Posted on 02/01/2005 4:58:13 AM PST by Rutles4Ever
Maybe you're like me and have opposed the Iraq war since before the shooting started -- not to the point of joining any peace protests, but at least letting people know where you stood.
You didn't change your mind when our troops swept quickly into Baghdad or when you saw the rabble that celebrated the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue, figuring that little had been accomplished and that the tough job still lay ahead.
Despite your misgivings, you didn't demand the troops be brought home immediately afterward, believing the United States must at least try to finish what it started to avoid even greater bloodshed. And while you cheered Saddam's capture, you couldn't help but thinking I-told-you-so in the months that followed as the violence continued to spread and the death toll mounted.
By now, you might have even voted against George Bush -- a second time -- to register your disapproval.
But after watching Sunday's election in Iraq and seeing the first clear sign that freedom really may mean something to the Iraqi people, you have to be asking yourself: What if it turns out Bush was right, and we were wrong?
It's hard to swallow, isn't it?
Americans cross own barrier
If you fit the previously stated profile, I know you're fighting the idea, because I am, too. And if you were with the president from the start, I've already got your blood boiling.
For those who've been in the same boat with me, we don't need to concede the point just yet. There's a long way to go. But I think we have to face the possibility.
I won't say that it had never occurred to me previously, but it's never gone through my mind as strongly as when I watched the television coverage from Iraq that showed long lines of people risking their lives by turning out to vote, honest looks of joy on so many of their faces.
Some CNN guest expert was opining Monday that the Iraqi people crossed a psychological barrier by voting and getting a taste of free choice (setting aside the argument that they only did so under orders from their religious leaders).
I think it's possible that some of the American people will have crossed a psychological barrier as well.
Deciding democracy's worth
On the other side of that barrier is a concept some of us have had a hard time swallowing:
Maybe the United States really can establish a peaceable democratic government in Iraq, and if so, that would be worth something.
Would it be worth all the money we've spent? Certainly.
Would it be worth all the lives that have been lost? That's the more difficult question, and while I reserve judgment on that score until such a day arrives, it seems probable that history would answer yes to that as well.
I don't want to get carried away in the moment.
Going to war still sent so many terrible messages to the world.
Most of the obstacles to success in Iraq are all still there, the ones that have always led me to believe that we would eventually be forced to leave the country with our tail tucked between our legs. (I've maintained from the start that if you were impressed by the demonstrations in the streets of Baghdad when we arrived, wait until you see how they celebrate our departure, no matter the circumstances.)
In and of itself, the voting did nothing to end the violence. The forces trying to regain the power they have lost -- and the outside elements supporting them -- will be no less determined to disrupt our efforts and to drive us out.
Somebody still has to find a way to bring the Sunnis into the political process before the next round of elections at year's end. The Iraqi government still must develop the capacity to protect its people.
And there seems every possibility that this could yet end in civil war the day we leave or with Iraq becoming an Islamic state every bit as hostile to our national interests as was Saddam.
Penance could be required
But on Sunday, we caught a glimpse of the flip side. We could finally see signs that a majority of the Iraqi people perceive something to be gained from this brave new world we are forcing on them.
Instead of making the elections a further expression of "Yankee Go Home," their participation gave us hope that all those soldiers haven't died in vain.
Obviously, I'm still curious to see if Bush is willing to allow the Iraqis to install a government that is free to kick us out or to oppose our other foreign policy efforts in the region.
So is the rest of the world.
For now, though, I think we have to cut the president some slack about a timetable for his exit strategy.
If it turns out Bush was right all along, this is going to require some serious penance.
Maybe I'd have to vote Republican in 2008.
God, what an idiot. Gee, after seeing them ON TELEVISION it occurs to this guy that Iraqi elections might actually be something worthwhile. And he figures this "change in opinion" is important enough to share with the whole world in a Chi Sun Times column.
Hmmm ... lets think about this
The Iraqis could either be led to freedom with the help of not only Americans ... but 30+ other countries ?(aka International Support)
Or they could be led to the torture chambers and shredders with the help of Saddam and his two murdering sons?
I have a question ... Do Liberals every think?
This is the part I really can't understand from the right-wing, pro-America, patriotic crowd. What kind of modern country would force, force freedom on people?
The kind I'm proud to be associated with, that's what kind.
Anyone who could write a sentence like the one I quoted needs a serious look at the assumptions that rule his life.
Shalom. Shalom.
.....If you fit the previously stated profile.....
You are a lazy mindless leftist propaganda stuffed rind headed imbecile who is unworthy of being called an American.
On the other hand, you could say Mark has done an invaluable service by helping to lead the anti-war left out into the desert of nihilism, where they have perished as the rest of the World passes them by. The anti-war left has done much more to destroy the Democrat Party than to help it. With the coming elevation of Howard Dean to DNC Chair, they are the gift that keeps on giving.
Now, as progress proceeds in Iraq, the anti-war left, and by extension the Democrat Party, are seen as mindless nay-sayers, hopelessly out of touch with reality and the native American optimism. This really could lead to permanent minority status for the Democrat Party.
"Most of the obstacles to success in Iraq are all still there, the ones that have always led me to believe that we would eventually be forced to leave the country with our tail tucked between our legs."
Yep, the 'rats and the MSM are still working to undermine our country, doing everything in their power to force us to leave with our tail tucked between our legs.
Dean as Chairman = Christmas in July
I agree. I think he will -- what a good outcome for him and for the world.
Carolyn
Keep it up Mr Journalist and we'll invite you to the unveiling of the Great W's statue in Baghdad.
I sent a note to a friend of mine who was recently deployed to Baghdad to let him know how proud we average Joes were of our military and the great gift they had handed Iraq. He said all the troops were moved by the huge numbers who turned out to vote. He spoke of Iraqis who were wounded who tended their wounds and then got back in line, all the while being cheered on by the troops.
Our soldiers and Marines know what they have done. And today they don't care what the MSM, or Barbara Boxer and Ted Kennedy and John Kerry say. They are proud and glad to have been a part of history.
Shalom.
I agree.
Were I a younger man, I'd have gone and fought just to be a part of something historic. Many, many people consume food, eliminate the same, and then reproduce. This isn't hard as most of the animal kingdom does this routinely.
I'm not minimizing what it takes to raise children into good adults, but it isn't heroism or history making either.
My response:
"Thanks for nothing pal. You and your kind have tried to undermine this process from the very beginning, inflating every set-back and ignoring any step towards progress. You jumped on the bogus yellow cake story and ignored the stories showing that Wilson lied. You proclaimed the genius of Fahrenheit 9/11. You threw off accusations like "Bush Lied" even though he was saying about the WMD's exactly what every other leader - including Clinton, Gore, and Kerry - has said."
"And now that the Iraqi people have showed more guts in their little finger than you have shown in your whole miserable body throughout the sorry existence of your life, you're willing to concede that maybe, just maybe, you were wrong and Bush was right."
"F-U pal and the horse you rode in on."
THIS is the primary problem. There is no doubt in my mind that the left in this country in their hatred of the President and the military has emboldened the terrorists and COST AMERICAN LIVES.
I don't know what kind of penance he's talking about, but it had better be horrendous............
As opposed to the message we sent in the Clinton admin: Bomb us at will, attack our military assets abroad, weaken our credibility worldwide, and our response will be, MAYBE, a few dozen cruise missiles lobbed at one of your abandoned terrorist camps.
I, too, had been a traditional democrat in my early adult years. The last democrat I've voted for was Jimmy Carter.
Despite voting for Republicans, I never considered myself one of them until Dubya came along. It was obvious to me that algore despised everything I supported, not to mention despising those like me. I simply admitted that I'd been a conservative for years, arguing conservative positions and conservative causes.
The democrats had gone down some wormhole and morphed into something that I'd never be able to support. To sum it up, they just got to the point where they don't support normal people and normal things anymore.
Their base at this point can best be described as a gathering of the bizarre.
Does anyone else here watch "American Dreams" on NBC Sunday nights? (after last Sunday it will be on hiatus until March).
It's set in the sixties and the Vietnam War is raging and they present basically all points of view. Last Sunday a main character, the Marine just back from Vietnam, confronted his sister for joining the "peace" movement and as she yelled how she did it for him, to save him, he yelled back that she didn't get it...that their "peace" movement was making it harder and getting them killed. Clearly she still didn't get it...she's on track to become a "journalist", but such is the way it was. I was impressed they had that Marine character say it just that baldly.
"Going to war still sent so many terrible messages to the world."
You're damn right it did! Terrible in the eyes of those who want to see us fall. It told the world that this country buried its head in the sand for too damned long - and we're not putting up with this bull$h!t anymore!
This article, if genuine in the writer's message conveyed, gives me a glimmer of hope that at least SOME of the $h!t-for-brains neighsayers and Bush-bashers might - just MIGHT - be able to pull their heads outta their asses long enough to smell the sweet aroma - of REALITY.
Some on the left will only be happy if we are "kicked out" and "opposed on our other foreign policy efforts". Sad.
I still believe that George W. Bush is a classic liberal. He might have been a democrat if the party hadn't become the party of perverts and baby killers.
Certainly the President's positions on issues such as Social Security (keep it but privatize it) and education (throw tons of Federal money at it) are more classically liberal than conservative. His deficits certainly are.
Shalom.
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