognition.

Has it occurred to anyone with any say-so in this little adventure that an (arguably illegal) invasion might just boost recruitment among the terrorists? That doesn�t really jibe with the �remove Saddam and you pacify the Mid-east� theory, does it? (How much crack had they smoked when they came up with that one, anyway?)

Acting like an 800-pound-gorilla is not an effective foreign policy. We had an enormous outpouring of good will from the rest of the world after 9/11, and our leaders have pissed it all away with statements like �you�re either with us or against us�. Whatever happened to that �building consensus� thing Mr. Bush mentioned before the election?

The whole idea of an American Empire is an unsettling one, at best. Anyone who�s read any history will probably agree. Ask the British what it�s like when your empire falls apart � and they all fall apart, eventually.

We do invasion pretty well, but we really do suck when it comes to rebuilding afterwards. The war itself may be short, but the occupation is bound to linger on and on. Which, coincidentally, would be very convenient indeed for the oil companies.

Finally, let me add that opposition to the war does not mean disrespect of those in uniform. On the contrary, perhaps the best way to support out troops is to bring them home.


bmarkey 3/18/2003 06:09:00 PM