Re my two previous entries, and some comments in the last one, I'd like to refer you to a couple of other AOL writers. One is in the form of a parable, in fact - that's what it's called: A Parable. Lisa agonizes in this little story over what she wrote about in her comment to my entry - fixing what we done badly broke. The other is from one of J-land's best progressive writers, and is called: Iraq: It's Not as Though They Weren't Warned, and it's full of things to ponder.
I'm a little too busy enjoying my weekend and getting ready for The Blue Voice (Coming Monday! Which begins right after midnight Sunday!) to have much else to say here. Except, please, begging now, pretty please, pleeeeze - click on the link for StopGlobalWarming in my sidebar and sign this national petition. Those of you who as yet have not. And so many thank you's to those who have.
2 comments:
Thanks for the two great links. I encourage your readers to take the time to browse the comments regarding "A Parable" after they've finished reading Lisa's story. Some of "A Parable" fits the contours of the Iraqi fiasco, some of it doesn't. From 1968 onward, when it became apparent to all that Vietnam was lost, the media/political pundits who supported that ill-fated military misadventure ballyhooed that the U.S. couldn't possibly withdraw until things stabilized. Of course, things were going to stabilize as soon as the South Vietnam military was prepared to fight the insurgents on its own and, as we were frequently told, that was only going to take about another eighteen months or so. Talk of early, unilateral withdrawal was met with scorn by the jingo-crowd that claimed America would be irresponsible to walk away for the mess it helped create. So we stayed on. And Vietnam hemorrhaged needlessly for another four years. You know what? America should have walked away in 1968. In Iraq I actually think this could be an easier decision. Why not ask the citizens of Iraq to vote on it? Ask them: Should America stay until this mess is cleaned up or should she leave now? How do you think the Iraqis would vote on that question? How would you vote if you were in their place?
There are many similarities between Iraq and Viet Nam, but the genesis of the conflict is not one of them. Viet Nam was a muddled mess spawned by the Cold War and a myriad of other hazy political machinations. Iraq is starkly different in that WE made a pre-emptive attack on that country. The reasons publicly exploited may not have been the real reasons for the attack, but we DID attack. It is clearly, solely, and morally our responsibility to give those people back at least the standard of living they had before we attacked. If we stay for four years, or ten, or twenty, and bleed the whole time, whose fault is it? We made the choice to attack. In the political aftermath of 9/11, our Congress wimped out and handed our president carte blanche to start this war. We have no business thinking that now we may just cut our losses and walk away. Lisa :-]
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