I’ve been going back and reading the stuff I wrote about Iraq in the leadup to the invasion. Here’s a link to my post on Bush’s speech announcing the start of the war from March 17, 2003.
I wish I had been wrong when I wrote this:
I’ve given both sides of the debate very serious consideration, and unlike most neocons and warmongers, I’ve actually read The Threatening Storm. What I found today when I heard a reporter on the radio talking about how people in Baghdad were lining up at pharmacies to get all the medicine they can and filling up their cars with gas for all the good it will do is that my reaction against this war is a lot more visceral than I would have imagined. I grew up on the Gulf coast, and I can remember what it was like when we heard there was a hurricane coming. We did what we could and hoped against hope that the coming destruction would miss us, and it always did. What must it be like to be in a city in Iraq right now? You know the destruction is coming, and you know that the only thing that will save you now is luck.
I sit here in America, and I ponder the fact that we’re the people who are about to inflict that on another country. Not because they’ve attacked us, and not because they’re preparing to attack us, but because they might possibly attack us. I won’t argue with anyone who says that Saddam Hussein is a brutal, oppressive dictator who deserves whatever fate befalls him, but there are literally millions of people who are about to stop being Saddam Hussein’s victims and start being our victims. The United States is about to be the disaster that befalls them. And when I look at President Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and their ghoulish set of war-loving minions, I don’t think they appreciate the gravity of that.
March 20, 2006 at 12:51 am
it was a great post the first time….now, it’s just sadly disheartening.
March 20, 2006 at 10:07 am
there are literally millions of people who are about to stop being Saddam Hussein’s victims and start being our victims
man, that’s about it. it pains one to watch.
March 20, 2006 at 12:31 pm
That particular comment about Saddam really stands out to me. I don’t think there are a lot of people who would argue that he’s a bad man. But it’s been a long time since his capture, and the war still continues. It seems as if the war will never end.
December 14, 2006 at 10:50 am
Not to mention the eradication of countless 5000 year old culture camel routes and nomad tribes that have been bombt into oblivion, vaporized from the history of mankind. Or the fact that the world heritage of Babylon has been bombt to ruble after decenia of carefull excavation. Or u should read the publishing of the universaty of washington with the very minimal nummbers of civilian and army deaths at the end of the invasion. (these do not include the deaths of civilians or socalled terrorists after the American dictatorship of Iraq) And dont get me even started about the people u would call terrorists witch i prefer to call freedom fighters. My question would be, what would u do if your country gets invaded by a country from another continent pushing theire standards of life and culture down your throught?