Thursday, March 23, 2006

Please explain to me how the war in Iraq is going well

Please explain to me how the war in Iraq is goinq well. I have to admit, I just don't get it.
Apparently, the president thinks getting rid of one dictator (who was boxed in and not doing anything to the rest of the world) partly justifies the war in Iraq.
In his book, "Bush at War," Bob Woodward makes two points very clear. Following 9-11-2001, Bush wanted to kill someone. Two, his advisors convinced him the war on terror could not center on Osama bin Laden, lest when bin Laden was taken prisoner or killed, the world would think the war on terror was over. The war is a many-fronted assault.
OK, but we have achieved the goal of capturing the Iraqi dictator. He is on trial.
Yet, we will remain in Iraq until Bush is out of office and who knows how long after that.
What will victory in Iraq look like, anyway? We have invaded another country, without being asked for help by anyone in that country.
Will victory in Iraq mean Iraq becomes an American colony? Are we becoming aggressors just like the hated enemy in the Cold War?
Will victory in Iraq mean Iraqis organize their government after Western ideals?
There is abolsutely no connection between Iraq and the atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001. None have been proven. But "the lessons of 9-11" continue to be thrust upon us as justification for our continued occupation of Iraq.
What does victory in Iraq look like?
We are building schools in Iraq but what about schools in the U.S.?
Our local school corproation, Clay Community Schools, is trying to pare down a $1 million deficit. Our state is trying to pare down the amount of money it sends to local school corporations like Clay Community Schools.
What about the schools destroyed in the wake of Hurrcane Katrina and other hurricane damage?
Are we feeding the hungry in Iraq? Even if we are, what about the hungry in America?
What possible good are we doing in Iraq that our own people don't need as much and deserve more because they are Americans? Maybe we have no pride in the name "American" any more. Perhaps we think the good only is deserved by people of other lands.
In the late 1960s, I remember living through a terrible time. Young men were dying daily in Vietnam. No one could describe out objective there any more than people can describe our objective in Iraq.
That old sense of bewilderment and fear is returning.
President Bush says he remembers Vietnam. To paraphrase a line from "Field of Dreams," I don't think he remembers the 60s at all. I think he took two 50s and went straight into the 70s.
We have, indeed, opened a Pandora's box in the Middle East and I have no idea who can put the genie back in the bottle.

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