Thoughts on Iraq

In the beginning, there were WMD's. And then there were not.

Three more American souls in Iraq left this earth yesterday, on our national day of giving thanks.

First, I want to expand on something I wrote yesterday. I commented that democracy is ".... the most perfect form of government yet developed by humans to maintain an orderly, civilized society." And I stand by that sentiment. It is a fair, representative form of government which does not rely--indeed will not tolerate--either tyranny or claims of royalty. Once we have chosen our leaders, if they fail to meet our needs and expectations, they are "outta there" once their elected term ends.

However, democratic government is not for every culture. We were deceived as a nation when our leaders entered war with Iraq, claiming that they possessed weapons of mass destruction. That "untruth" could almost be forgiven when our goal became one of deposing and capturing Saddam Hussein for his war crimes and crimes against humanity. Mission accomplished. Now, here's where I really begin to have a problem.

I was fine with the first goal, but I felt the government had in mind the second goal all along and should have leveled with the American public from Day 1. Now we are determined to "help" Iraq set up a democratic government, something I don't believe they want or are capable of sustaining. The different factions of their government--the Sunnis, the Shiites, the Kurds, and all the rest--don't get along. They NEVER HAVE! And they aren't going to start "getting along" just because we tell them to! They have been fighting amongst themselves for centuries. That's HUNDREDS of years! They don't WANT to be governed in a fair, democratic way.

Bring our soldiers home. We can't force the Iraqis to embrace what we hold most precious in our government. We risk becoming mired in a conflict we CANNOT WIN, because it has already been in progress for longer than any of us have been ALIVE!

We have been "global playground bullies" long enough. We have urgent issues at home that need to be dealt with. It's time to take care of ourselves. Bring our soldiers HOME.