Reply #35: Ugh, it's so murky

[Abelman]

Iraq is so murky.

I agree with the post about Clark's claiming the outcome of Viet Nam could have been different not being the same thing as agreeing with the actual primary invasion.

Here's what I think.

We should NOT have invaded Iraq. There were diplomatic methods for deposing Saddam being put into play. We now know (and some of us were pretty damn sure then) that Iraq posed zero threat to the United States as well as most of it's bordering countries, that it had no ties with Osama or al Qaeda at that time, and that the Administration lied it's way into invading. Iraq, because of us, is now harboring future terrorists who hate us.

Now, I really am torn on the leaving/staying issue. On the one hand, we had no business invading in the first place. On the other hand, and one I think Clark agrees with, we did and we created the problem that now exists. (When I say "we," it is not really "we," it's the *Admin, but I really don't want to worry about semantics) As a country, we invaded another soveriegn nation. We, in effect, "broke" it. I personally feel that when you break something, you should be the one to fix it. Ask for help if you need it, and if what you are currently doing is breaking it even more, then the time comes to change the way you are fixing it.

I have a pretty over the top comparison. Say you have a pressure valve on a boiler that isn't working quite right. Now, you know you need to fix it. You could wait until help arrives to fix it properly, or you and your small group of buddies could try yourself. Unfortunately, your method of fixing it is hammering it with a monkey wrench.

After a while, it is pretty obvious that you've made the problem a lot worse. The valve is spurting out steam, which it wasn't doing before, and scalding you and your friends a bit. You keep hitting the valve. It is obvious that if you watch it, and release the pressure manually, it will be "okay." If you just leave it, the pressure will build up and explode, taking your basement with it. Or, you could get your buddies to help you fix it properly. I mean, you've gone and made it worse, you need to do whatever it takes to fix it properly.

That's a little over the top, and far from a perfect analogy, but just my two cents. We've created this problem, and it is our duty to fix it properly. Or course, this is difficult, because the guy in charge seems to think if we just keep hitting it with a wrench, it will be fixed. Idiot.