Wow. I'll bet *that* was a sight to see!
As an apathetic moderate, I'll weigh in:
1.) The president isn't fooling anyone. We all know perfectly well that
bin Lauden "did" the 11 September attacks and the US intelligence community
can't find him.
2.) There's more to the Administration's enthusiasm for deposing Hussein
than meets the eye. (See US history for the past 3 decades + Vice President
Chaney's bizarre history. I hope Hunter Thompson writes this up one day!
working title: "Fear and Loathing when the Oval Office visits Baghdad")
3.) Since we set Hussein up and he's committed atrocities against the Kurds
and lead unprovoked attacks on Israel, he needed to be monitored closely and
continuously. The No-Fly zones (there were two) seemed to be working
perfectly.
4.) It's a real sorry situation when we can't think of a way to improve the
safety of the Kurds without going to war because of
a.) The loss of civilian lives in Iraq. I think the women of Iraq have it
hard enough, yes?
b.) The loss of Coalition military personnel (including an Army cook who
happened to be a woman and a mother.)
c.) The cost of the war. We can't afford it.
d.) The fact that the USA looks like a bunch of kooks in the world
community and I'm hard pressed to justify it myself.
5.) Like most Americans (oops, I said it), now that we're in it, I've muted
my criticism somewhat. It's hard to see a list of casualties and hold onto
the idea that we don't belong there. It's this alone that makes me feel
that these Brits and Aussies fighting along with us are doing noble work to
make an improvement. That said, I think that expecting lasting peace in an
area made up of many Arab sects is folly. Each sect often holds others
permanently responsible for crimes that deserve continuous revenge.
6.) And finally, I'll "bookend" this missive by stating #1. The president
isn't fooling anyone. The intelligence community has not found bin Lauden
and Hussein was not responsible for the 11 September attacks. On the other
hand, I suppose it's possible that the NSA does know where bin Lauden is and
they're not gonna pick him up until after the war. <shudder>
I'm off to buy the Sunday New York Times in the hope that I can become
better informed in a couple of hours of reading, as opposed to spending days
in front of the telly, watching reruns of night-time explosions in Baghdad.
Lama
PS, no one actually read this, right?
Guzzi said,
>>>>The students of course are on the streets, as is almost tradition here,
against the war. My
parents very apathetic and right of center are against the war. My friends
and peers are against
it. The most I have heard for it are people in the middle. The Teamsters
union stood side by
side, at the rally I attended, with Amnesty International. >>>>
