Little exchange at work just now

[rniel]

Guy across from me says. He just read about how after looking for 15 months they are sure there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Then the guy next to me says. Well it doesn't matter it was still the right thing to do.

What the fuck.

They claimed a reason for the first preemptive war we've ever had in history. If your going to start a preemptive war there had better be a god damn strong case for it, then when that sole justification has completely evaporated the wing nuts are still holding on to their dear beloved war like it's their first born child.

I didn't say anything cause I know the dangers of arguing this kind of crap at work I gave that up some time ago.

[skylarmae]

1. It sounds like they don't appreciate the seriousness of war

Save yourself. Not worth going down with that ship. Shitty-ship!
You savvy?

[mac56]

2. Maybe - print out an enlistment form for each of them.

Let 'em put their money where their mouths are.

[Arancaytar]

3. It's not their money. It's their lives. That's why I don't understand it.

Hey, if they've got the money, why shouldn't they support someone who'll waste it (though if they had enough to benefit from his tax plan, they wouldn't be working)? What bothers me is that they're supporting someone who's gotten into a quagmire in Iraq, and is planning to do the same in Iran, Syria, and maybe even North Korea. Hey, the US don't *have* that many citizens to be drafted!

[gratuitous]

4. "Well, it doesn't matter"

I wonder if your co-workers would still be saying that if it was their son or daughter getting blown to bits in Fallujah or Tikrit or Baghdad.

[whistle]

5. $200 billion spent on Iraq War to take down Saddam....

....1,065 dead U.S. military troops and 7,500 seriously injured and disabled, 100,000 plus Iraqi civilians dead in last 18 months, unaccounted for number of Iraqi soldiers killed when U.S. tanks with front bulldozer plows covered them in their trenches, $422 billion U.S. federal deficit in fiscal 2004 with no economic improvement to show to the average American, doubling of gasoline prices in the last 18 months, millions of quality American jobs lost to overseas outsourcing, American Bill of Rights trashed, Al-Queida recruiting has accelerated 60 fold, on and on and on!

That has been the cost of taking Saddam down. Saddam has not appeared before a world court for his crimes. He will be tried by Iraqis and think of this, he could go free and rise again.

[coalition_unwilling]

6. It wasn't even a "preemptive war" (legal under intl. law)

Instead, this was a 'preventive war' (preventing Hussein from developing into a threat down the road). The latter was ruled illegal as a casus belli by the Nuremburg Tribunals.

I've stopped speaking completely about non work-related matters to several co-workers because I can't abide their (willful) ignorance any longer. Sorry it has come to this, I guess, but I do not want to be 'friends' with people whose values are diametrically opposed to mine.

[lpbk2713]

7. It was the "wrong" thing to do and they know it.

Smirky's advisers all told him the real bad guy was OBL. He listened to all of them and said ".... well, alrighty then. Let's invade Iraq!" What pisses me off is how this idiot turned a record budget surplus into a record deficit with all his acts of supreme stupidity. Just imagine what the result would be if only a hundred billion dollars of the money he squandered foolishly was spent on education or health care. I hope the voters take this into account and hold all the repubs that are up for re-election at all levels responsible.

[demosincebirth]

8. I would have told them,..

to go tell that to the Mother or wife who lost a son or a husband in Iraq.

[Jacobin]

9. "right thing to do"...translation is "we need their oil"

but we wanted to have some kinda fig leaf cover. Now that the fig leaf has blown away, don't bother us with excuses for the invasion.

[lastliberalintexas]

11. Or that they are End Timers

I'm not sure from the original post if both of the co-workers buy this line of thought, though. But I know several people who had conceded to me long ago that Iraq probably had no WMD but that they still supported the war because it was an "ungodly" country and now we are spreading "the word" to the masses. Plus, we have to preserve Israel so that Jesus will return (and smite the Jews of course).

So the ones I find of late who still support this nightmare either admit it was for oil and don't have a problem with that or think it was necessary because they are End Timers. Not sure which is scarier.

[CitySky]

10. "you forgot Poland"

"So," you nod gravely. "You disagreed with the outcome of the Nuremburg trials, then."

Panicky coworker gives the "whah?" look.

And you explain with equal gravity that the all those Nazis ended up getting convicted on the charge of invading other sovereign nations without provocation. "If Germany had just done a better job explaining how Poland posed a threat to the Homeland's security, those guys wouldn't have had to get nailed on all those trumped-up charges."

right?