In polite company... Iraq

From cdk007


This war is a tough topic for me. In a lot of ways I support it, and in many other ways I don't. The above video shows significantly better ways to spend the money we didn't have. On the other hand, Iraq was a horrible place to live. Maybe a lot of people were happy, but only because they made do with what they had. The country was run by a sadist dicktator (sorry Jeff) and his family. The country only had the strength it had because of it's oil, much like many of the other archaic Islamic countries. I personally think that even with the cost of the war being so high, that eventually the war in Iraq will be a good thing once (if) Iraq is stabilized.

I also feel that there are many other countries that deserve to be invaded and toppled. Countries like Iran and North Korea specifically, and many other middle eastern, asian, african, and south american countries. Many countries in this world support/promote/use children soldiers, starve their own people, support drugs (growing, producing, and trafficking), suppress and abuse women and and many other atrocities. If those countries don't want to reform, then I think it's the worlds duty to make them conform. I like to think of it as a mugger attacking an old lady in the street for her purse. If you stood by and watched, you would be immoral, especially if you were Batman. It's a shame that there aren't real super heroes, and that the lady getting mugged is instead humanity in despair.

The unfortunate thing about Iraq, and any other country that you would invade, is that they think we want to rule them. We just want them to be free to do what ever they want (besides what they are already doing ), to end the oppression of humanity. So even though we are there to free Iraqis, the very Iraqis we want to free are fighting us. A huge part is because of their religion, but it's also because national pride. If we were freeing them from an outside oppressor they would be fighting with us.

The same thing happens with religion. As an atheist I don't want to tell other people what to do, but I do want to free them from the oppression of their mind. If you have a conversation with someone deeply entrenched in religion, they think you are attacking them, when in fact you are attacking their religion. The enlightenment must come from inside. The war on Iraq is not a war against anybody, but against ideas.

So in a way, the war in Iraq is one that can't be won. The citizens of Iraq, at least the ones fighting us, are a lost cause. We will never convert them, the only way to stop them is by killing them. Is that such a horrible thing though? We are saying to them, be a decent person. If you don't want to be a decent person then you will die. Are you killing a human or a disease? How do you stop a malevolent meme? The children of Iraq are the reason we are there. We are trying to show them that there is a different way to think and live than the primitive ways of their fathers. When the children see that it is the US that is building the schools, hospitals, and power plants, and their fathers, cousins and brothers are blowing them up, that is where the war is won. When the mothers crying for their lost children realize that it was their fellow countrymen that viciously attacked them, that is when the war is won. When the Iraqi's realize that they are sitting by, as foreigners come into their country to blow up ambulances and soccer games, that is when the war is won. It is won, one person, one family at a time.

In the long run, I think it's the best thing for humanity. Could I be wrong? Of course, these are only my opinions, and please, feel free to disagree.