Last Saturday evening we tuned in to NPR to be treated to "Special Coverage" of the execution of Sadaam Hussein. What a bizarre, jarring, but decidedly anti-climactic turn of events. The grisly coda to our Fearless Leader’s misbegotten war of choice. It demanded some kind of reaction…but I couldn’t put my finger on my exact feelings. And, as the coverage unfolded, it was apparent I was not alone. "Man-on-the-street" interviewees, university department heads, reporters in downtown Baghdad…no one, not even the anchors, seemed to really know what to do with the news.
Continued coverage further muddied the waters. Scott Simons talked to representatives of Iraqi ethnic groups that had been persecuted by Sadaam’s regime. Were they satisfied that Sadaam’s reign was finally over, that he could do no further evil? No…they were not. They could only whine that Sadaam had not been tried and executed for crimes against their people. Sadaam’s conviction and punishment for the one war crime didn’t give their people satisfactory "justice." Read, "revenge." So even if we could argue that we went into Iraq with the idea of saving the people of the region from a despotic, dangerous murderer…we can no longer argue that the end result was satisfactory to anyone, not even those we professed to wanting to save.
And, of course, no one can claim that Sadaam’s death is the end of anything but Sadaam himself. The conflict in Iraq rages on, escalating exponentially on a daily basis, so far beyond our control that it becomes more obvious every day that our only sane choice is to pull our people away from the deadly chain-reaction we put into motion, stand back and watch Baghdad burn. With blood running in great flaming rivers from our hands.
So what has been the use? What has been the ultimate lasting good in our sudden (hatched in about, say, 2000) commitment to policing the globe and inflicting our "best" form of human government on anyone we can pin down, pry open their mouths, and force it down their gullets? Is our nation safer? Is the world safer? Who have we saved?
What have we done?
All very good questions Lisa...As the song goes The answer my friend is blowin in the wind.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, not cutting our own throats. Hell, we haven't figured out what we are yet. It's been evolving for over two hundred years. Iraq may have some form of democratic government eventually. But, it will be on their terms, not ours. I suspect we sped up what would have happened if Hussein had managed to die in his bed of old age.
ReplyDeleteJackie
What have we done indeed. For a bunch of supposed Christians, our fearless leaders certainly have a poor understanding of the Golden Rule...I mean, consider if the tables were turned. Unlikely, but that's what the golden rule is all about, picturing yourself in another's position, trying to imagine what you would like to have done unto you if you were in their position. Would we (the United States, occupied by a foreign power) want to see our former leader executed by the puppets of the foreign power, even if we had hated the former leader to begin with? That kind of thinking is what is known as a "thought experiment", and I think it would be a good skill for GWB to learn.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had answers.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what we've done, but I think we need to get out.
ReplyDeleteSeems we're still stuck in the mud and I'm sitting here wondering what ever happened to Bin Laddin and why no one brings him up anymore. Not that I want another useless war, but it makes me wonder what was really behind all of this and that...
ReplyDeleteIt really bothered me, but then, I am against capital punishment.
ReplyDelete