Let me deflate a few of the gas-filled balloons left here …
Iraq is not connected to Al-Quada … Iraq did not have WMD … this war is not justified …
In the simplest of terms, it was justified — Saddam & Sons shared AQ’s willingness to rob your life and liberty if it suited them, but Saddam & Sons had the wealth … had everything but the stockpiles when it came to WMD … and had willing allies in other elements of radical Islam, and in the UN to run interference for him … to do so.
Saddam & Sons also had a history of acting in accordance with that willingness, when the opportunity presented itself.
The critics assume that this is a static situation … that Saddam & Sons would always stay weak, that sanctions would always stay in place, that America would always be welcome to base troops in the region. All it would have taken is “passage” of one non-comprehensive weapons inspection by Iraq, for that house of cards to collapse.
To NOT go after Saddam & Sons, in the light of the destruction wrought by a few dozen terrorists in a low-budget operation, would have been the height of imprudence …
… or more precisely, the continuance of the imprudence perpetuated by our leaders of both parties, having fallen for the Big Lie of the Left: the lie that the direct, timely, resolute, and decisive confrontation of totalitarian regimes is neither necessary nor prudent.
Unfortunately, the “New Direction” the Democrat leadership wants us to take leads us right back to embracing that lie as policy … the lie that brought us 911, AND made this war far more costly in blood and treasure than it could have been.
If these critics possessed prudence, they would have been criticizing President Bush … Bush 41, in 1991, for deferring to the UN and the Arab street and ending the war in the light of the sensationalized media coverage of the alleged Highway of Death … instead of taking the decisive action to remove Saddam from power then.
Many of them, applauded that President’s action … just as they did his tax increase, before they used that to beat him out of office.
Their INACTION, over the last 40 years, in the face of totalitarian expansion, set the stage for this war … and made our enemies both stronger and harder in the process.
They have no right to criticize the man who did take ACTION. That man’s errors pale in comparison, to theirs … but they are never called to account for them, for too many of us have bought the Big Lie.
Ask yourself this … has there been one totalitarian regime, with expansionist aspirations, that changed to rights-respecting governance on its own — without facing the CREDIBLE threat of force being used against it?
And re: the chickenhawk argument – I agree. If you think that what’s happening is such an existential threat, then you’d be doing a lot more than munching cheetos and cursing at your computer screens.
Ever thought that many of these “chickenhawks” are ALREADY doing what is best for this nation with respect to facing down this existential threat … maintaining and growing its technological and economic base, which supports our military?
Ever consider that the symbolism of “chickenhawks” actually enlisting might be COUNTERPRODUCTIVE to the substance of the war effort … just as knee-jerk invocation of the Powell Doctrine would have been?
This is not WWII — skill and technology matter more than sheer numbers today. The objective is to use ALL our resources in the BEST way possible to counter this threat … not just through all our resources into the fight in a “human wave”, which very likely would result in no more progress … but greater casualties among Americans and innocents alike.
Finally, ever consider that those who sling the “chickenhawk” epithet are themselves “turtledoves” — as in, head-in-shell, unwilling to see the threat for what it is: easier to stop today if we act with RESOLVE … harder to stop tomorrow if we wait … and nothing short of decisive confrontation will stop it.
The idea is, to stop the existential threat — and it is an existential threat, for our enemy seeks to transform us to his worldview, which does not align with the PROVEN virtues of our civilization — BEFORE it takes a WWII-sized effort … and a nuclear bloodbath of millions … to stop it.
If you really seek peace, keep in mind who is pulling the triggers and swinging the beheading knives … protest the terrorists … not this President.
They … not him … are the enemy.
