Yes, it's important to be honest with one's self. But it's also important to be honest with and to others. Let me explain what I meant when I wrote that you might be "fooling" yourself that this war was better than wars past.
My objection is that you were inferring that this has been a good war, a better war, compared to others. I see no such comparison--all wars are bad. And no one should fool themselves otherwise. Here are some of my distinctions which you can compare with your own:
First, this was a war that needed not to happen. The reasons for its justification have been proven false.
Second, when a democratic nation moves into a fullscale warlike environment, as America did with its war buildup, the populace of this nation ordinarily supports the action. This was not the case with the Iraq War. Every time Bush's support level for the war reached to the 50 percent or lower mark, Americans got a hefty dose of lies, distortions and varying degrees of propaganda, this in order to keep approval support levels above 50 percent. It's my contention that when a nation like America goes to war, this war should have the support of a substantial majority of its people. This did not happen with Iraq.
Third, this Iraq War was clearly an offensive war by the United States, much like Iraq's offensive war was with Kuwait. The US, using its economic power, managed to drag a few reluctant nations into a theoretical support column, but this was done with 75 percent of the people from those nations actually opposing the war, and it was done without any support from the United Nations. Indeed, America's invasion was waged in complete violation of international law.
Fourth, in perhaps the ultimate example of presidential ineptitude, Bush thought he had seized an extraorindary public relations opportunity when he thundered into the public consciousness by landing a plane onto the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier, in order to pronounce to the world that America's Iraq mission was accomplished. This whole event was staged and mostly aimed for producing future campaign film footage! How could Bush make such a brazen statement when, at the time, neither OBL or Saddam had been captured and American soldiers were still dying and having their limbs torn and blown into into bits?
Fifth, Bush's war has succeeded in creating multiple mini-skirmishes. Iraq is now in a state of a civil war and this is reaching into Iraq's surrounding nations (all of which opposed Bush's war). How does one truly measure the death and casualty count under such conditions?
Sixth, there is no guarantee that when the Shiites assume power in Iraq (and they will!) that Iraq's Sunni population won't become repressed much like the Shiites and Kurds were under Saddam. There is no guarantee that the war Bush has begun will have an end to it.
So, Goldy, this is not a simple war that can so easily be compared to wars past. This war has an unending nature to it, its very prosecution was wrongful and opposed by most people throughout the whole planet. It is by no means a good war. And it serves no useful purpose to now compare it to other wars past. Perhaps future historians will be able to do this, but this can't be done now. |
