Painful questions about Iraq

[babylonsister]

This is a letter found in Stars and Stripes:

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=45425


Painful questions about Iraq

It’s now more than four years since we invaded Iraq. It’s time the American people ask themselves some painful questions. Namely, are we a nation of hypocrites? Consider the following:

* Pre-emptive warfare: The world agrees it was wrong when Napoleon, Mussolini, Hitler and even Saddam Hussein did it; why then is it somehow permissible for America to pre-emptively invade other sovereign nations? Wasn’t Pearl Harbor also pre-emptive warfare?

* Iraq war: Why did the U.S. ultimately spit in the face of the United Nations to invade Iraq for apparently spitting in the face of the U.N.? Why did we also use “dangerous nuclear weapons” in the form of depleted uranium as we invaded Iraq looking for supposed “dangerous nuclear weapons programs”?

* WMDs: Why are we — the only country in the world to actually use nuclear weapons on another country (twice!) — the ones reserving the right to determine who can have this technology?

* Spreading democracy: The American people went to war in Korea and Vietnam to stop the spread of communism — an unsavory but, nonetheless, internationally recognized form of government. Why are we now the ones spreading a form of government (democracy) throughout the world?

* “Global War on Terror”: Ever notice that the “war on terror” happens where three-fourths of the world’s remaining oil and natural gas reserves are? If Iraq was the world’s second largest exporter of tofu, would we have invaded?

* Patriotism: Iraqis fighting for freedom from occupation by a foreign army get called “terrorists,” “insurgents,” “evil-doers” and even “Islamo-fascists.” Did King George III call George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin similar names? Should we stop celebrating these guys on the 4th of July every year and denounce them as “terrorists”? If your country was invaded by another in the name of spreading a better form of government, toppling your despotic leader and removing your weapons threat, would you call yourself a patriot or a terrorist?

Sgt. Victor Blazier (retired)
Marion, Ohion

[booley]

1. American Exceptionalism

becuase WE are RIGHT and THEY are WRONG.

Doesnt' matter who THEY are. THEY are WRONG becuase THEY are not US.

And if you dont' agree, think this arrogent or could lead to very bad things happening down the road, then you must hate US.

:sarcasm: off

Really it's scary to think so many people seriously beleive the above. Numerouse nations have died becuase they thought they were "Special' that they could cheat history or ignore the rest of the world's wishes.

The freeptard super patriots are gonna "love" this country right into the toilet.

[RufusTFirefly]

3. Exactly

I was tempted to mention "exceptionalism" in my post as well. What's strange is that for many Americans it's an almost unconscious exceptionalism. They aren't protesting loudly that WE are RIGHT and THEY are WRONG. It's something they take for granted. Like gravity. Or evolution. ;-)

[RufusTFirefly]

2. Subversive questions

These are all such commonsense questions and yet they are ones that most people are even afraid to raise for fear of being accused of "supporting the terrorists" or "hating the troops" or any of a number of accusations.

(K & R)

[bonito]

4. Sgt. Victor Blazier gets it .n/t

[chknltl]

5. Sgt Blazier has it about right

I believe most here at DU would agree with him. I like how he gets to the heart of the issue on each point. Another babylonsister thread to add to my many bookmarked threads, most of which also have her name attached.

btw: Why has nobody pointed out that saddam hussein was never a martyr? Martyrs feel that death is less important than their cause. So if saddam was not a martyr, what exactly could he have done offensively with a WMD and NOT perished soon after? To suggest that he could have given it to his hated rivals to be used ANYWHERE while under the intense scrutiny of the UN and the bush administration does not hold water here. As a matter of fact had someone absolutely unrelated to saddam unleashed a WMD anywhere in the world, saddam knew that he would get the blame, that he would wind up dead in rapid fashion. So why would he want WMD in his country at all? To suggest that he wanted them built in his country is to say that he was a martyr. I think it is obvious that saddam was a tin-pot dictator looking to keep his position of power. PERHAPS he may have wanted them for defensive purposes but I suspect he knew better. Manufacturing or importing WMD into Iraq was CONTRARY to his prime directive: keeping his fat ass ALIVE and IN CHARGE!

I've yet to find anyone who disagrees here. Even the slowest freeper knows that should saddam have unleashed or caused to be unleashed a WMD ANYWHERE his days of dictatorship would be calculated in hours. Go ahead, try this argument out on a " neo-con" Ask them what would have happened had saddam hussein blasted a nuke off in Tel Aviv. The only debate there is over how many hours he would have survived after doing that. saddam was no fool on this, he saw what happened when he invaded kuwait, even his Muslim neighbors joined the "infidels" in tossing his ass out of there! He knew better than to try a stunt even worse than that while under the intense scrutiny he was under! saddam hussein was a great many things but martyr was not one of them.

WE WERE DELIBERATELY LIED TO!