Invading Iraq right for the wrong reasons or wrong for the right reasons?

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/columns/kadner/x11-pkd1.htm

What did you know about Iraq and when?

<snip>"After we had overthrown Saddam, I thought it was obvious that our troops would become sitting ducks for every terrorist organization in the Middle East and every Iraqi citizen with a grudge."

But you felt this could be overcome in some fashion?

"I reasoned the president's advisors were more experienced and intelligent than myself and had a secret plan to address this problem."

Why?

"If they didn't have a plan, Americans would blame the president for putting our soldiers in harm's way with no defined rules of engagement, no clear mission and no exit strategy."

And your view of the situation now is ...

"The people advising the president are no smarter than I am."

That's a scary thought.

"I agree."

more...really worth reading

[kentuck]

1. Or wrong for the wrong reasons....

Even if 20 years from now, Iraq is a flourishing democracy, it was still wrong to invade a country that did not threaten us...and lose the hundreds and thousands of AMerican and Iraqi lives...

[jmowreader]

2. It was wrong for any reason.

No "right reasons" or "wrong reasons." We should not be there.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

3. If this is what I think it is...

then this guy is an arsehole of the first order...

I am running on the assumption that the person "testifying" is meant to represent the author's views. If so, this part is telling:

If the U.S. leaves Iraq and that country descends into anarchy, what will the rest of the world think of us?

"I don't care."

Why is that?

"The world has a short-term memory deficit disorder. No one recalls that Saddam killed more Iraqis then we have."

Of course, that is easy to say NOW, but what about in ten years? What about in twenty? How long was Hussein in power? That judgement can only be made (Iraqis killed by US vs Iraqis killed by Hussein) when the US has been in Iraq as long as Saddam was.

Even more to the point though, is the fact that this author seems to be suffering his own memory deficit disorder, after all, who supported Hussein throughout many of those years that he was killing Iraqis? The US, using THIS AUTHOR'S (and all American's) tax dollars.

That makes the author indirectly responsible for Hussein's actions.

Of course he would NEVER admit that.

On edit: By the way, there is the little matter of the sanctions imposed by the US/UK after the Gulf War. I seem to remember something on the order of HALF A MILLION children died directly as a result of sanctions against Iraq (including sanitation and medicine) and as a result of the Depleted Uranium scattered all over that nation. I wonder how many MORE have and will die because of the DU dropped this time?

[Guaranteed]

4. It was right, under the wrong president

and done by the wrong people.

I would have supported it had Clinton wanted to do it WITH the UN.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

6. Do you think anything would be different?

Too many people seem to think this war was bad because Bush did it, not because it was BAD.

The fact is, it doesn't matter if Clinton and the UN had run this invasion, the end result would be the same - the Shi'ites would be demanding a fair election, which would result in an Iranian style theocracy, and probably civil war.

Either that, or the UN and Clinton would have to do the same things Bush is doing now.

This war was wrong for three reasons:

1) It broke international law, thus weakening it - Now any nation can invade another and point at the US if anyone argues.

2) It was a VERY BAD idea - Hussein may have been bad, but whoever replaces him may be far worse.

3) It killed tens of thousands of the very people it was supposedly meant to save. Basically, people died for NOTHING.

None of these reasons have ANYTHING to do with Bush. Sure bush had ANOTHER reason for invading (corporate takeover of Iraqi resources), but the fact remains even if it was for totally altruistic reasons, all this war has done is made things WORSE, and it being carried out under Clinton wouldn't have changed that one bit.

[eaprez]

5. It Was Wrong PERIOD!

and in the aftermath, How arrogant of us to decide our way of governing should be their way of governing. Imposing our vision on another country is no different than imposing ones religion on another country.