Shit.

My apologies for straying way off topic (especially since I just said I didn't want to see war mail on the ID-Cafe list). But as someone who works in Washington DC (and lives in the county that houses the Pentagon), I just cannot not say anything at this point in time. But I'll avoid making a habit of it.

I'm not a peacenik per se (though my religious affiliation--UU--would suggest otherwise). As a resident of this metro area, there is a certain comfort in the idea (however implausible) that efforts such as this one may make it safer...in the near term at least.

However, there are two things that trouble me. First, the administration that is launching this attack is the same one who (depending on who you talk to) mis-handled information that might have prevented the 9/11 attacks. Pardon me for not being all warm and fuzzy with confidence that W and friends will be doing the right thing this time.

The other fear I have is that we're playing right into Saddam's hands. Is it absurd to think that he might sacrifice Iraq as almost a marketing ploy? Are we like the military in the goofy movie Evolution (with David Duchovny) who fight the enemy with tactics that will grow the enemy rather than defeat it? And I'm so happy that our military thinks that our technological superiority is such a great asset. Why do I worry that this effort will deplete our military, threaten our economy, and leave us unprepared to deal with the onslaught that may be waiting for us?

I don't know that I wanted them to do nothing. But I just am not sure they are doing the right thing. And now that I have a nephew and three nieces (ages 4-8), this isn't a philosophical discussion for me. Damned if we do, damned if we don't?

Update, 3/19. Thought-provoking reads from the US and UK.

Update, 3/20. The president's real goal in Iraq

Update, 3/21. Senate Remarks by Robert C. Byrd

Update, 3/22. Paul Berman in Salon: "Bush is an idiot, but he was right about Saddam"

The notion that we, the high-minded people of the left, ought to confine ourselves to marching against Bush is a very foolish idea. There's much that we can do. ... Even people who think that Bush is making a blunder with his military approach can try to undo that blunder themselves in some way by going ahead and doing the things that ought to be done -- promoting liberal ideas. Promoting liberal ideas, finally, is the only real way to oppose the totalitarian movements that threaten us and threaten people in the Arab and Muslim worlds, whether they're Baathist or Islamist.

09:29 PM | linkme | home