All Pain, No Gain
While there's no telling how much longer the U.S.-led "war on terrorism" in Iraq will persist (a top U.S. military figure recently suggested four more years), what now seems more sure than ever is that the enterprise will not accomplish even one of the artificial justifications suggested (at various times) by those who initiated and are executing it.
Thus, Americans are ostensibly being saddled with the bill for an abject "foreign policy" failure to the tune (so far) of multiple billions of dollars in debt, thousands of lives, and many thousands more maimed for life.
The apparent reason?...
1. WMDs and Terrorist Ties
The original twin-justification for U.S. aggression against Iraq was Saddam Hussein's supposed possession of "weapons of mass destruction" and his alleged ties to bin Laden's organization. Both have since been vaporized by the conspicuous absence of any corroborating positive evidence, after U.S. "intelligence" and muscle failed to find (or fabricate) credible empirical support after (what has now become) years of investigation.
Truth matters. So let's face it: Top-level U.S. government office occupants simultaneously pulled a ruse on the U.N. security council and duped the American public with lies. From the very beginning, U.S. military aggression in Iraq was never truthfully justified on the basis of any "weapons of mass destruction" or ties to bin Laden's organization.
2. "Nation Building"
As the WMD/terrorism myths vaporized in the face of reality, the Bush administration was quick to justify this costly "war on terrorism" project as an endeavor to bring "democracy" to the Iraqi people. The intent was obviously to garner and retain support for a blatant act of military aggression by recasting it as a "foreign aid" project, designed to "give" the Iraqi people "democracy" (as if forcibly delivering the same [whether possible or not] were a lawful mandate of the U.S. Constitution -- which doesn't even contain the word "democracy" or any derivative thereof).
It should be no surprise that the Iraqis' process of establishing their own "democratic" constitution (under U.S. tutelage, however misguided) has persistently broken down, and for good reason: The concept of "democracy" offends the sensibilities and logic of some Iraqis and their culture, while it presents an enticingly potential means to positions of power for a smattering of Bush-approved officials.
3. The Bottom Line
This needless, tragic assault on Iraq serves not to eliminate terrorism (terrorist violence has only multiplied exponentially since the arrival of U.S. forces), or to establish "democracy" (resistance to which is wisely championed by advocates of true liberty in Iraq and elsewhere).
Instead, this "war on terrorism" has become (yet another) example of U.S. government officials' means of (once again) drawing Americans' attention abroad, so that the moral and fiscal bankruptcy of the U.S. federal government may remain "below the radar" just a little longer.
Thus, Americans are ostensibly being saddled with the bill for an abject "foreign policy" failure to the tune (so far) of multiple billions of dollars in debt, thousands of lives, and many thousands more maimed for life.
The apparent reason?...
1. WMDs and Terrorist Ties
The original twin-justification for U.S. aggression against Iraq was Saddam Hussein's supposed possession of "weapons of mass destruction" and his alleged ties to bin Laden's organization. Both have since been vaporized by the conspicuous absence of any corroborating positive evidence, after U.S. "intelligence" and muscle failed to find (or fabricate) credible empirical support after (what has now become) years of investigation.
Truth matters. So let's face it: Top-level U.S. government office occupants simultaneously pulled a ruse on the U.N. security council and duped the American public with lies. From the very beginning, U.S. military aggression in Iraq was never truthfully justified on the basis of any "weapons of mass destruction" or ties to bin Laden's organization.
2. "Nation Building"
As the WMD/terrorism myths vaporized in the face of reality, the Bush administration was quick to justify this costly "war on terrorism" project as an endeavor to bring "democracy" to the Iraqi people. The intent was obviously to garner and retain support for a blatant act of military aggression by recasting it as a "foreign aid" project, designed to "give" the Iraqi people "democracy" (as if forcibly delivering the same [whether possible or not] were a lawful mandate of the U.S. Constitution -- which doesn't even contain the word "democracy" or any derivative thereof).
It should be no surprise that the Iraqis' process of establishing their own "democratic" constitution (under U.S. tutelage, however misguided) has persistently broken down, and for good reason: The concept of "democracy" offends the sensibilities and logic of some Iraqis and their culture, while it presents an enticingly potential means to positions of power for a smattering of Bush-approved officials.
3. The Bottom Line
This needless, tragic assault on Iraq serves not to eliminate terrorism (terrorist violence has only multiplied exponentially since the arrival of U.S. forces), or to establish "democracy" (resistance to which is wisely championed by advocates of true liberty in Iraq and elsewhere).
Instead, this "war on terrorism" has become (yet another) example of U.S. government officials' means of (once again) drawing Americans' attention abroad, so that the moral and fiscal bankruptcy of the U.S. federal government may remain "below the radar" just a little longer.
posted by Mudrostovich | 9:40 PM
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