Iraq- What now?

• No WMD found.
• No links to AlQaeda
• Saddam was less of a threat then the outcome.
• Chance of democracy looks bleak.
• The US actions in Iraq are increasing potential future attacks.
• Action (choice)= Reaction (uncontrollable outcome)
• More important tasks here at home.
  

Well the time has come. This is one of the issues near and dear to my heart. As I mention before, I remember when it happened. I remember when I swung from being an independent to standing strong with the democrats even though we differ in opinion other issues. It was the same day the house and senate all voted to give the criminal organization in control of the White House a blank check to spend American money and lives for their own greedy end. I believed then that the minority democrats who were opposed to this debacle would grow legs and support in a short time. I didn’t then realize the power of the propaganda machine. Now with the democrats showing no spine and showing that they don’t even understand why they overwhelmed the 2006 elections, a change in focus may be in order. That is for later consideration.

The Iraq war is way too big of a subject for one post. Whole books have been written about it, and whole collections would be needed to understand every aspect. I have read more then a few of them. I have a few favorites that I will cite, as the time is appropriate. The most pressing issue about the Iraq war is “what to do now?” What are the options at hand? What are the obligations? What makes the most logical sense?

The proponents of the war say we have to stay there until the job is finished. This makes no logical sense. The reason why congress gave the president the power to wage war in Iraq was to remove the weapons of mass destruction. The claim of the Bush administration was that Saddam and Iraq was in breach of UN resolution 1441. (The illegitimacy of this claim will have to a wait for a discussion of how we got into this mess. For now I am trying to stay on track and just consider what to do now.) Since this resolution has been fulfilled, everybody admits that no WMD now exist in Iraq; there should not be a problem. The problem is solved pull the troops back home.

With that thought in mind, when a CEO of a major corporation follows “bad intelligence” and looses billions of dollars not to mention if it cost the lives of many employees and achieves an opposite and negative outcome then the one expected, the CEO is generally fired in disgrace. But I digress.

The niche phrase chanted by the supporters of continued action these days is we have to “support the troops until the job is done”. I am not sure what the “job” is they are referring to. If somebody knows what this elusive task is please post it. After the WMD claim failed it was to install a democracy in Iraq. The linked report demonstrates a CIA finding that agrees it might be “impossible”, at least in its current state. (Again the poor planning and the complex issues of democracy in the Middle East are issues will have to wait.) Just know that a country where honor killings, virginity checks, and personal militias are acceptable norms obstacles exist. As it is there haven’t been elections in Iraq since January of 2005. The cost and the man power to ensure secure poling station is immense. With Halliburton ripping off the government there isn’t money left over for elections. One perspective often overlooked is that, in case people forgot, that democracy is just the rule of the majority. What if the majority voted to kill the minority? What if the majority voted to use its resources to attack the United States? That would be democracy at work. That is exactly what you could expect from a Middle Eastern Democracy at this point.


Explain to Iraqis people that you bulldozed and bombed you way across their country, destroying all their infrastructure and security, and left them with chaos and rubble in the name of democracy. “We are America and we are here to help so back the f’k off or we will shoot you, 'who yah'”. I am not certain at what point this seemed logical to the majority of Americans.

I am starting to drift off topic, but I needed to demonstrate how futile the idea of installing a democracy in Iraq is. This is especially true at the blood soaked hands of the current US political structure. So there is no reason for us to “stay the course”, a marketing term that has been dropped by the Bush propaganda machine.

The last reason given to stay in Iraq is that it is the Central front on terrorism. They claim that “we must fight them there or fight them here.” First of all if a terrorist wanted to they could walk across the southern border with 70% success. The second issue is that Iraq and Saddam never had links to Al-Qaeda. So you created a war zone on property that wasn’t yours to exploit. Next time you have a mole problem Set up traps and dig holes in your neighbor’s yard. Explain to them that you are fighting them before they get to your yard. See how that goes over. If you think that is hard. Try to explain it to a nation of people who have lost in the area of at least a half a million people. Try to explain to them that the US troops are there to set up a war front in their yard and invite terrorist factions, civil war, and economic strife even though they had nothing to do with the terrorist to begin with. "See now instead of a dictator killing you, you have civil war and religious extremist killing you, and this is better." Explain to them that a half million of their friends and family will have to die so we can get revenge on people from a different country completely unrelated to them. Good luck with that one.

Here is one thing that I can’t believe isn’t in the new every single day that our troops are over there. The CIA, yes our intelligence agency, the one conducting business under full duress of the Bush administration, had released a report. The report release in January of ’05 states that the action of the US in Iraq has created a “Breeding ground for terrorism.” The Bush administration asks us to support this action, an action that directly jeopardizes my friends and family member. Let’s do the logic. The fewer people who would like to harm American citizens, the less chance of their success. The less experienced those who would like to inflict harm on the US population, the less likely they are to succeed. Currently there are plenty of opportunities to recruit and cut teeth so to speak. However, you are asking me to support spending tax dollars and lives to increase the insecurity of the country and more importantly my family. How about “no”?

Look if you want to join a private militia and go over and get your face blown off for a non cause that you were sold like a $200 pair of shoes, fine be my guest. But when your actions become a source of danger for my family and me, I have issues with your actions. NO I am not going to disrespect you and call you names like they did after Vietnam. I understand more then most how a 17-year-old senior with no plans or ability to go to college ends up signing up for the military. But don’t say I am not “supporting the troops” because I want to bring you home and stop creating enemies of America.

The idea of chasing terrorist around the Middle East is like standing in a field with a bee hive draped apple tree. Then throwing a rock through then nest, and then trying to shoot just the soldier bees with a BB gun as they try to sting you. "SHOW ME THE" LOGIC!!

So, without the WMD violation, no chance of “installing a democracy”, the Iraqis citizens in worse shape and dying by the hundreds every week, and the result only increasing the risk of terrorism we must leave. The plans are easy, pack up the stuff and go home. Place the troops and the money left over on the boarders, in the INS, and international docks. Let’s give these kids a chance to go to school and fight some real American killers. Teach them to be doctors and scientist that battle obesity, drug addiction, AIDS, cancer, and the number one killer in the US, ignorance. With enough research maybe I can one day smoke a cigarette at one of those health places, what are they called again, you know the place people go to get healthy? Oh yah, a bar. Let’s stop bringing home boys that are mentally unstable to families that are left devastated by PTS.

I know that many people cringe at the though of what is to come in Iraq after the US leaves. The problem is we are just holding a finger over a cut juggler. one we cut. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. You can choose the action. The reaction is what happens because of your choice. The US chose to destabilize the region that was the action, civil and secular war is the reaction. You know in this country we even have the RU-486 that lets you change your mind the next morning. However, I do not no one doctor or pharmacist that will prescribe it if you are still having intercourse. First you have to pull out!!