Even before reading this post by jeanne d'arc I was concerned about what should be done now that the war has started.
It goes without saying that it is proper to hope and pray that our military personnel are kept as safe as possible and brought home as soon as possible. They are serving their country at great risk to themselves and deserve our respect and support. I think that it is just as important to remember the Iraqi people, hoping and praying for their safety as well. Even so, trusting that God will manage to make some lemonade out of the huge pile of lemons which Bush & Co. have made does little to help us understand what actions we should take.
I was further prompted to write by some comments I received recently. I decided that I liked part of what I wrote there in response and that I wanted to pull those remarks out where there was a possibility that one or two others might see it.
While I was adamently opposed to the war before it started (and still believe that it was unnecessary, illegal, and a bad idea all around), now that it has started I'm not sure what the best thing to do would be. I have an image of someone reaching into a hornet's nest in order to get something and then being unable to decide whether it is better to leave their hand inside the nest where it is getting stung or withdraw the hand which will unblock the opening allowing the hornets to attack other areas than just the hand. Having made a bad decision, there are no good choices for backing away even though it might not be good to stay. I just wish we had an administration that could look beyond their own selfish interests (OK, I admit they also consider their friends' interests, even if they don't give a rat's ass about anyone else's) when making decisions which affect so many people.
I think it is important to remember that this administration is clearly going to try to continue with their empire building and homeland supressing and that we must be ready to oppose these new actions.
In the meantime, I think that the best end to this illegal war would be a quick surrender by Iraq. I don't have any reason to believe that this will occur.
If a protracted and deadly war does develop, I just hope that more people will finally recognize that Bush is taking us down the wrong road and will be less supportive so that we can have a chance to get some better leaders when the elections roll around. Less support for Bush might even help to minimize the damage he does to the world and to our country if more congress critters see that their political future is better served by not goose-stepping behind our would-be emperor.
I have to admit, to my shame, that I sometimes find myself hoping for the war to go very badly so that Bush can be stopped before he manages to entrench himself in an unassailable military dictatorship, but in my saner moments I assert that I'd rather have a quick victory with minimum deaths, even if it means that Bush might look good to his brainwashed followers, rather than see huge numbers of casualties from a protracted war.
Posted by JoKeR at March 27, 2003 05:07 PM | TrackBack