Surging Anger - Democratic Underground

Plaid Adder

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Mon Jan-22-07 10:09 AM
Original message

Surging Anger

Edited on Mon Jan-22-07 10:18 AM by Plaid Adder

The other day I went to a wedding where one of the guests, a young man in his late 20s, was scheduled to ship out to Iraq this week. I only know this because the priest conducted a blessing for him at the reception.

You know, I have been ranting for weeks on end about the idiocy of The Surge, but it wasn't until that moment that I really felt my own anger about it. Constant readers know that I was against the invasion of Iraq as soon as they started talking about it. I thought the Iraq war was a crime and a shame and a box of trouble no sane person would want to open then, all the way back in 2002 when we were being lied to about all those weapons of mass destruction about which you never hear any more. Now here it is January 2007, and approximately 70% of the country has finally come around to that view of the Iraq war. In addition, between 2002 and 2007 Bush has finally demonstrated something which we on the anti-war side claimed but could not prove in 2002: that the kind of war we are stuck fighting in Iraq is not winnable. As much as they keep mouthing about how "failure is not an option," the truth is that in a situation such as this, victory is not an option. We are stuck trying to prop up a government that does not have enough popular support to survive on its own--and which is actually going to become weaker and less powerful the more closely Iraqis associate it with the invading army that destroyed their society and failed to rebuild it, viz., us. According to a recent piece in the Washington Post, al-Maliki doesn't even want more US troops in Baghdad--no doubt because he's figured out that hanging with Bush and his pals is not making him any more popular or increasing his life expectancy. I listen to them blathering about how much it would suck and how bad it would be for Iraq to "turn into a failed state," and I think why yes, it does suck, and it is bad, and IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED. That state has failed about as spectacularly as a state can. I mean, I suppose it hasn't quite reached Rwandan proportions yet, but you know, if we just involve ourselves for another few years in this civil war, I'm sure we can inflame those tensions until they erupt into full-blown machete-wielding genocide.

Anyway. So "the surge" is not a solution; it's an escalation of the problem. And here is this guy about ten years younger than me, standing up there getting all the prayers of the assembled crowd that he might come back safe. And I hope the blessing comforted him and his family and friends; but it doesn't change the fact that he's on his way to a situation in which the best case scenario is that he kills a lot of people, doesn't get hurt himself, and comes home whole in body but vastly changed in mind and spirit. And for what? What purpose will his sacrifice, and the sacrifices made by all the people who love him and want him to be safe, serve?

I don't see that there is one, apart from maybe propping up al-Maliki long enough for the final collapse to occur under a Democratic president, or maybe allowing Bush to believe for a few more months that he has not been a complete, utter, catastrophic failure. I don't even see that it will allow us to secure Iraq's oil, as I think it is clear that al-Maliki's government is and will always be unable to deliver on any promises it may make to us, legislatively or otherwise. None of the rhetorically proferred purposes--spreading democracy in the Middle East, protecting America from Al-Qaeda--are, at this point, real possibilities. None of the real possibilities are worth a drop of human blood. They're certainly not worth the suffering this guy and his near and dear will soon be going through. And they're not worth the death, carnage, mayhem and terror that will go reeking through Baghdad with new speed and vigor once "the surge" hits town.

I know there has been a lot of debate about whether Congress should push for impeachment hearings against Bush. I think I have changed my mind about this. I think it must be done, whatever the short-term political cost. Bush has already made it clear that he has no interest in following the rule of law or in listening to the American people. As long as he is in power, he will continue to prosecute this war as aggressively and as stupidly as he can. He is not just out of touch; he is out of control, and he needs to be stopped before he kills again. Removing him from office is the only way to do it. Him, and Cheney, who is apparently just as batshit crazy as his figurehead, from all you hear.

:argh:

The Plaid Adder