Well, I read today that American troops killed six more Iraqi policemen yesterday. Apparently the police ambushed the GI's. Recently, other Iraqi police officers were caught planting IEDs on a roadside. The American commander in that sector caught them by setting up hidden cameras because he was so tired of his men getting killed.
By most reports of people in the field, there have been some positive developments in Iraq. The problem is that there haven't been enough and they haven't happened quick enough for the taste of most Americans. Who can blame us? People who have lost loved ones legitimately question whether the sacrifice was worth it. Those of us who haven't lost anyone we know still think the price in life, both American and Iraqi, has been too high for what has been gained. And one of the big problems in the war is highlighted by my first paragraph. If we can't trust the people we train, the people we're there to "liberate," how can we really hope to stabilize the situation.
I was against military action in Iraq. That being said, I agree with President Bush that Islamic extremists are very dangerous and pose a threat to us and to other free nations. These people place no value on the lives of any human beings who do not believe as they do. We Americans sometimes want to deny this fact. We live in a country that can be violent but the violence is generally individual. Here, people typically do not embark on a campaign of extermination of those whose beliefs are different. Because of this, it is hard for us to believe that the Islamic extremists are really this dangerous. We still want to believe it is just a few bad apples. The reality is that this group of people, and there are a lot of them, want us dead. They don't want to compromise. They don't want to live next door to us and just let us practice our beliefs while they practice theirs. They view their way of life as completely incompatible with ours and they will not stop until they are dead or we are. This is a fact and is undisputable.
That being said, I still think Iraq was the wrong place at the wrong time. In addition, if we're going to fight these wars, we have to fight them. In World War II, we didn't worry about whether we killed civilians or bombed historical sites. The Germans and Japanese were our enemies and either they would be defeated or we would. How many innocent people were killed in Hiroshima or Dresden? Tens of thousands. But that is the price those countries paid for starting a war, and the sacrifices we were willing to make to win it. Now we try to fight wars clean. We try to reduce "collateral damage" while these collaterals hide the very people trying to kill us. We try to fight by the book while our enemy uses human shields and suicide bombings of innocent bystanders to spread terror. We will not win a war fighting with only one hand. War is brutal and if we want to win, we need to be brutal. Kill an American soldier? We'll kill ten of your people. This is how wars are won. This is why they must be avoided at all costs.
Unfortunately, it is too late for us. We're in this war, we're not going to change our tactics, so we need to find some other way out. Some way that will hopefully save face and not leave Iraq in shambles. Once we're out, I think we need to rethink our strategy. We're not going to wipe out extremists. We can't do it alone and our allies don't currently have the stomach for the fight. So, I think we need to focus on securing our borders, having immigration policy that makes sense, and trying to make it as hard as possible for these terrorists to hurt us at home. I think now, this is all we can do.
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4 comments:
This is going to sound uncharacteristically cold, but, part of me says, if the people our troops are putting their lives on the line to train are trying to kill them, who the hell cares if Iraq is left in shambles?
Look at Africa. Africa is in shambles, and people are suffering to a degree none of us could imagine. Do I think it's wrong that no one is helping? Of course. But then again, look at Iraq. For all the "help" the US has offered, it's clearly not wanted.
For that matter, look at our own cities. Talk about shambles. The Iraqi PM has told us we can leave anytime, so I'm not sure what we're waiting for. Imagine if some of the money that went into the war machine had gone to equalizing health care, improving public education, better supporting our public safety forces and programs to help disenfranchised youth, and shoring up those borders, as you point out? Then maybe people could focus on real solutions to the economy, and on preparing a workforce that could truly make it go.
Crankily,
MM
Mando - You have a right to be cranky. I think a lot of Americans are and that they feel like you. I'm not excusing the behavior of many Iraqis and their seeming lack of support for us but these people have not thought for themselves for a long time. The Middle East had been ruled by tyrants for thousands of years and these people don't know how to be free. I also can't blame them if they don't trust the United States. Remember, we told them to trust us when we installed Saddam Hussein as their leader. He turned out to be a brutal despot. In fact, the U.S. doesn't really have a great track record of nation building.
Again, I'm not excusing the people of Iraq. But, if I remember correctly, they didn't ask us to invade. Bhagdad still only has 6-7 hours of electricity a day. There is mass unemployment, destruction of infrastructure, and a continuation of sectarian violence. From their perspective, what do they have to be grateful for?
I agree with you that all the money and efforts spent in Iraq could have been better spent here at home. But for that, we need to blame our leadership. And frankly, once we do leave Iraq, I have no faith that any of that money and personnel will be used for education, public safety, or the borders. Do you?
Well, no, not really, not immediately anyway. I really, really feel badly for the next president, whoever it may be, regardless of what party he or she comes from. If I've ever seen a reason for an interim President/CEO, this is it.
How did things get so bad?
You know, social psychologists did a lot of research on this after the Bay of Pigs fiasco during the Kennedy administration. The term "Groupthink" was coined form all this research. This is what I think is going on in this administration, and frankly, most administrations. When you cannot feel free to disagree with the President or his policies, it is a dangerous situation. I think these guys all sat around and convinced themselves that invading Iraq was a good idea, that they could win quickly, and that by now Iraq would be humming along as a democracy. They had the support of the American people because everyone was still pissed about 9/11. Those in the administration who might have been naysayers or who pointed out the problems we were going to encounter were frozen out of decision making roles. In that environment, the only possible outcome is disaster. Therefore, I'm not surprised by this at all.
What is needed in our government is a little humility. The ability to realize that just because you're elected President or senator doesn't make you an expert on everything. What you have are opinions, often uninformed ones. Most politicians are lawyers. There's nothing inherent to attending law school that makes one smarter than anyone else, or an expert on global warming, or theology, or the history of Middle East conflict. But there are people out there who are experts on those things. Unless we elect some politicians who understand the need to listen to people who DO know what they're talking about, there is no hope for progress either socially or politically in this country.
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