On Apr 7, 2005, at 11:07 PM, Gautam Mukunda wrote:
--- Warren Ockrassa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:If there's nothing wrong with opposing the unjustifiable attack on Iraq, why are you so committed to twisting the tits of everyone who does oppose it?
Because so many of them say things like calling it "unjustifiable", when, of course, it's extremely justifiable.
I don't think it is. We can't just bomb the crap out of a nation that's done nothing to us in the name of "regime change". That's arbitrary and, I believe, wrong.
As for my original reasons for opposing the war -- two years ago I was thinking more in terms of how we'd look to the rest of the world, particularly since, in my view, Afghanistan still needed a lot of attention, and OBL was at large and *not* in Iraq. I hadn't thought, then, of the morass that it's become, and the expense of it went way beyond anything I would have guessed. Had I known then what I know now, I would have opposed the attack more strenuously than I did.
Wow, Warren, your ability to ignore everything that's happening in Iraq right now is pretty impressive. It appears to be, you know, working.
I haven't ignored that, actually. It might be working. But at what cost to US image worldwide, at what cost in terms of incentive for further terrorism, and at what cost to human life?
It might not, of course - I'd say it's something like 60/40 right now that it will, which are _far_ better odds than I gave it before the war, much less a few months ago. I asked you this before and you didn't have any sort of answer. What will you do if this works?
I answered. You ignored it. Just like you ignored the cites I sent along disproving your claim that bald eagles aren't endangered. You're pretty good yourself at ignoring things, it seems.
Here's a quick little piece of unsolicited advice: Admitting you were wrong about something will not kill you.
It appears to be working. The odds for a democratic government in Iraq are better than they have ever been. 10 years from now, if Iraq is a stable democracy that looks sort of like Turkey - if it is the least-badly governed state in the Middle East- will it still be an "unjustifiable" war?
Yes. Because it was not a war pressed by the Iraqis in the name of freeing themselves from a tyrant. It was an assault on a nation that did *nothing at all* to us. We have killed thousands of civilians, tortured dozens of prisoners and pushed Islamic extremists even further over the cliff. In the name of doing what? Establishing a democracy?
Why didn't we focus on doing that in Afghanistan first? I think it's because -- and this is really important -- Iraq was sexier. GWB would be able to finish what Daddy was unable to see to fruition. That's the elephant in the room very few conservatives seem to want to face with honesty.
-- Warren Ockrassa, Publisher/Editor, nightwares Books http://books.nightwares.com/ Current work in progress "The Seven-Year Mirror" http://www.nightwares.com/books/ockrassa/Flat_Out.pdf
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