reesesWeb

I'm in the apparent minority of people, but majority of my friends, who think that we need to be in Iraq. Whether it should happen now, or should have happened years ago, or should not yet happen is an issue upon which I am undecided. However, I think a few things dictate activity in the region:

• The Hussein regime is criminal. They have violated both the borders of another nation (don't say it, because you'd be simplistic and wrong), and the basic human rights of their own citizens.
  
• We, along with the pommies and the frogs, are largely responsible for the current situation in the region. I would add the Soviets here, but they're irrelevent at this point. Suffice it to say, of all the manipulative nations throughout recent memory, our group redrew the borders of the middle east and apportioned out dictatorships like pats on the head, and had more of an immediate impact than anyone else available for blame.
  
• The ideas of complete national sovereignty are outdated and obsolete. We have the duty, as the most powerful nation on the planet, to fix a lot of the garbage that keeps people from attaining basic human needs. I'm not a fan of welfare, but I am a fan of removing obstacles. Just because an entity is above the laws of the land, do not make them above certain universal laws. If we can take that person to task, we are duty bound to do so. I am not including in the suite of "basic rights" things such as "the right to cheap cable" and "the right to buy Command and Conquer", but the right not to be the victim of pogroms, torture, or gassing. Yes, I believe the US should be held to these 'ideals', whatever knob-gobbler Scalia thinks.
  
• We have to start somewhere. We can't go after China, and we can't mow down every potentate who takes a dump on his people right now, but we must make it impossible for them to exist. The arguments that "someone else is just as bad" is irrelevent. That just means they should be on the list. Iraq is at the head of the list right now because they're an easy target politically.
  

I think the next ten years should see a very expensive, very violent, very distributed multi-front war to redraw the national borders of the region, and create a new set of nation-states that actually reflect the people living within their borders. No stupid 'welding together' of different people, a` la Lebanon or the supposed Palestine Mandate, but I could handle a Kurdistan or two.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

delicious | digg | reddit | technorati