No WMDs? Ya' Think?
What I'm having trouble with is understanding why (and, of course, I have several hypotheses) people still believe the president. Not that I'm believing everything coming from the other side, either. It's all a hype-machine. Everything that happens can be spun to fit the view or whim of any political viewpoint. But every time I hear news of the events in Iraq, I just don't understand why American's ever believed it was the right thing to do. Bush clearly wanted the war so badly, he would fabricate (or at least manipulate) any data about Iraq's WMD "program" necessary to make believers out of us. The rest of the world didn't by the BS. They saw it for what it was: a preening cock, kicking his feet in the dust; a show. Then, when they tried to tell us to wait, when some of our most important allies tried to block us from invading a sovereign state, we made jokes. We laughed about supersizing our "Freedom Fries" to fatten our already bloated egos while our men and women in camo left home to do their duty (God save them all, and bring them home soon).
I felt like it wasn't right from the start. Something about a "pre-emptive strike" just didn't sit well with me. Now I know why. I wasn't right, in an ethical sense, in a patriotic sense, nor especially in a Christian context. I've discussed this with many Christian friends, but most of their arguments come out sounding as if America has some sort of manifest destiny in the world (they probably believe that America is one of the players in the Apocalypse scenario) and/or that somehow Democracy is the "right" kind of government. Therefore, to impose democracy on everyone in the world is a good thing (or as Bush phrases it, "bringing democracy to them." Like it's some kind of gift.) We know nothing of these people, we know nothing of what they want.
This attack, this war, and it's ensuing occupation (which, if we remember, Bush promised us would not happen) are unjust in any sense. Especially the sense of Christian ethics (blessed are the warmongers? ...hmm, doesn't really flow!).
So, the latest is this. Surprise, surprise, the new American weapons inspector, Charles Duelfer, has returned with the same conclusions as the first American weapons inspector, David Kay. What I wonder is, how many inspectors does it take to (screw in a lightbulb) convince us that using the national defense for offensive purposes was wrong by any measure, regardless of spin.
Superman, Spiderman, Batman. These are why we still love Mr. Bush. His cabinet, and his "homeland security" secretary, continue to impress upon us how dangerous this world is. Orange alerts, yellow alerts. We've never been at green. I doubt seriously if we've been at green at any point in the history of our country. Democracy is a fragile, human thing. But our government wants to keep us paranoid. Keep us afraid. But more importantly keep us thinking that only they can protect us. Anyone else is inadequate. Mindlessly we put our trust in them while they continue to fight us further into a war that has little to do with terrorism (which they can't protect us from, either) and spend us further into debt. But they make us feel safe. Even if we're really no safer now than ever before. They are the blanket to which we clung in the middle of the night. The same blanket we laughed about later when we realized that if there really were monsters in the closet (and there are!) that eighth-inch thick layer of cotton/poly blend wasn't going to stop them.
Meanwhile, Bush/Cheney continue ask other countries for help funding a war that they tried to tell us was a bad idea to begin with. What if I asked my dad to buy me a car? He says, "No, your too irresponsible, you're a bad driver. I won't buy you a car." You think your dad is irrational. You think he's just being impertinent and capricious. He doesn't know you, he doesn't understand your driving record. So, you save up and buy a car for yourself. In a matter of months (shortly after declaring yourself the best driver in the world) you have managed to completely total your car. Why, at this point, would your dad help you pay for the damages? I think I can understand the indignance of the likes of France, Russia, et al.
I just don't understand why so many Christians have aligned themselves with him. Why were we so quick to cry "impeachment" when Clinton lied under oath, but no one got killed? Meanwhile, the human death toll in Bush's war exceeds 11,000. That's 1,000 American servicemen and women, and over 10,000 Iraqi civilians (sorry, we call them "insurgents," that helps us see them as "bad" and denies the fact that they're just trying to protect their country from foreign invaders). What if China decided they wanted to liberate us from democracy and "bring communism to America!" Would we be dissidents, insurgents, or would we call ourselves Freedom Fighters? Would we expect other countries to come to the aid of China, or would we then turn to the UN to help stabilize our country?
It's really not that different.
I felt like it wasn't right from the start. Something about a "pre-emptive strike" just didn't sit well with me. Now I know why. I wasn't right, in an ethical sense, in a patriotic sense, nor especially in a Christian context. I've discussed this with many Christian friends, but most of their arguments come out sounding as if America has some sort of manifest destiny in the world (they probably believe that America is one of the players in the Apocalypse scenario) and/or that somehow Democracy is the "right" kind of government. Therefore, to impose democracy on everyone in the world is a good thing (or as Bush phrases it, "bringing democracy to them." Like it's some kind of gift.) We know nothing of these people, we know nothing of what they want.
This attack, this war, and it's ensuing occupation (which, if we remember, Bush promised us would not happen) are unjust in any sense. Especially the sense of Christian ethics (blessed are the warmongers? ...hmm, doesn't really flow!).
So, the latest is this. Surprise, surprise, the new American weapons inspector, Charles Duelfer, has returned with the same conclusions as the first American weapons inspector, David Kay. What I wonder is, how many inspectors does it take to (screw in a lightbulb) convince us that using the national defense for offensive purposes was wrong by any measure, regardless of spin.
Superman, Spiderman, Batman. These are why we still love Mr. Bush. His cabinet, and his "homeland security" secretary, continue to impress upon us how dangerous this world is. Orange alerts, yellow alerts. We've never been at green. I doubt seriously if we've been at green at any point in the history of our country. Democracy is a fragile, human thing. But our government wants to keep us paranoid. Keep us afraid. But more importantly keep us thinking that only they can protect us. Anyone else is inadequate. Mindlessly we put our trust in them while they continue to fight us further into a war that has little to do with terrorism (which they can't protect us from, either) and spend us further into debt. But they make us feel safe. Even if we're really no safer now than ever before. They are the blanket to which we clung in the middle of the night. The same blanket we laughed about later when we realized that if there really were monsters in the closet (and there are!) that eighth-inch thick layer of cotton/poly blend wasn't going to stop them.
Meanwhile, Bush/Cheney continue ask other countries for help funding a war that they tried to tell us was a bad idea to begin with. What if I asked my dad to buy me a car? He says, "No, your too irresponsible, you're a bad driver. I won't buy you a car." You think your dad is irrational. You think he's just being impertinent and capricious. He doesn't know you, he doesn't understand your driving record. So, you save up and buy a car for yourself. In a matter of months (shortly after declaring yourself the best driver in the world) you have managed to completely total your car. Why, at this point, would your dad help you pay for the damages? I think I can understand the indignance of the likes of France, Russia, et al.
I just don't understand why so many Christians have aligned themselves with him. Why were we so quick to cry "impeachment" when Clinton lied under oath, but no one got killed? Meanwhile, the human death toll in Bush's war exceeds 11,000. That's 1,000 American servicemen and women, and over 10,000 Iraqi civilians (sorry, we call them "insurgents," that helps us see them as "bad" and denies the fact that they're just trying to protect their country from foreign invaders). What if China decided they wanted to liberate us from democracy and "bring communism to America!" Would we be dissidents, insurgents, or would we call ourselves Freedom Fighters? Would we expect other countries to come to the aid of China, or would we then turn to the UN to help stabilize our country?
It's really not that different.
<< Home