It was a dumb war – conceived in ignorance, prosecuted in deceit

From the Sunday Herald, UK:

Bush may be history, but sadly his work will outlast him

Iain Macwhirter on the bewilderment felt by many Americans on what to do about Iraq

SNIP

People here are, as they say, “pissed”, grumpy, confused, argumentative, ill at ease with themselves. They can’t quite remember how they got into this bloody conflict in this intractable and inscrutable Middle East country. But they now just wish it would go away – with its obscene car bombs, religious fanaticism and incomprehensible politics. But there is no way this is going to end in glory.

Most Americans think the war was a mistake and want their boys back before any more of them get killed or lose limbs or minds. Injured soldiers, many of whom have suffered severe brain damage, are a regular feature in the US press. But Americans have been through this movie before – in the 1960s – and they don’t want a repeat of Vietnam. Unfortunately, no-one seems to have any sensible ideas for getting the hell out of Iraq.

The notion that America is in there to create a democratic society is regarded as a sick joke. Liberals blame US neo-imperialism; conservatives increasingly regard it as confirmation that people in the Middle East are incapable of democratic politics. But neither side seems particularly keen on attacking the other over it.

Most now seem to be agreed that it was a dumb war – conceived in ignorance, prosecuted in deceit, and now a monument to American military hubris. There are still a few New Yorkers who support the war – though they are pretty hard to find. I came across just two in the course of a cold week in the city that never sleeps – neither of them sounded very comfortable.

http://www.sundayherald.com/54466

ignorance. Then they'll be plenty "pissed".

Thanks for the link.

<“Would someone just tell me what else we could do after 9/11? Huh?” said a Republican media type with a conspicuous Ash Wednesday daubing on his forehead. I was tempted to say: “Just about anything apart from bombing the shit out of a country which had nothing to do with 9/11.” But I didn’t.

An investment analyst thought that Saddam was going to get WMD eventually. “It was right to take him out. Anyway, he was about to take over all the oil in the Middle East, so we had no choice.” But she wasn’t comfortable with it; you could tell by the way she couldn’t make eye contact. >


That was a good read. Thank you.

We sure got him when we threw him in that Briar Patch though... :silly:

on the level of Nazi war crimes? Maybe I don't understand, I mean, I never pledged a fraternity, so maybe my perspective is distorted?

The war was not conceived in ignorance. It was conceived in greed. If you say that the powers that sent us to war were ignorant, you provide them with an excuse for what was a deliberate criminal act intended to defraud on so many different levels.

Mass Destruction across the Globe and around the world?