Before we went into Iraq, I knew it was the wrong thing to do. I didn't know how badly it would turn out, though. I could go into all the reasons we should NOT have gone into Iraq, but I think we all know them by rote at this time. The question now is the solution. Is there one? Should we just leave them to deal with the turmoil themselves? Should we stay and keep allowing them to kill our young men and women?
The liberals, one of which I claim to be, think we should just leave them to fight it out themselves. The conservatives think we should keep on fighting. One question that I have never heard spoken is, "Who are we fighting there?". Bush says we are fighting Al Quaida. There wasn't an Al Quaida in Iraq before we invaded. And, frankly, I don't think I believe they are there now. Iraqis are fighting Iraqis. So, how do we know who the enemy is? This was my main objection to declaring war on "terror". How do you fight a war on people who are scattered throughout the world? How do you recognize a terrorist when you run into one on the street? They don't have a country, and they don't wear uniforms. Unfortunately, our security people don't seem to be able to infiltrate the most heinous of the groups. And, much is left to guessing and listening to "chatter".
So, the question I have is whether or not it does anything good to continue searching homes and killing citizens to try and keep the peace. I think not. But, we went in there and bombed all their utilities, their homes, their cities. Can we just leave and not do anything to repair the damage we have done? We have already done the unethical thing by invading a country that was no threat to us in the name of "spreading freedom". Freedom doesn't smell so sweet when it comes at the point of a gun. And, I suspect the Iraqi people would rather be living under tyranny with relative peace, than being afraid to leave their homes for fear of being killed by stray gunfire, roadside bombs, or suicide bombers.
The United States has suffered a great loss of respect due to this misuse of power. We are no longer seen as the gentle giant, but the big bully in the world. Can we afford to leave the Iraqis to fend for themselves when it was we who caused the chaos in the first place? I think the answer is no, but I don't know what the solution is. It's obviously not arms and warfare. But, how do we have diplomatic relations with a nation that doesn't exist? Can we remove our troops and replace them with rebuilders and people who are there to help? I doubt we'd get any volunteers until the violence is contained. Is the violence due to our continued occupation? If so, how much of it?
I've come to the sad conclusion that there is no solution to this.
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3 comments:
I have to say I totally agree with you Gwen. I hate this "war" and the loss of life it has caused.
My nephew has been sent over there twice and missed the first year of his beautiful daughters life because of this worthless cause. Now they are saying he will be sent again in Dec. even though his time in the Army is up in Jan. They can force him to stay in the military longer. It makes me so mad.
Our government has us in an impossible situation that has no answer at this point I am afraid. How do we walk away now? No matter what we do innocent lives are going to be lost and the blood is on our hands or the hands of our government and we will live with the blame.
How do we support our troops, the men and women who are doing their job, doing what their government told them to do without supporting what our government is doing? That is the hard part. I don't ever want to see our soldiers treated like those who returned from Vietnam.
I agree. There is no solution at all. I've stopped watching the news because it stresses me out too much.
To blame the troops for the failure would be like blaming a kindergarten class for the failure of their teacher. The troops do what the command tells them to do, nothing more, nothing less. Unfortunately, the command had been comprised of idiots, aka Rumsfeld, Bush, Cheney, and their yes men. There was no plan for the aftermath from the overthrow of Hussein. I think Rummy really believed the Iraqis would be greeting them in the streets of Bagdad with flowers and hugs. Instead, there was rioting, looting, general chaos. What did we do? Stand by and watch, after all, these were people with their first taste of freedom. That's not an exact quote, but that's the gist of what Rumsfeld said about the chaos. Had we had a plan to secure the country once we took it over, this whole mess could have been contained. Blame the people who issue the orders, not the ones to carry them out.
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