2003-03

2003-03-20t22:09:00Z | RE: Politics.
Day After Entering Iraq

1. Everyone agrees that Hussein is a brutal, criminal dictator. A liberated Iraq will be better off without him. He will be stopped but he is also just one of many and he was fairly well contained. The world is wary of the US because it seems that the US will go down its Axis of Evil list and then who knows where it will stop? Iran and North Korea should feel very threatened.

2. Everyone agrees that 9/11 was an act of evil. The US has a right to feel vengeful about 9/11 but there are higher forms of justice other than "an eye for an eye". The US will "Remember the xxx" and "Never forget xxx", that's good for feelings, but what does thinking tell you is the course of action? If everyone took that style personally, we'd be killing our neighbors left and right. We should hunt down Al Queda but the link between Iraq and Al Queda is puny. It is also wrong to try to pin the Al Queda problem on former administrations because 9/11 took everyone by surprise. Terrorists have evolved: they are more organized, suicidal, non-hostage taking, creative, experienced, etc. What have we learned from 9/11? http://www.skirsch.com/politics/iraq/Lessons911.htm.

3. Everyone wants peace, freedom, etc. This includes the so-called pro-war/pro-freedom side as well as the pro-peace/pro-diplomacy side. These labels are very easily abused and tend to be counter productive. The anti-French sentiments by some of the pro-war/pro-freedom side are childish: we might as well send back the Statue of Liberty, or destroy all Chevrolets, or stop playing computer games made by French owned Blizzard/Vivendi. Some of the actions by the pro-peace/pro- diplomacy side are also inflammatory and counter-productive. Both sides can be stupid: it is easy to find dumb behavior on both sides, e.g.: http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/31403_local_rodeofight.html and http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20030319/frontpage/23705.shtml. Both sides should cut out the name calling and discuss issues instead of feelings.

4. Everyone agrees that WMD should be controlled. Sure Saddam has had 12 years to do so and he continues to be obtuse about it. However he has no nukes and WMD/WMD programs are not as easy to hide as toothpicks. This would have been easy to contain and reduce with weapons inspectors. Even taking into account 12 years, Resolution 1441, etc., if there is a chance that the WMD can be removed diplomatically, then ethics demand that the diplomatic route must be taken as far as possible.

5. Everyone agrees that the international community should solve the international problems together. That's why the US keeps stressing the word "coalition of the willing" and stressing how large their coalition is (hehe). However, there was not and is not international agreement about when action should be taken and what action should be taken.

Saddam's regime should have been toppled with more international agreement. Bush did not take the diplomatic option as far as it could go. Sure France threatened to veto but the US never had the majority vote on the UN Security Council anyway. I think 1-2 more months of working out the diplomatic option would have been the better route to go. Bush never gave us a convincing argument for the immediacy of attacking Hussein. Obviously Bush's diplomacy is weak if he can, in some fashion, lose a popularity contest to Hussein.

I think the US will stomp out Saddam very quickly (the oil fields may not survive), but it would have been much cheaper with a truly larger coalition. Bush's actions route has tarnished diplomatic relations that have taken years to develop. The US must act multi-laterally on the international arena. The US may be the only super power but we are still only 4.6% of the world in population.

If so many ordinary people think that Bush is wrong and too war-like, then the terrorists and potential terrorists must think that he is truly a devil. Especially considering that the Iraq strike will be perceived as an action by the West (US and UK) plus Israel.

The US military is mighty. I have 3 brothers and a handful of cousins in the US military. Bless them all! But force isn't the answer for everything. At some point the world has to decide that law and diplomacy, not war, are the first, best, and last choices when it comes to solving global problems. Especially in a world where a tower can be taken down with a box cutter.