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| quote: | Originally posted by Cyrus King
Izzy, Yoepus, Arbiter...and others... what do you think of all this? |
I'm not really too surprised by it. Given the impressive size of the anti-war movement, the U.S. and British governments faced so much internal and external pressure to back down somewhat that they would have been jeopardizing their own careers to continue.
Of course, I am somewhat disappointed, as I feel it is merely a demonstrations that mob mentality can work both ways - a triumph of rhetoric over truth, if you will. But neither would I be happy to see our governments moving to war with such a lack of support from the free peoples of this world. Ultimately, my disappointment lies in those people, because I believe they've failed to see the larger picture.
I myself was once one of them:
| quote: | Originally posted by Arbiter on 10/28/02
I'm opposed to it on the grounds that I think the costs outweigh the potential benefits. Besides, if we remove Saddam from power, he'll just end up being replaced by a fundamentalist regime. At least his government is relatively secular.
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But ultimately, what made me change my mind was when a friend of mine asked me to help her write a paper for an Anthropology class. In pouring over her notes of the atrocities commited by Saddam Hussein towards his people, not only in simply killing them, but also in denying them basic freedoms, as well as by many other "leaders" in the middle-east, I came to somewhat of an epiphany: I finally understood that this had to stop. No matter the cost, no matter the short-term consequences, to allow these people to continue to live in the manner that they do is simply unjustifiable.
It would cost billions of dollars over a span of decades to actually bring true freedom to these countries. I, too, have had my share of doubts about whether or not the Bush administration would realistically be willing to make that kind of expenditure. But ultimately, I supported the war, and still do, because I had no choice: it is the only realistic first step towards achieving the sole acceptable outcome.
It is sad that the chances of freedom being brought to the people of the middle east are diminishing rapidly, though admittedly they were never particularly high. Perhaps one day the people of Iraq and other middle eastern nations will endeavor to free themselves, but the nature of their culture in reality produces a vicious cycle of authoritarianism which I don't believe can be removed except by force.
It may be for the best that we avoid war, as no one can be certain of the consequences it will bring, but if you ask me, by doing so, we abase ourselves by doing so. To tolerate the existence of tyrants makes one a tyrant. There can be no middle ground with such people, no compromise, and no diplomacy. The pathology of the tyrant simply does not comprehend such things. Perhaps even Bush himself could be viewed in such a light. I personally believe his domestic policy to be fascist in much the same way Hussein's is, only to a lesser degree.
Ultimately, I fear the world is moving away from freedom and towards safety, a trend which leaves us all prisoners of fear. You can see it in foreign policy, where "liberation" is scorned as invasion (and perhaps rightfully so, for it takes a hero to be a liberator, and the heroes of this age rarely choose politics). You can see it in domestic policy, where a mountain of restrictions continue to be placed on what one may or may not do. These are not the principles upon which the United States was founded. Truly, these are not the principles upon which the free world in its entirety has established itself.
Indeed, these are the principles of corruption, cowardice, and tyranny. Our leaders uphold all that is unworthy, and trample our freedoms by teaching us to value our own lives more than we value what is right. In this day and age, perhaps I was naive to believe any good could actually be accomplished by war. Nevertheless, I still feel there can be no honor if we do not try.
Regardless of whether or not we do go to war, it is clear that tyranny is winning the battle against freedom. To turn the tide in this greater struggle, will take a sacrifice far greater than would be required in Iraq, and it is with great sadness I must say, that I do not see many people who would be willing to make such a sacrifice.
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It's already slowly starting to work!
