Unjust Iraq war raises painful question: Why? BY ANDREW GREELEY

[jbfam4]

Unjust Iraq war raises painful question: Why?

http://www.suntimes.com/news/greeley/207796,CST-EDT-GREEL12.article
January 12, 2007
BY ANDREW GREELEY
TUCSON -- I become angry every time I see a spread in a local newspaper of the recent military casualties. They are mostly young, their lives still ahead of them, victims of a stupid, unjust, criminal war. Many more have been maimed for life. I think of the suffering families, parents, spouses, children whose lives will be forever blighted by the pain of the death of someone they love.
I ask myself why, and the answer is always a new cliche: to protect America from weapons of mass destruction, to punish al-Qaida, to change the balance of power in the Middle East, to defend democracy in Iraq, to protect the honor of those who have already died, to achieve victory.

I thought of these ever-changing justifications and became angry again as I flew out here. There were a dozen or so young people on the plane -- all in their from-another-planet fatigues. They were bound for Fort Huachuca, where they would learn the skills of military intelligence and then return to their airborne division and thence to Iraq. They would be part of the ''surge'' President Bush is planning to win the war in Iraq. They would be targets for roadside bombs, for snipers, for suicide bombers, for kidnappers who would behead them. Most of them were young -- in their teens or just barely beyond. They were quiet, polite, innocent. Some of them would die, others would be maimed.

Again I asked why. The answer is that after the election and the report of the Iraq Study Group, our swaggering, smirking president had the choice of withdrawal or escalation. Since he is an almost pathologically stubborn man, he chose escalation. He chose to listen not to the wise men of the Iraqi Study Group, but to the last remnant of the neo-cons, William Kristol, and the always-con, Henry Kissinger. The president is the commander in chief, the Decider, the leader who does not make mistakes. If he sticks to his principles, is true to the will of God whom he encounters in his prayers, and stays the course, then he will achieve victory. He may face intense criticism, but like Harry Truman and Gerald Ford, history will vindicate him.

And young men and women will die.

[BridgeTheGap]

1. Because the Neo-cons are still in control of

foreign policy.

[northofdenali]

2. Thank you for this post.

I am a huge fan of Greeley's. This article says it all.