Cakewalk? Uh, like don't remind me dude.
"Time changes everything" (Tompall Glazer)
Before we get too far away, I think its important to remind myself of some facts related to Iraq. Simple facts, with rather large brush strokes, but the kind of facts that throw today's spin into high relief.
Bush has been asked, as recently as the presidential debate a couple of days ago, if the 1000 plus lost lives of Americans, and countless Iraqis, are "worth it". When put that way, how can anyone even take the question seriously. I mean, what is Bush supposed to say, nah, not worth it. Big mistake. Never should have gone in there.
But what I want to remember is the mindset prevalent in the runup to the war -- surely among the neocons, Bush's advisors for the most part and, by extension, the American public brainwashed by the compliant media with the "steno Sue" mentality. The mindset that saw it as a cakewalk and even fantasized the flower strewn roads and huzzahs to the liberating troops.
Sure, we never expected to "win" so quickly. To tell the truth, few of those having Bush's ear expected much of what has evolved in Iraq. Those of us who felt otherwise were considered, well, mildly touched, unpatriotic, naive glue sniffing flower children. My wife got this bumper sticker for the car, and I hate bumper stickers, which we affixed before the invasion: "War is not the answer". Which war? Well it could have been any war but the implication was clear. And here, in the south, I felt like it was a bit of a risk. And we did get catcalls, and dirty looks, etc. No one shot at the car though. That was a plus.
We also had a small anti war protest here in our rural college town; again, bad looks, honking, catcalls, etc., by the local gentry.
No, being against this pre-emptive, presumptuous, concocted war was not popular. But I gotta ask, in light of the mass hypnosis and selective amnesia that afflicts all of us to a large degree: 1000 plus American lives; 7500 wounded; thousands of Iraqis dead? If we knew then what we know now -- lies and false WMD claims; creating a terrorist hotbed and likely failed state -- who could honestly say its worth it?
It is all well and good to say that was then and this is now. Realpolitik and all that. I'm not convinced. I think we need to constantly remind ourselves of just how wrong we were. Just how misled we were by our government. Just how stupid we look in retrospect. I doubt the dimensions of this disaster will shrink anytime soon. My bet is that Iraq and all that surrounds it will continue to fester and encumber the world. A year from today, I will be surprised if we've turned a corner, whatever that might be. Ten years hence, its still going to be a disaster.
Before we get too far away, I think its important to remind myself of some facts related to Iraq. Simple facts, with rather large brush strokes, but the kind of facts that throw today's spin into high relief.
Bush has been asked, as recently as the presidential debate a couple of days ago, if the 1000 plus lost lives of Americans, and countless Iraqis, are "worth it". When put that way, how can anyone even take the question seriously. I mean, what is Bush supposed to say, nah, not worth it. Big mistake. Never should have gone in there.
But what I want to remember is the mindset prevalent in the runup to the war -- surely among the neocons, Bush's advisors for the most part and, by extension, the American public brainwashed by the compliant media with the "steno Sue" mentality. The mindset that saw it as a cakewalk and even fantasized the flower strewn roads and huzzahs to the liberating troops.
Sure, we never expected to "win" so quickly. To tell the truth, few of those having Bush's ear expected much of what has evolved in Iraq. Those of us who felt otherwise were considered, well, mildly touched, unpatriotic, naive glue sniffing flower children. My wife got this bumper sticker for the car, and I hate bumper stickers, which we affixed before the invasion: "War is not the answer". Which war? Well it could have been any war but the implication was clear. And here, in the south, I felt like it was a bit of a risk. And we did get catcalls, and dirty looks, etc. No one shot at the car though. That was a plus.
We also had a small anti war protest here in our rural college town; again, bad looks, honking, catcalls, etc., by the local gentry.
No, being against this pre-emptive, presumptuous, concocted war was not popular. But I gotta ask, in light of the mass hypnosis and selective amnesia that afflicts all of us to a large degree: 1000 plus American lives; 7500 wounded; thousands of Iraqis dead? If we knew then what we know now -- lies and false WMD claims; creating a terrorist hotbed and likely failed state -- who could honestly say its worth it?
It is all well and good to say that was then and this is now. Realpolitik and all that. I'm not convinced. I think we need to constantly remind ourselves of just how wrong we were. Just how misled we were by our government. Just how stupid we look in retrospect. I doubt the dimensions of this disaster will shrink anytime soon. My bet is that Iraq and all that surrounds it will continue to fester and encumber the world. A year from today, I will be surprised if we've turned a corner, whatever that might be. Ten years hence, its still going to be a disaster.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home