I am an unapologetic leftist. The war was immoral; it was waged on the pretext of a lie and has no clear objective. Without an objective there is no means by which “victory” can be measured or defeat determined. What I find most disturbing is that I see no way out that will not inflict more damage than we have already done. We created a civil war. Hussein may well have been a tyrant, but we have become an army of invasion short of occupation. Our nation has become a latter-day pirate, raiding a nation on the pretext of a lie with no interest beyond lip-service for the well-being of the people whose country has been destroyed.
Cut and RunI have to concede that the neo-fascists in our nation have won the war of rhetoric. By creating a false dichotomy they have defined the debate to serve their own propagandistic needs: loyal opposition to the war becomes an act of cowardice and any dissent is couched as non-support of “our brave boys in uniform”. The Democratic Party, traditionally a war party, has done poorly in meeting the debate. Leadership by polls is not leadership: somebody has to have the courage to say “No” to the lies that have been told and to challenge the denegation of civil rights in the name on the “War on Terror” and to stand and say it take courage to fix what cowards have destroyed.
I do not believe that there is an easy way out of Iraq. To leave now is to leave a country destroyed. George Marshall – hardly a liberal – understood the need to rebuild Germany following World War II. It was not for the sake of generosity or kindness, but because it was in our national interest to do so. The reality is that doing good helps us to do well. So what is the good that needs to be done in Iraq? We have to admit that we have destabilized a nation by generations of manipulation of the region. Iraq became our friend when Iran became our enemy. We were happy to have the tension between both nations because that polarized their attention. Our CIA put Hussein into power. We are ultimately responsible for his having been put there, much the same way that we are the authors of Agusto Pinochet’s ascension in Chile. We went to Iraq for oil. We have blood on our hands.
Sadly the rhetoric has become the reality. Leaving Iraq now leaves the country embroiled in a civil war that has no certain outcome. It allows for flux that will be inherently destabilizing. We need to leave, but it has to be an orderly withdrawal that places the United Nations in the role of peacekeeper and arbitrator to avoid further deterioration in the region. Beyond this, we have to wean ourselves from our dependence upon oil. The reason that we find ourselves in such a mess is that this nation has reserves that are environmentally sensitive. We are the proverbial NIMBYs: Not In My Back Yard. We will not destroy our land and natural beauty, but are content to destroy a nation to feed our dependence on petrol-chemicals.
Changes at the Root
The word “radical” derives from the Latin word radix which means “root”. At the root of the issue is the essential instability that this addiction creates for our nation. It is in our national interest to use the great power of industry and government to create new sources of energy that are both green and available to all. This is not science fiction, it is a matter of will. Do we have the will to undergo a period of painful transformation to give birth to a new future that creates new markets and employment, allows us to be secure, and to diminish the power that the region holds to blackmail our nation with oil?
This is a bet that I would suggest we take. Hell, we’ll even double down.
Ah, but I am only a fool…
