I don't blog about politics very often. But it seems that if there ever was a time, now is the time to make comments about the current politics especially as related to the war in Iraq.
Some would argue we shouldn't have ever started in Iraq. I would disagree. I probably would not agree with all of the reasons we went to war, but I think we definitely should have gone in and deposed Saddam. After the first gulf war, Papa Bush and the countries that went into Iraq established sanctions. We established no-fly zones. We established a lot of rules and over the years, Saddam thumbed his nose at all of those rules. He continued to use weapons of mass destruction (to kill the Kurds) and rejected observers who would keep the country within the boundaries that were established.
Like a bully who draws a line in the sand, then backs up and draws another line, Saddam taunted us. After 8 years of crossing the line and doing nothing, it was time to put up or shut up. The sanctions were a joke, the UN simply ignored them. Other countries profited. And the US was a laughing stock.
So we went in. I approve. (as if that matters).
Should we still be there? Well, I think no and yes. No we shouldn't, it should be over by now. But yes, we should, we can't just leave. To leave in the middle of this would condemn Iraq to chaos. It would also send a message that we don't follow through with our actions. We've done that too many times. We failed to protect the Kurds after Gulf War I. We failed to protect the Mujahdeen after they fought the Soviets in pre-Afghanistan. Looking back, we failed to protect the Cubans who helped us at the Bay of Pigs. America MUST stand for something and then continue to stand for it.
That last sentence bears repeating. America MUST stand for something and then continue to stand for it.
So, do we send more troops in? I didn't listen to the speech last night, but I read the speech afterwards. I was very impressed. Now the president has to sell his plan. I believe he will send out his trips (Rice, Snow, et. al). He mentioned a new "committe" that will review plans and make new suggestions. He has to make this "bi-partisan" committe appear to be un-biased and they have to sell this to congress and to the people.
Should we send more troops in? I don't know. I hope that the right decision has been made. I hope that the US will stand behind the decision. I don't know what other choices we have.
I invite opinion here. Tell your friends about my post and ask them to comment. For the first time ever, I'm going to send a specific email to some friends and get them to comment.
2 comments:
I agree with you. There are a lot of people out there who are against this war. I have straddled the fence on this over the past 4-5 years. It would be hard to do otherwise when you have a brother who is over there, right? On the one hand, I didn't like the fact that he had to go to war. On the other hand, there is a cause to stand up for. Should the war be over with...I would say yes. Should we leave now? Absolutely not. But is there a plan in place to "finish what was started" and leave? That's the biggest question I have right now. If there isn't a plan to eventually come out, can't we go on forever? (or at least until Jesus comes back)
I'm not going to debate whether or not we should have went to war or not. We're already there and no amount of debate will change that. Discussion needs to be turning on how we can get out of there in the best way possible.
If we ever manage to actually stop the civil war going on over there what's to keep them from going right back at it the second U.S. troops leave? They managed to wait out Saddam's rule, so what would keep them from waiting out ours? The situation will never stabilize with all these little factions unwilling to cooperate and it shouldn't be the responsibility of our soldiers to serve as a buffer in these squabbles.
Post a Comment