Random war thoughts
Where are all of the chemical and biological weapons!? God forbid that they actually use them, but the primary justification for the war... oops sorry, not a war technically as only Congress can declare one of those, I'll call it the Mother Of All Tempter Tantrums. MOATT... I like that. Anyway, the original justification for the MOATT was that Iraq has chemical and biological weapons that they are ready to unleash upon the world and we must go in there and force them to disarm. Now if Iraq has all these weapons, why when they are actually fighting for their survival would they not use them? If it's because international support for Iraq would be affected, then what makes anyone think they would have used them when they weren't at war? Where is the threat?
I guess all that's academic now. We've stuck our foot in it and there is now way this administration will ever admit that it was misguided no matter how high the bodies pile up. Haven't we been through this once before?
Where are all newly liberated Iraqis throwing rose petals, or whatever it is they throw over there, at the young men and women risking their lives to liberate them. If one more person tells me something to the effect that they are too scared to rise up against Sadaam for fear of being killed I'm going to scream. Our troops are risking life and limb, why can't they? It's supposedly their freedom we are fighting and dying for.
Every day I read another story about the bombing in Baghdad that contains the phrase "some of the heaviest bombing yet". Shouldn't we have started out with the heavy bombing first? Would that have been too Shocking and Awesome? Perhaps the MOATT planners were confused and decided to treat this like a fireworks display. Wait until you see the finale dude!
I tried explaining to a friend the other day that the reason that we're all gung-ho about the MOATT is that people are too disconnected. These are images on television a world away. Joe six-pack, I think, is just excited to see us blowing stuff up. Missles, tanks, bombs, laser-guided, GPS guided, M1A1, B2, etc, etc, all cool stuff. It's like James Bond meets Patton. Of course it's cool. But Joe six-pack can't see or won't allow himself to see the men, women and children that are being killed. Their lives mean as much to the average American as a bug. I have family, who are probably not in a very small minority, that truly believe we should just nuke the whole lot of them and get it over with. Think these people give a shit whether the innocent are killed with the guilty? Nah, they are a nuisance, like the ants that come visit my kitchen every spring. Kill em all and let God sort em out is not an uncommon attitude here in the good ole USA.
Anyone every heard this one? "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." -- Proverbs 16:18
OK OK one more thing and I'll shutup for a while, I'm not seeing a lot of these pictures on TV. Some of these pictures are very very very graphic. You've been warned. Take a good long look if you can. This is making friends?
Comments
Where are the pitures from the World Trade Center?
Posted by: Brigette | April 2, 2003 4:11 PM
Wasn't it you in a recent conversation who said "nasty Iraquis, kill, kill, kill?" How does Proverbs 16:18 fit into that?
Posted by: doesn't mater | April 3, 2003 8:41 AM
A fair question Brigette. The media and administration seem to have no problem with the public's notion that there is a link between Saddam and al-Qaeda. I've seen no effort by either to dispel this particular myth. The CIA and the president have said publicly that there is no such link. As a matter of fact you may recall that Bin Laden and the majority of the highjackers were from Saudi Arabia and not Iraq. For additional information see this article: http://www.warblogging.com/archives/000536.php
Posted by: Casey | April 3, 2003 8:46 AM
Be patient. Time will tell the whole story. I don't know anyone who says they really want this war. Peace is better than war but sometimes there is not an alternative that is working. I'm not so gullible as to believe that all that is being done is okay but I do believe that the action being taken is necessary to free the Iraqi people and rid the world of a tyrantical regime. I don't like our tax money being spent on war but UN didn't make Iraq reveal and destroy its weapons. The US gave them proof and they still didn't act in best interest of world. Give your fellow Americans a break and let them do their job. Support them and let the people of Iraq be free
Posted by: Gwen Brimer | April 4, 2003 1:49 AM
Good comments Gwen! There is so much hyperbole and partisanism and nationalism and every other kind of ism that goes along with this whole thing that it's tough to get to the truth. Which is what we are all interested in learning. So just a couple of points.
- If the US proof is so compelling, why wouldn't a country that we have such good relations with like Canada support a war?
- If we are going to enforce all of the UN resolution violations, why not start with Israel who has been in violation of numerous resolutions for as long as long as 35 years?
- The initial reason to invade Iraq was to disarm them, and as a added benefit, depose of Mr Hussein. Expect the spin doctors to play down the chemical/biological threat and talk more about "liberating" the Iraqis. We can see on the news that they Iraqis pitifully non-threatening.
- I don't believe that raising questions about the war and supporting the troops are mutually exclusive. I want everyone to come home safe and sound just as soon as possible.
Posted by: Casey | April 4, 2003 9:35 AM