[Vision2020] Hating War, Chas

[Chasuk]

On 12/6/05, Phil Nisbet <pcnisbet1 at hotmail.com> wrote:

> What I would have to ask is, why exactly you "hate the war"?

It always bemuses me that the netizens of Vision2020 seem to focus
more intently on  the asides of the issues raised in postings, rather
the substantive content.  I've done it myself, but I don't know why. 
It is a phenomenon that deserves consideration.

I don't always hate war, but I do hate this war.  I acknowledge that
some wars are unavoidable, but that doesn't mean that I accept them
cheerfully.  This is much like a trip to the dentist: unavoidable
because all of us develop caries at one time or another, but still not
something that we celebrate.  I expect that dental scientists will
eventually produce a vaccine which prevents tooth decay.  Sadly, I'm
not confident of parallel progress in the prevention of war.

I hate this war for a multitude of reasons.  Below, I enumerate several of them.

1.  We entered this war dishonestly.  Bush decided that we needed to
invade Iraq, and the will of the people was irrelevant.  He might have
made this decision because he sees himself as fulfilling prophecy.  He
might have made this decision to seek revenge for perceived grievances
against his Daddy.  He might have made this decision because Turkey is
considered by his military strategists as an insufficient toe-hold in
that part of the world.  Maybe he invaded for oil.  Maybe it was all
of those reasons.  Still, it is apparent to me that his stated reason
was just pretext, and I hate being lied to when it is something
important.  No, I don't care that Clinton lied about blow-jobs. Call
me a hypocrite if you want.

2.  We are not global policemen.  John D makes this point eloquently
in his response, so I won't belabor it here.

3.  I'm not convinced that Iraq will be a better place after we leave,
if we leave.  I'm not convinced that the cost of making Iraq a better
place will be worth it, when the final bill is paid.

4.  This war has made us enemies of people that we really didn't want
to piss off.  They were already our enemies, I know, but we have
aggravated the situation unnecessarily.  For over 300 years, we (the
"West") beat on these people in Jesus' name, and it made them our
implacable foes (pardon the cliché).  This war was the equivalent of a
drunken plantation owner singly invading an all-black abolitionist's
picnic, and then managing to rape one of their daughters before being
dragged to the ground.  Because we will be dragged to the ground. 
Bush has guaranteed that 9/11 was just a foretaste.

5.  Innocent Iraqis died for what I believe will come to naught.  Our
own troops have died for what I believe will come to naught, as have
the troops of our allies. See #3.

6.  We invaded Iraq in opposition to world opinion.  We are citizens
of the world.  This makes us thugs and terrorists.

7.  Now that Bush has guaranteed the continued perseverance of our
implacable foes, our government is using the understandable fear this
creates to erode our civil liberties.  The cynic in me suspects that
this might have been part of the motivation.

I believe that I have answered your question sufficiently.