As I see it
In 2003, I was very vocal about my opposition to the Iraq invasion. I knew several things to be true:
1) That the Army would win the "war" and that Saddam would be pushed from power.
2) That there would be no weapons of mass destruction found.
3) That winning the peace would be much more elusive.
4) And, that the President would continue to modify our reasons for going to war.
5) And that some Democrats would decide that they made a mistake by voting in favor of the war.
Most of my friends can verify that I did claim these things. I had a few heated conversations with Eric about this. In fact, we had a bet involving the WMD question, where I said that none would ever be found. We put a one year timetable on that issue, and It was one of the few bets I ever won against Eric. But I digress. Fast forward to 2006. It seems that all of my expectations of what would happen have come true. I was not the only person who predicted this, but I am surprised that my predictions seemed more accurate then then George "Mission Accomplished" Bush, Dick "we will be greeted as liberators" Cheney, and Donald "Who cares what my generals tell me" Rumsfeld. Damn am I smart.
But really now, where does that leave us and how have my own opinions been changed? I never seemed impressed with people who join the public opinion bandwagon, mainly because I know how fickle the "American people" are. I was out of step with public opinion in 2003 and now that the tide has turned (more people oppose the war/occupation the support it) I feel that I am out of step again. You see, I opposed the war for lots of reasons but now I have come to embrace the occupation. We need to stay there to stabilize the country. As General Powell said, "If we break it, we own it" And we broke it big time. No doubt. I support the occupation on purely humanitarian grounds...To protect the people of that country we invaded from being slaughtered in a civil war. And to protect the people who voted in good faith in the recent elections who actually believed some of our bullshit about "exporting Democracy" to that part of the world. You see, call me naive, but I want to believe their bullshit and want to do my part to make it happen.
I am angry with the people who chose to take us to war the way they did. They should be held accountable. That being said, premature withdrawal from Iraq would be disastrous. We owe our men and woman who are there continued support and we need to make sure that the promissory note we issued to the Iraqi people is worth the paper it written on. It's easy to be against the war now. Much harder to support a mission you didn't originally support. But we have no alternative. To my Liberal friends: Don't let your hatred of GWB blind you from supporting a moral and compassionate approach to the occupation. To my conservative friends: Admit you were mislead into supporting this war and that those who forced us into it showed us how wrong and incompetent our leaders can be if they go unchecked.
1) That the Army would win the "war" and that Saddam would be pushed from power.
2) That there would be no weapons of mass destruction found.
3) That winning the peace would be much more elusive.
4) And, that the President would continue to modify our reasons for going to war.
5) And that some Democrats would decide that they made a mistake by voting in favor of the war.
Most of my friends can verify that I did claim these things. I had a few heated conversations with Eric about this. In fact, we had a bet involving the WMD question, where I said that none would ever be found. We put a one year timetable on that issue, and It was one of the few bets I ever won against Eric. But I digress. Fast forward to 2006. It seems that all of my expectations of what would happen have come true. I was not the only person who predicted this, but I am surprised that my predictions seemed more accurate then then George "Mission Accomplished" Bush, Dick "we will be greeted as liberators" Cheney, and Donald "Who cares what my generals tell me" Rumsfeld. Damn am I smart.
But really now, where does that leave us and how have my own opinions been changed? I never seemed impressed with people who join the public opinion bandwagon, mainly because I know how fickle the "American people" are. I was out of step with public opinion in 2003 and now that the tide has turned (more people oppose the war/occupation the support it) I feel that I am out of step again. You see, I opposed the war for lots of reasons but now I have come to embrace the occupation. We need to stay there to stabilize the country. As General Powell said, "If we break it, we own it" And we broke it big time. No doubt. I support the occupation on purely humanitarian grounds...To protect the people of that country we invaded from being slaughtered in a civil war. And to protect the people who voted in good faith in the recent elections who actually believed some of our bullshit about "exporting Democracy" to that part of the world. You see, call me naive, but I want to believe their bullshit and want to do my part to make it happen.
I am angry with the people who chose to take us to war the way they did. They should be held accountable. That being said, premature withdrawal from Iraq would be disastrous. We owe our men and woman who are there continued support and we need to make sure that the promissory note we issued to the Iraqi people is worth the paper it written on. It's easy to be against the war now. Much harder to support a mission you didn't originally support. But we have no alternative. To my Liberal friends: Don't let your hatred of GWB blind you from supporting a moral and compassionate approach to the occupation. To my conservative friends: Admit you were mislead into supporting this war and that those who forced us into it showed us how wrong and incompetent our leaders can be if they go unchecked.
posted by An Army of One at March 28, 2006
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