Saturday, May 08, 2004
So That Leaves...What?
The first rationale for the war in Iraq was that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. But he didn't.
The next rationale for the war in Iraq was that Saddam had ties to terrorists. But he didn't.
The next rationale for the war in Iraq was that Saddam was a brutal dictator who had killed thousands of his own people. But then we killed thousands of his people.
The next rationale for the war in Iraq was that we could make democracy flourish in the Middle East, put a dent in militant Islam, improve America's standing in the Arab world, and make Israel safer -- all by "liberating" Iraq. But we haven't created a democracy, militant Islam is at a fever pitch, our occupation of Iraq has created unparalleled ill will in the Arab world, and it would be delusional to think that Israel is safer today than before the war.
The next rationale for the war in Iraq was that Saddam was a brutal dictator who had tortured his own people in prisons like Abu Ghraib. But then the whole world saw that we tortured his people in prisons like Abu Ghraib (and there are uglier revelations on the way).
What does that leave?
But our thinking it leaves arrogance, abuse of power, religious zealotry, and oil.
The next rationale for the war in Iraq was that Saddam had ties to terrorists. But he didn't.
The next rationale for the war in Iraq was that Saddam was a brutal dictator who had killed thousands of his own people. But then we killed thousands of his people.
The next rationale for the war in Iraq was that we could make democracy flourish in the Middle East, put a dent in militant Islam, improve America's standing in the Arab world, and make Israel safer -- all by "liberating" Iraq. But we haven't created a democracy, militant Islam is at a fever pitch, our occupation of Iraq has created unparalleled ill will in the Arab world, and it would be delusional to think that Israel is safer today than before the war.
The next rationale for the war in Iraq was that Saddam was a brutal dictator who had tortured his own people in prisons like Abu Ghraib. But then the whole world saw that we tortured his people in prisons like Abu Ghraib (and there are uglier revelations on the way).
What does that leave?
But our thinking it leaves arrogance, abuse of power, religious zealotry, and oil.
