I don't especially relish this sort of political weblog entry, because nobody ever knows 100% of the picture. But that doesn't stop anybody else from sounding off, and I feel that if I don't say something, then I'm liable to be counted as mute support.
I'm against this ridiculous war on Iraq. I don't think American citizens are being given the right information. I think our nation's obsession with 24-hour media coverage is responsible for spreading more "allegedlys" and "reportedlys" than actual fact. And I still haven't heard what Hussein did against us in the first place. One year ago, the dude's name couldn't even make the evening news.
Most popular opinion polls indicate that most Americans think we're invading Iraq as a response to the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, which plainly isn't true. Or are we invading to stop Hussein's weapons programs, of which we have exactly no evidence of such weapons. Or are we genuinely trying to liberate the downtrodden Iraqi people? Seeing as how we support and have supported dictatorships across the globe (including Hussein himself at one point), I don't really buy the humanitarian cause.
As a country, we look like arrogant bullies - defying the UN, assuming that we can mop this up in a week, decrying rogue states when we have more weapons of mass destruction than anybody. I had a disappointing conversation with a friend at work (C'mon, man! Think about what you're saying!) where I asked why Hussein had yet to use his weapons of mass destruction. I was told that he has them, but he can't launch them. If you can't launch your weapons of mass destruction, then they are not weapons of mass destruction. They are paperweights. Rob Cockerham of cockeyed.com has said it best: "...if the United States does not find any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in Iraq, I will work to get someone else elected as President."
Yes, I think Hussein lives off the fat of the land while his people starve. Yes, I think he hates America in general, as most Middle Eastern countries do (for good reasons, by and large.) Yes, I think he is abusing Iraq's government and religion for his own use. But do I think we have the right to storm in there and kill him? No. Not until he actually does something. If he had been spending the last six months lobbing missiles at Kuwait. If he was found to have worked with al Qaeda. If he was found to be breeding anthrax. But he's not... at least, not that ordinary Americans would know, which is part of the problem. He's just a jerk, and being a jerk shouldn't be enough to justify a U.S.-sponsored assassination with no support from within.
I understand why most of Europe pushed for diplomacy. I know it sounds weak and useless to the rough 'n tough American mindset, but the world was asking questions that Bush and Powell just couldn't answer to satisfaction. And as for accusing France and other "Allied" nations of not supporting us, I applaud their willingness to stand against the U.S. juggernaut. To say that we saved their ass in every World War is to oversimplify some of the most terrible conflicts of our times, and to commit nationalist racism for the sake of the old "never fired, dropped twice" joke. Regardless, how many years do we expect them to be beholden to the U.S. for our help in WWII? That was sixty years ago. Sixty years ago we were bitter enemies with Japan, and we now consider them one of our strongest economic allies. The point is that things change, and you can't hold up allegiances from over a half-century ago and claim ipso facto cooperation today. Remember, if we had invaded any Middle Eastern country in the 80s, it would have been Iran... with Iraq backing us up.
A common response to this viewpoint is "Well, you can be ideologically against the war, but you're for our soldiers, right?" I am for our soldiers in the same way that I am for firefighters or police officers. They have a difficult job and have to put their own life on the line. But if 1,000 firefighters are told to do something I feel is wrong, then I'm against 1,000 firefighters. At some point in their lives, the soldiers overseas made the decision to join the military and forfeit all future moral decisions to their superiors. I'm not for our troops creating a conflict where there was none. Now, it's not like I'm going to spit on veterans or anything, but I'm not saluting the flag and crying over yellow ribbons either.
