Getting a Clue About Iraq

Interesting post at The Omnipotent Poobah about restoring Saddam to power in Iraq. I started to comment there but what I wanted to say was running a bit long for a comment so I decided to comment here.

I don't know if he is serious or being satirical to make a very good point but in either case he does highlight something that I've always believed to be at the heart of the issue: nations always end up with exactly the leadership they deserve, more importantly require to sustain themselves and some level of order.

Now I do firmly believe Saddam is a done ducky, right as the Poobah may be that there were excellent reasons to leave him in charge there is no hope whatsoever of being able to reinstate him nor would I advocate even attempting to do so, particularly after he has already been judged and sentenced by his own people. To do so would be the equivalent of spitting in the face of every Iraqi who has managed to stay alive up to this point. Methinks we've spit in their faces enough and that has to stop.

I would add the simple truth that the majority of the Iraqi people have clearly expressed their desire for the US to leave. I've heard all the arguments, this would open the door for Iran to take charge, this would result in an escalation of violence, this would open the door for more terrorist cells to gain footholds. Newsflash: we've already done all of the above. We opened Pandora's Box and we are incapable of closing it. Any or all of the above are likely to continue into the foreseeable future and continuing our presence in the region IS NOT GOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. It might in fact prolong the misery.

None of our elected officials, wether democrat or republican, want to be the first to say this. They know full well that there will be god-only-knows what horrific repercussions when we leave and not one of them wants to be the one left holding the bag when the American public screams "this was YOUR fault, you told us to pull out". That's certain death to any political career.

So I'm going to address the American people. Stop being retarded. Put down your video game controller or your bible or whatever it is that is distracting you for one moment and pay attention. Bad things are going to happen anyway, there is no possibility at this point that this can be avoided. Staying in Iraq is not going to prevent that, most likely staying will increase the "collateral damage". We will not be able to establish a "stable democracy" in Iraq, not if we stay 100 years. Iraq is not ready for democracy and they will never become ready while being occupied by foreign troops or while being ruled by any government installed and supported by the US. It ain't happening, deal with it.

We need to get the hell out YESTERDAY and deal with the consequences of our actions as they arise. There is no other option, if you seriously believe there is that would make you hopelessly retarded and there is NO HOPE for you.

That brings me to the issue that troubles me even more than Iraq (yes, that is possible, barely, but possible).

Exactly how is it we came to elect this congress and this administration? Could it be that we have become so incapable of finding just and amicable means of resolving our own differences and so incapable of tolerating each others' rights to live as we choose that we took the low road and elected someone who was more than willing to impose his own values and worldview on the rest of us? Have we become so ignorant and unwilling to take responsibility for making informed choices that we require someone willing to curtail our civil liberties in the interest of "making us safer" and to please fringe groups who have decided we must all live as THEY see fit?

Do we now require petty tyrants to curtail our freedoms because we have become incapable of living peaceably with our differences? I look around my own community and I have to wonder if this is indeed the case. If it is, then the uncomfortable truth is that we will deserve exactly what we get.