Grand Illusion wroteYou know ... I wish I could go back in time and tell a few people how this war would turn out. Don't know if I could change their minds or not, but I'd at least like to go back in time and tell MYSELF how this war would turn out so I wouldn't have been a supporter of it. Hindsight is 20/20, but it makes me feel sick when I remember how I bought into the whole idea that this would be a quick and easy war resulting in a bright and shiny democratic Iraq that would stand as a bastion for freedom and against terrorism in the Mideast.
I wish you could do so as well, fortunately I knew what would happen, and sadly exactly that happened. Almost by the numbers.
But ...
An "illegal war." That's an oxymoron. War's are neither legal nor illegal. I mean, who would decide upon legality? The UN? Some UN appointed court with a Syrian judge?
The invasion and attempted occupation of Iraq violated US and International law. The regime should be charged in America, tried in America, and sentenced in America. Although a death sentence would be appropriate, life without parole would be more satisfying. Of course, we'd have to listen to Charles Krauthammer and William Kristol constantly whine about a pardon, but that's a price I'm quite willing to pay.
I guess the congress could keep us from going to war, but they didn't. So there's no legal problem within the US either. If Cheny or Bush lied to an extent that they are prosecuted within the US (won't happen) then that would make their statements illegal, but wouldn't affect the status of the war.
Actually, congressional abetting of the War on Iraq does not make it lawful. The president knew or should have known that the invasion was unlawful without regard to any greasing of the skids by congress. Bush gave the orders to invade; game, set, and match.
A country makes war to expand it's power, protect it's power, protect it's interest, or (if attacked) defend it's people. Although WMD's turned out to be a straw man, either intentionally or unintenntionally, this war still met ALL of those objectives.
The first three aren't legitimate at all, and defending America did not and is not happening.
1. We need to stabilize the region to protect ourselves (alright ... the war totally failed at that objective, at leat to this point. But just because you start a war to accomplish something doesn't mean you'll succeed).
There's no money to do that, the US government is broke.
2. Oil from the mideast, though most of it goes to Europe, is critical for the world economy and our economy and the health of the world overall. I know it's unsavory to "go to war for oil," but if the taps get shut off and unemployment hits 15% and gas is $6 a gallon and you're about to lose your home in the collapsing US economy ... that is a human toll. Financial stability on that scale IS worth fighting for, especially when those who would turn the taps off would do so for no other reason than to do us damage (an economic attack is an attack just as much as a military invasion).
America needs absolutely no oil from the mideast, none, de nada. While we get 7-8% of our petroleum from the mideast, that isn't required to be the source for that.
3. The Iraq war has turned Al Qaeda's attention to Iraq, leaving us untouched (thus far) in our country.
There's absolutely no proof of any kind to support that assertion.
Don't get me wrong ... I wish we'd never started this debacle and it may break us financially AND militarily (though only time will tell -- history books may speak of this as the best decision every made, and honor Bush for having the courage to stand up against popular opinion and do the right thing for our nation and our posterity).
Bush will go down in America history as having the worse foreign policies of all time.
He's a disgraced president, the lamest of lame ducks. His recent trip to the mideast illustrated that handily.
jaserST4Typical, an opinion piece written by a disgruntled retired desk jocky. Let us know when you come across something that resembles evidence.
Hmmm, a retired lieutenant colonel, intelligence analyst, worked IN the Office of Special Plans, and earned a PhD. within a year of retirement. Hardly as described.
She's been consistently accurate and on point.
Oh, if she's a desk jockey, then everyone in the Pentagon is a desk jockey.