Do you think we as a nation would win the war faster, and with less casualties if the American people closed ranks and supported the decision we made collectively?
Whenever we go to war, there will always be dissent. We will never get 100% of the people to agree. There will always be people who are absolutely against going to war for any reason. And of course there will be people that are opposed to war for malevalent reasons of all sorts.
Nevertheless going to war is a serious matter.
If we go to war, we have to make the case for war. We can't say Nigel said this, Carmen said that, and Wilma said such and such and that is why we went to war.
We have to use the latest intelligence and we have to be man (or woman) enough to own up to making the case for war.
Even under the best of circumstances - if we use the latest information, if we make the best reasonable case for war, we get proper approval for the war - we could still get it wrong and make mistakes. That is the nature of being a human being. We make mistakes.
Having said all that, it is not unpatriotic to:
1) Question the case for war
2) Question the planning for war (including budgeting and manning)
3) Question the exit strategy
That's the problem I have with all these anti-Iraq military posters. NOT ONCE! NEVER have I seen them patriotically get behind the effort, knowing full well to do just the opposite does nothing but decay the morale of our troops and support the enemy.
Life is complex. You can't lump all people who are against what you believe together just as you can't lump all people who seem to support the war together in one group.
Life is not a binary system. You are not just patriotic or not patriotic. There is a full and complex spectrum of patriotism.
But that is one of the most glaring problems with the right wing. They just can not fathom such reality. Life cannot be defined using only a binary view.
Take the case of our liberal mainstream media. What cause is served when they do nothing but run around and film every bombing in Iraq, yet neglect the thousands of other acts of kindness from Iraqi's which happen every day?
That alone should make you think. Why should the media - made up of some of the smartest people in world - people who can live virtually anywhere in the world - choose to live in American and have views that differ from you? The same can be said for those in Academia - the cream of Western Civilization - why do they seem to be opposed to your point of view?
I am not asking you for an answer. All I am asking you to do is to think about it.
Protecting minority opinions has nothing to do with it. Those opinions have been expressed fully and completely.
Protecting minority opinion is what democracy is all about. A democracy is all about not having the majority go around killing the minority. By minority I mean in terms of POV, skin color, religion or non religion, national origin, etc, etc.
Recognizing when those expressions undermine the morale of our troops and give support to our enemy is.
1). Is it good for our troops to be put into a war that we can't win? We can't win this war because there is no definition of what winning this war means. (by your definition - I assume - we have already won the war. We got rid of Saddam Hussein and we got rid of his army. But we can't leave - we are still fighting because there is no definition for "winning" this war),
2). Is it good for our troops to be sent to war without a proper budget to fight the war? When a general said that we needed several hundred thousand troops, he was not only ignored - he was sent into retirement.
But again, my main point here is that life is complex. The road to hell is paved with great intentions. |
