So, I'm not sure what to do about Iraq.
Actually, that's not true. I know one thing - we should get rid of the clusterfuck administration who gave us the damn thing in the first place. But, thanks to the right-wing mouthpiece media, that's not going to happen. We have gone from a nation of peace and prosperity to a nation of deep debt and a festering war - and the people still vote the way their televisions tell them to. And their televisions are owned by Republicans.
So I do know what the country ought to do. What I'm not sure about is whether the U.S. Army should stay in Iraq or not.
It's obvious we never should have gone there in the first place - the WMD lie was a crock of wholly manufactured garbage, and if we were in the business of making the world better for masses of huddled foreigners, there are much much better countries to invade. Myanmar, anyone? Zimbabwe? Sudan? There are places where we actually would be greeted with roses. Invading - starting a war! - just to make Iraq a better place was and is 100% bullshit. The fact it's even discussed rather than always asking "Where are the WMDs?" shows what right-wing servants the media are. We invaded Iraq for the simple reason that George W Bush wanted to. That's it, that's all.
But we are there now. And as usual with Republicans - the party of bigotry and corruption, and in practice precious little else - they fucked everything up. But it's my military too, and I'm not willing to just throw up my hands.
There is an increasing chorus amongst grown-ups to bring the boys home. 'Cut our losses' seems to be the general refrain. If we aren't going to "win", then why spend so many lives (and a billion dollars a day)? As the only ones left in the government with a shred of responsibility, shouldn't the Democrats demand the troops come home?
I honestly don't know. There is, of course, the knee-jerk recoiling from appearing weak, from letting it look like the bad guys beat us. That right there is about as far as most reactionaries will get, and it's an emotion I can sympathize with. But if looked at in a logical, mature, un-Republican way, what would be the consequences? Would it embolden terrorists? Seems to me that they were pretty bold before. Being in Iraq has only made us less secure (and if you believe the 'fighting them over there keeps them from coming here' argument, you are Fucking Stupid.) The arab muslim world hates us for it. If we left, they would hate us less. And the terrorists aren't deterred by our presence there from attacking us here.
So it would stick in the craw, but pulling out would probably make us safer. And it would save many servicemen's lives, and a whole heck of a lot of money. (An amount equal to the entire budget of NASA in two weeks, for instance.) Leaving Viet Nam didn't lose the cold war, or even Thailand. Leaving Iraq won't hurt the "war on terror", it will help it. Abu Ghraib is Osama bin Laden's best recruiting device. Thanks George. So much fucking safer. You asshole.
On the other hand, pulling out would prove to posterity that we can't stay the course. One day, when we finally have a good or even just a decent government again, we will want the rest of the world to believe that we can commit to things and see them through. And leaving Iraq now would make them less likely to believe that.
More importantly, leaving would also be rough on the Iraqi people. The privations of a civil war aren't something that we should lightly allow to befall anyone. (Although I have to point out, the privations of a non-civil war were very lightly unleashed by our current administration, which in and of itself proves them evil in the strictest Christian sense.) And if we were to just leave now, civil war is what Iraq would get. Look at what befell India when the British left.
So I'm not sure what is the best course. I do know we as a nation keep choosing the worst one; had we elected not-Bush, we could have brought in competent administrators (the people running Iraq on our behalf have from the start been the worst sorts of hacks and amateurs, chosen purely for ideology and based on no sort of knowledge or experience) and finally begun to address the problem in a mature and intelligent way, in the light of our nation having rejected the leadership that invaded without any just cause.
But we didn't. And, as this administration has fucked up every single thing they've put their hands on, I have scant hope they'll do the right thing now.
At least this time it's not blindingly clear what the right thing to do is.
- Sun Ra