It’s a good thing that Saddam Hussein has been overthrown. It’s a damn shame the way it was done. Before anyone accuses me of being one of those sour grapes liberals, I am not an opponent of military-led humanitarian efforts. Somalia may have been a failure, but Haiti wasn’t, and neither was Bosnia, in the end; all three were efforts of the US acting forthrightly and without immediate need to do so. Yes, Rwanda was a failure of inaction, but in another sense, so is Iraq, in this case the failure to engage diplomatically with the other great powers and the Arab nations. The UN members who dithered and who took categorical positions against force are not to be in any way admired for their cowardice or their selfishness, but that doesn’t somehow excuse the rush to war. George Bush took the aura of moral legitimacy conferred by the WTC murders and the successful military ouster of the Taliban and squandered it by expanding the right of self-protection into acts of imperial self-aggrandizement. I note for those who have missed it that the coalition forces were very quick to secure the oil wells but have done nothing to preserve order or ensure the cultural heritage of Iraq was not lost. George II cares nothing for history, only profit. He must be relegated to the same dustbin where he would put our democracy.
14 April 2003
Peace in Our Time
It’s a good thing that Saddam Hussein has been overthrown. It’s a damn shame the way it was done. Before anyone accuses me of being one of those sour grapes liberals, I am not an opponent of military-led humanitarian efforts. Somalia may have been a failure, but Haiti wasn’t, and neither was Bosnia, in the end; all three were efforts of the US acting forthrightly and without immediate need to do so. Yes, Rwanda was a failure of inaction, but in another sense, so is Iraq, in this case the failure to engage diplomatically with the other great powers and the Arab nations. The UN members who dithered and who took categorical positions against force are not to be in any way admired for their cowardice or their selfishness, but that doesn’t somehow excuse the rush to war. George Bush took the aura of moral legitimacy conferred by the WTC murders and the successful military ouster of the Taliban and squandered it by expanding the right of self-protection into acts of imperial self-aggrandizement. I note for those who have missed it that the coalition forces were very quick to secure the oil wells but have done nothing to preserve order or ensure the cultural heritage of Iraq was not lost. George II cares nothing for history, only profit. He must be relegated to the same dustbin where he would put our democracy.
Show Bush the Door in 2004!
I’d Even Vote for Gore in 2004!
Don’t Take Any More in 2004!
Etc.
It’s a good thing that Saddam Hussein has been overthrown. It’s a damn shame the way it was done. Before anyone accuses me of being one of those sour grapes liberals, I am not an opponent of military-led humanitarian efforts. Somalia may have been a failure, but Haiti wasn’t, and neither was Bosnia, in the end; all three were efforts of the US acting forthrightly and without immediate need to do so. Yes, Rwanda was a failure of inaction, but in another sense, so is Iraq, in this case the failure to engage diplomatically with the other great powers and the Arab nations. The UN members who dithered and who took categorical positions against force are not to be in any way admired for their cowardice or their selfishness, but that doesn’t somehow excuse the rush to war. George Bush took the aura of moral legitimacy conferred by the WTC murders and the successful military ouster of the Taliban and squandered it by expanding the right of self-protection into acts of imperial self-aggrandizement. I note for those who have missed it that the coalition forces were very quick to secure the oil wells but have done nothing to preserve order or ensure the cultural heritage of Iraq was not lost. George II cares nothing for history, only profit. He must be relegated to the same dustbin where he would put our democracy.
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