Posted on 02/01/2005 4:39:35 PM PST by katman
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.
And there are people who expressed stridant opposition even though if it were Clinton in office they would have been the shouting the loudest hallelujahs. I cannot express the loathing I feel for them.
"Does history record any case in which the majority was right?" --Heinlein
At least this guy has enough guts to admit he was wrong and Bush was right. I give him that much.
Color me skeptical.
I fully expect even thinking libs will play the game of passive loathing of the President -- hoping that even minor setbacks in Iraq will result in some sort of political advantage for the left. What have they got to lose? If Iraq collapses then they get to say, "See, I told you so," but if successes in Iraq continue, they can always maintain one dodge or another.
What inevitably happens is that one in denial of this will twist facts around so that all ideals may be simultaneously satisfied, that is, that there was a practical course of action that did not involve violence that would have served freedom and democracy as well. This is why so many of them insisted that sanctions and negotiation would have produced the same result despite clear evidence that they had not and would not. Many European theorists are not so hampered because they aren't so enamored of the "freedom and democracy" ideals themselves, that the latter are merely convenient abstractions with which to flog those who really do believe in them with the accusation of hypocrisy. Those people may be safely ignored. The rest should be cultivated. Rigorous examination of ideals in the fact of their practical results takes an intellectual toughness that not everyone possesses.
"fact" = "face" Spellchecking won't help you now, Drill...
No, we are giving humanitarian aid to freedom fighters by enforcing justice and defending America. How do you "impose" freedom on hostages?
This is obvious absurdity, as C.S. Lewis put it in The Abolition of Man. Many people have been indocrinated by LIEberals during this American Education Crisis, as you can see from the above quote. It is difficult for many to deal with the fact that they have been defrauded in a way worse than an Enron scam, and on a larger scale and with deeper consequences. It's like the economic Great Depression, this poverty of reason.
Denny Crane: "I want two things. First God and then Fox News."
“...freedom really may mean something to the Iraqi people...”
You really think so?
“What if it turns out Bush was right, and we were wrong?”
Is that actually possible?
“Maybe the United States really can...”
Would that count as a miracle?
“Obviously, I'm still curious to see if Bush is willing to allow the Iraqis to install a government that is free...”
Obviously, you still think Bush lies.
I think the real message is: My writing career will probably do a lot better if I’m on the winning side, and it’s starting to look like I’m not.
One more thing, please..a link to the DU thread on this column..
no dissing here.
i couldn't believe ted's remarks during the fight with al sadr's people.
the stuff kennedy said one day was repeated the next by al sadr on al jazzera.
This is amazing.
The truth hurts huh Dems.
good essay though
Reason and Logic are tools of the White Male Oppressor.
A large % of the "left" are clueless fools. The rest are commies. The left has alwas known Bush was right. Their bit-h is that they aren't the ones running things and handling the dollar$. All their editorializing" is smoke and mirrors to cover their trail.
| What if Bush has been right about Iraq all along? |
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| Posted by JCRoberts On News/Activism 02/01/2005 11:07:15 AM EST · 62 replies · 2,176+ views Chicago Sun-Times ^ | 2/1/05 | Mark Brown |
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| What if Bush has been right about Iraq all along? (Misunderestimation of the Democra-nator Alert) |
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| Posted by Rutles4Ever On News/Activism 02/01/2005 7:58:13 AM EST · 159 replies · 3,411+ views Chicago Sun-Times ^ | 2/1/2005 | Mark Brown |
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The last gasp of the MSM reporters/Hollywood out of work actors/politicians in general.
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