War (What is it Good For?)

Okay, let's delve into a topic that has been beaten into the ground - yet, when taken to its simplest form - still bears discussion...

Iraq.

Basically, there are two schools of thought on the war in Iraq.

1) The war is a logical next step in the US war on terrorism.
2) Iraq was a war that the Bush White House had decided was going to happen before 9/11 and terrorism (and the fear thereof) gave easy justification.

This comes down to simply - do you believe that rational, intelligent people would conclude that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was a hot-bed of terrorism, a haven that protected them from forces that would bring them to justice, and that Iraq was actively in the market to sell its war-making technology to the highest bidder?

Personally, I believe that the rhetoric before the war and now tells volumes about this. Before, it was all about the supposed drive of Iraq to acquire, develop, and/or use weapons of mass destruction. All the hot-buttons were pushed to convince the American people that they were in imminent danger of attack, if not from Iraq directly - then from the terrorists they did business with.

Now, the rhetoric has turned to one of bringing freedom to the Iraqis people. Of the removal of a bad man from power...and the foreign nationals (insurgents/terrorists) that have come to Iraq to expel the occupiers (that would be us). Weapons of mass destruction? Oh, that was just bad intelligence - did you notice how much better off the Iraqis people are now that Saddam is gone?

That said, I have no problem with expelling bad dictators that oppress their people. Respect for universal human freedoms and rights is a powerful reason to go to war. However, the American people do seem a bit reluctant to go to war on that reason alone. We'd be one busy nation if we were to take this as our new international policy...there are plenty of bad/oppressive governments just waiting for the US military to take out.

If this was the reason for war - we were lied to ahead of time. If it wasn't the reason for this war - we are being lied to now.

I think it's high time that we as Americans get pissed about the lying being done and start holding the administration to a higher standard.

Until next time.

-Scott