The Reality-Based Community
One of my friends and fellow bloggers posted some timely information on the situation in Iraq, the gist of which is the situation on the ground is FAR worse than the White House or the media will tell us; the ethnic cleansing is well under way, and has been for some time now; and anyone who doesn't believe Iraq is well into her civil war is living in a fantasy world. I felt moved to leave the following comments:
Too bad nobody predicted back in 2003 that going into Iraq without a plan would inevitably result in sectarian civil war...
Wait a minute. Hey, I predicted that exact thing; I bet you did too, as well as most of the civilized world, who begged our government not to do this foolish thing.
I remember in February of 2003, taking a friend of mine over to a map of the world that was on the wall in the office I used to work at in Everett, Washington, and pointing out to him the countries of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
"Isn't that neat? There's the future United Republic of Talibanistan. And Brought to you by Your Own Government!"
The idea of we broke it, we got to fix it is long past. We did break it, but there's been absolutely no effort to fix anything. We have a responsibility, at this point, to pull completely out, lock, stock, and barrel, and no Nixonian-Cambodian-style air war either. At long last it might be time to let the people there sort out their politics, sectarian or otherwise.
There is nothing we can do to fix. We have rendered Iraq FUBAR.
Having said that, I want to put a few extra points in. The situation in the Near East as well as the Middle East, will never be resolved by bombs or force. On anybody's part. The only way to reach a happier day is for the West to acknowledge that Shi'a Muslims, while conservative in their religious beliefs, are not Evil. The West must also recognize that rampant capitalism is not the Holy answer. As silly as it may sound at first blush, perhaps there's something to be said for the fictional "Prime Directive" in Roddenberry's original Star Trek. The nugget of truth there is that all cultures deserve to have the right to develop without interference. Personally, I'm opposed to women anywhere being second-class citizens, but the folks currently in charge of the United States seem to feel that there are 'second-class' cultures, and if we just keep pounding them, either with ordnance, or with economic devastation, they will finally "come to Jesus", or the neo-con's version of righteousness, the Almighty Dollar.
The right-wing politicos in the U.S. are working towards a world where there are a finite number of haves, and an infinite unwashed mass of have nots, here and abroad, who should be happy that capitalism has made them free. I find this inane, as well as insane.
When we put a stop to the Iraq Adventure, the American People's money being wasted there can be put to uses of production, not destruction. No collateral damage, either, except perhaps to Bush and Cheney's egos. Our Christian President might consider that Redemption is a constant goal of a child of God.
Too bad nobody predicted back in 2003 that going into Iraq without a plan would inevitably result in sectarian civil war...
Wait a minute. Hey, I predicted that exact thing; I bet you did too, as well as most of the civilized world, who begged our government not to do this foolish thing.
I remember in February of 2003, taking a friend of mine over to a map of the world that was on the wall in the office I used to work at in Everett, Washington, and pointing out to him the countries of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
"Isn't that neat? There's the future United Republic of Talibanistan. And Brought to you by Your Own Government!"
The idea of we broke it, we got to fix it is long past. We did break it, but there's been absolutely no effort to fix anything. We have a responsibility, at this point, to pull completely out, lock, stock, and barrel, and no Nixonian-Cambodian-style air war either. At long last it might be time to let the people there sort out their politics, sectarian or otherwise.
There is nothing we can do to fix. We have rendered Iraq FUBAR.
Having said that, I want to put a few extra points in. The situation in the Near East as well as the Middle East, will never be resolved by bombs or force. On anybody's part. The only way to reach a happier day is for the West to acknowledge that Shi'a Muslims, while conservative in their religious beliefs, are not Evil. The West must also recognize that rampant capitalism is not the Holy answer. As silly as it may sound at first blush, perhaps there's something to be said for the fictional "Prime Directive" in Roddenberry's original Star Trek. The nugget of truth there is that all cultures deserve to have the right to develop without interference. Personally, I'm opposed to women anywhere being second-class citizens, but the folks currently in charge of the United States seem to feel that there are 'second-class' cultures, and if we just keep pounding them, either with ordnance, or with economic devastation, they will finally "come to Jesus", or the neo-con's version of righteousness, the Almighty Dollar.
The right-wing politicos in the U.S. are working towards a world where there are a finite number of haves, and an infinite unwashed mass of have nots, here and abroad, who should be happy that capitalism has made them free. I find this inane, as well as insane.
When we put a stop to the Iraq Adventure, the American People's money being wasted there can be put to uses of production, not destruction. No collateral damage, either, except perhaps to Bush and Cheney's egos. Our Christian President might consider that Redemption is a constant goal of a child of God.
posted by meldonna | 10:25 PM
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9 comments
