I realized today the source of a point of confusion for me. You see, I was against the war in Iraq but now I'm against the withdrawal of US troops. But I realize that these apparently contradictory positions are entirely consistent with a single moral premise: The state of Iraqi society and the life of its citizens.
I was against the war because I thought it would make them worse off (and sadly I was correct). However I firmly believe, based on the same sort of evidence and consideration I used to be against the war in the beginning, that a withdrawal would make them worse off, again. So by considering the effect of our national decisions on the people who actually pay the price for them, I've gone from peacenik to hawk.
Funny world we live in.
(PS: I'm sorry if anyone thinks I'm spoiling the blog by bringing up this kind of topic. I hope that we all feel free to talk about anything here, but you are also free to ignore me.
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3 comments:
I don't think your spoiling it at all, you often make very good points.
I agree. You do.
I have been thinking about that myself.
It's so interesting how one man can screw up so much...and make it even harder to fix the problems.
I talked with Jerrod regarding this issue the other day after thinking about it for a very long time. In all due respect - these arguments do seem to have a humanitarian and logical process - what remains unchanged is history. The very same arguments were made as politician and policy makers tried to find a "way" to leave VietNam...What finally set the course were the students at Penn State who were gunned down by National Guardsmen as they participated in an anti-war demonstration. As my memory serves me - the anti-war demonstrations and the death of those students brought a consciousness to the country that had been absent before- that being that all of life is sacred and the loss of human life is a toll that should never be expended in the endeavors to gain power and control. To add to the confusion - Irag is not the same country nor the same culture that it was five years ago - the US influence has changed it forever - there is no answer or solution to save face or to fix this country. My vote is to give an extended date that we will be gone - slow withdrawn and drawn down of forces and then leave...Vietnam survived - took years to recover but it never would have happened had we remained - to what purpose would it serve the US to remain in Irag and to what expense...I say cut bait now and leave.
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