What's the payback for the continuing loss of these kids lives? Is it oil, is it an Iraqi democracy (how long will that last if we are gone?), is it phantom WMD's, is it Bush family revenge? These are real people with friends, parents, brothers and sisters, wives and kids of their own; each one leaves behind sorrow and wasted potential. To the politicians, they are expendable pawns that are weighed against some "greater good". The first "greater good" turned out to be based on a false premise; the new "greater good" is a crap shoot at best, assuming that what's being articulated is the true motivation.
Sadly, I think it boils down to a theory held by the neocons that surround Bush; a theory not unlike the domino theory held by military people back in the '50s. The neocons saw terrorism as a growing problem and they thought the best way to combat it effectively was 'to seed' democracy in the ME. Since they didn't like Saddam, they chose Iraq to be the first seeding. They tied it to 9/11 in order to make it look like it made sense but it was all BS.
Like most ideologues, they couldn't see the forest for the trees and overstepped......a mistake that we as a nation will pay for for a long time. I think the oil benefits were ancillary.....they certainly like them......after all, they're mostly oil people but I believe the prime motivation is ideological.
To understand them, look no further than DR. I hope they are more sophisticated than he but they essentially think like he does. He sees nothing wrong with what's going on in Iraq because like most ideologues the end justifies the means. Its the same with OBL. The multiple deaths mean little to them......they are just another means.
Bush's actions which most of the world sees as foolhardy, they see as courageous and full of integrity. That's how they continue to delude themselves and ignore what others are saying. It is a very dangerous situation and we need to be very afraid.
Poor Jessica Lynch got caught in their crosshairs and she is outraged by their lies.....as should all Americans be. However, that's not happening........the outrage is there but its weak and scattered. I don't understand why Americans have been fooled this easily. There is no there there and one lie is stacked on another. If you have a clue, I would like to hear it.
Nonetheless, the neocons' theory is a reactionary one dating back to the Reagan years, and is based on only a partial understanding of the facts........for that reason among many, it is destined to fail. IMO the cost to us will be determined by how long it takes the American public to wake up!
ted |
