Why I feel we went to war...

[Demaholic]

I shared this with some repub friends of mine in hopes they would admit they may have %$#@*! up...

This pretty much sums up why I feel so many were backing the war at it's beginning stages...

Here's my point, I think the psychology is prepared right now that if there is a war, a relatively short one (no matter where), American's and our allies would feel so good that that would really energize the whole process of believing in our government...

As was the case 2 years ago, but is now falling short.

It's not just those who opposed it in the first place, it is those (fence sitters) who supported it based on what our government told us which now seems to be inevitably false...

Here's a cheap analogy:

You look up at that little sticker in your window that reads 47,550 miles for your next oil change, and then you look down at your odometer and realize you have passed that mileage, but your car is running fine and you know you have time...

ie, no immanent threat, so it doesn't bother you, and you change your oil when you have time...

This is the end result of you making a decision based on your feelings and what you are doing at that time.

Now, say you are driving along (same scenario) and your engine starts knocking loudly...

ie, immanent threat, right? First thing you do is drive straight to your mechanic and get ready to pay whatever it costs to fix the problem, right?

This decision is based on the fact that you are in immediate danger of losing something you must have, and have a fear it will it only get worse if you fail to fix it now.

Do you see my point?

The reason we were led blindly into Iraq was because our engine, aka the government, was knocking...(terrorism, WMDs, Saddam)

Now I am not criticizing anyone's choices at this point, but don't you feel your engine was knocking prematurely which caused you to spend (with your emotions) money for unneeded repairs?

[yorgatron]

1. i like your analogies,because i like to work on cars,

but i think it would be more apropriate to say 9/11 is like blowing up your engine,and W the mechanic tries to sell you a new transmission.

[TwentyFive]

2. But when an evil dictator is behind the wheel....

he's driving so fast, that he's busting bugs on his road trip to Hell. The only thing that will stop him is if he drives off a cliff. And when we are all in Hell, that little sticker on the window will be least of our worries.

So, taking your analogy further - why weren't people concerned as to direction the car was being driven....or the fact that there was an evil, illiterate, boy-king behind the wheel?

It seems to me that if people were too stupid to see this, then it's not surprising they could be so easily fooled by all the right wing hacks making funny noises under the hood.

[katsy]

3. lies

* was directing you and your car in the wrong direction. The problem all along was that Iraq was going to start selling it's oil in euros. In people's small world views, they concerned themselves with what was actually being spoon-fed to them by who? Only the most corrupt bastard to ever occupy the people's house. He ejaculated lies and americans hungrily lapped it up.

[meti57b]

4. I think we went to war for several reasons:

The neo-cons, Rumsfeld, Cheney, etc, want an American presence and dominance in the Middle East.

The war along with tax cuts is a fast way to bankrupt the federal government so that it becomes politically possible to discontinue all "social programs". There would be just a bare bones federal government and a military.

There was just nothing happening in the first six months of the bush first term. condi, cheney, rummy and bushie thought the war might be something interesting to do. Karl Rove thought it an excellent way to obtain people's loyalty to "The President", discourage criticism of him, and give the bush administration some purpose.

So, using excuse that OBL and 19 mostly Saudis attacked the WTC, the bush administration went for it.

[Mz Pip]

6. Totally agree

I also think they went to war because they really beieved the whole PNAC thing. I think they thought it would be easy to establish a US friendly democracy in the mid-east that would spread to other countries.

They really should have gotten their heads out of their position papers and done some addition research on the culture and history of those mid east countries. What a bunch of arrogant bastards.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Sparkly]

5. I think the Chimp put oil in the gas tank. n/t

[Solly Mack]

7. Yeah but when my engine knocks, I don't blow up my neighbors car

Especially since my neighbor didn't cause my engine to knock.

[Nobody]

8. But why Iraq? 18 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi

Methinks that W who can never admit he's wrong, missed the exit that would have taken him to Joe's Oil Change and instead pulled into Sam's Tire Emporium to get the tires rotated.

All the experts were telling the nation and our idiots in chief that there were no WMDs, that Iraq wasn't the problem, that war was a bad idea. Did they listen? No.

Now we're going to have to replace the whole damn engine because Dubya couldn't be bothered to listen to people who know where Joe's is. There's a reason the car's burning oil.

[theresistance]

9. Note: weren't 15 of the 19 Saudi?

I take your point though...