Success is Not a Country
This morning, I awakened to hear our esteemed president tell me that he is still considering many different opinions on the proper course of action in Iraq. Apparently, his decision to ignore the findings and advice of the Iraq Study Group was made in an attempt to ensure that when he chooses to inform the American people of his decision, we know that our esteemed president has, "listened to all aspects of government, and that the way forward is the way forward to achieve our objective -- to succeed in Iraq." Our esteemed president furthers that argument with the following definition of how we are to "succeed in Iraq:" "Success is a country that governs, defends itself, that is a free society that serves as an ally in this war on terror."
A few questions for you, our esteemed president:
1. Since when is "success" a country? How can the determination of US success be dependent upon the imposition of Democracy on another land?
2. Who are we to decide for another, sovereign, nation, the terms of its success?
3. If the Iraqi people were to choose not to accept the imposition of our form of Democracy, wouldn't they still be governing themselves?
4. Who are we to decide how Iraq chooses to govern itself?
5. Who owns the measuring stick that will determine when Iraq is "governing itself," "defending itself," and "a free society?"
6. What if Iraq does not want to be a "free society?"
7. Who defines what constitutes a "free society?" And, if it is not the Iraqis in this case, then how can anybody claim that that is, indeed, a free society?
8. What if Iraq does not want to be our ally in the war on terror? I'm not saying that they don't, but, what if?
9. Who are we to decide what shape an Iraqi peace must take?
10. Who are we to decide that there is to be peace?
11. Who are we to decide that Democracy is the only intelligent, enlightened path?
12. How can our esteemed president honestly believe that he is the bearer of ultimate truth? Is he somehow privy to a righteousness that no other person possesses?
To me, Democracy, in its current form, is the US' official religion. To me, the US decision to impose democracy on others is tantamount to jihad, or to the modern-day continuation of the medieval crusades, military actions taken in the name of religion, to show theose evil Muslims the glory of Christiantiy. By killing them? I wonder.
Make no mistakes, the war in Iraq is a religious war ~ Sunnis versus Shi'ites, Western Democracy versus Islam. A religious war cannot be won. Each party involved believes in his or her enlightenment, believes his or her way to be the THE way, granted by God Almighty, the RIGHT way, the ONLY way, the true path to righteousness.
There can be no win-win solution.
I do not think that it is possible for the United States to achieve "success" in Iraq. Not now. I do not believe that anybody knows what "success in Iraq" should really look like. I do, however, believe that it is up to the Iraqi people to make that determination and to strive for that success.
Saddam is a bad guy. I'll give you that. And so, we took away his membership to Justice League Unlimited. Bad boy, Saddam, you're responsible for how many deaths? How much torture? How much tragedy? We don't want to play with you anymore! Take that!
Extremism is frightening. I'll give you that, too. Extremism, of any kind, is not good ~ run away from it. Run fast. Religious extremism, however, is no less extreme, no less evil, than Democratic extremisim. Either way, you are looking at one person or group of people seeking to impose its personal interpretation of righteousness and truth.
The way I see it, our esteemed president has two choices: a) withdraw our troops from Iraq and let them kill one another; and, b) send in more troops as peacekeepers until the Iraqi people establish their own definition of "success in Iraq," and see that it is well on its way to becoming reality. I do not believe that option "a" is a humanitarian choice. It would equate to a sanctioning of genocide. I do believe that John McCain is right on this one. But, no matter what, we will not win.
"Success in Iraq" is neither ours to define, nor ours to achieve, Mr. President. And you are not Saint George, ordained by God to impose your interpretation of Democracy upon the world.
The picture below was taken today in Iraq, from http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/iraq/082701iraqplane/im:/061212/481/ed089d0f73854c90bf92ce64907e53e6
A few questions for you, our esteemed president:
1. Since when is "success" a country? How can the determination of US success be dependent upon the imposition of Democracy on another land?
2. Who are we to decide for another, sovereign, nation, the terms of its success?
3. If the Iraqi people were to choose not to accept the imposition of our form of Democracy, wouldn't they still be governing themselves?
4. Who are we to decide how Iraq chooses to govern itself?
5. Who owns the measuring stick that will determine when Iraq is "governing itself," "defending itself," and "a free society?"
6. What if Iraq does not want to be a "free society?"
7. Who defines what constitutes a "free society?" And, if it is not the Iraqis in this case, then how can anybody claim that that is, indeed, a free society?
8. What if Iraq does not want to be our ally in the war on terror? I'm not saying that they don't, but, what if?
9. Who are we to decide what shape an Iraqi peace must take?
10. Who are we to decide that there is to be peace?
11. Who are we to decide that Democracy is the only intelligent, enlightened path?
12. How can our esteemed president honestly believe that he is the bearer of ultimate truth? Is he somehow privy to a righteousness that no other person possesses?
To me, Democracy, in its current form, is the US' official religion. To me, the US decision to impose democracy on others is tantamount to jihad, or to the modern-day continuation of the medieval crusades, military actions taken in the name of religion, to show theose evil Muslims the glory of Christiantiy. By killing them? I wonder.
Make no mistakes, the war in Iraq is a religious war ~ Sunnis versus Shi'ites, Western Democracy versus Islam. A religious war cannot be won. Each party involved believes in his or her enlightenment, believes his or her way to be the THE way, granted by God Almighty, the RIGHT way, the ONLY way, the true path to righteousness.
There can be no win-win solution.
I do not think that it is possible for the United States to achieve "success" in Iraq. Not now. I do not believe that anybody knows what "success in Iraq" should really look like. I do, however, believe that it is up to the Iraqi people to make that determination and to strive for that success.
Saddam is a bad guy. I'll give you that. And so, we took away his membership to Justice League Unlimited. Bad boy, Saddam, you're responsible for how many deaths? How much torture? How much tragedy? We don't want to play with you anymore! Take that!
Extremism is frightening. I'll give you that, too. Extremism, of any kind, is not good ~ run away from it. Run fast. Religious extremism, however, is no less extreme, no less evil, than Democratic extremisim. Either way, you are looking at one person or group of people seeking to impose its personal interpretation of righteousness and truth.
The way I see it, our esteemed president has two choices: a) withdraw our troops from Iraq and let them kill one another; and, b) send in more troops as peacekeepers until the Iraqi people establish their own definition of "success in Iraq," and see that it is well on its way to becoming reality. I do not believe that option "a" is a humanitarian choice. It would equate to a sanctioning of genocide. I do believe that John McCain is right on this one. But, no matter what, we will not win.
"Success in Iraq" is neither ours to define, nor ours to achieve, Mr. President. And you are not Saint George, ordained by God to impose your interpretation of Democracy upon the world.
The picture below was taken today in Iraq, from http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/iraq/082701iraqplane/im:/061212/481/ed089d0f73854c90bf92ce64907e53e6
posted by Nana @ 09:10
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