Subject:
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Re: A few things...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Fri, 27 May 2005 04:31:15 GMT
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Viewed:
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2404 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler wrote:
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
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What I’m not seeing the current participants in this debate providing is
anything beyond “we told you so”... I’m against the war too, I was from the
start, but I think it’s important and valid to ask “ok, so what would you do
NOW?” That IS a legitimate question and it IS legitimate to ask it and
expect some answer to evaluate.
No one’s answering. Which makes this debate not all that interesting
really, because it’s a hard and important question. It’s easy to berate past
actions but tougher to actually propose a plan.
No one’s proposing. What we see instead is questions answered with more
questions and positions that can’t be pinned down. Yawn. Answer the hard
questions and I’ll be more impressed.
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Here are a few thoughts--not sure how feasible they are, and some will
require greater diplomacy than is currently available to the administration.
1. Get rid of Bush. His handling of this entire debacle has been
nightmarishly inept and short-sighted. His removal would go a long way
toward demonstrating that we have recognized his many errors and are willing
to pursue a course different from the madness he initiated.
2. Apologize
for our mistakes to date. Should be self-evident, but it hasn’t happened
so far.
3. State our mission goals clearly. Why did we start this war?
All of the reasons given to date have been shown to be false, so it looks
more and more like our intent is just to kill as many Muslims as we can. If
we have another objective in mind, we should declare it concretely, and we
should articulate a means by which we may objectively assess our success or
failure. An exit strategy would also be helpful, as would a rough timeframe
so that it does not appear to be a deliberately eternal war.
4. Eliminate
all “crusade” overtones. That means Boykin and his ilk must be formally
censured. That means that everyone who refers to “our God” or “their God” in
the context of this stupid war must be formally censured. It means that any
serviceman or woman who desecrates a Quran must be formally censured. It
means that every public official involved in the conflict must act and speak
with courtesy and consideration of the differences at play here. Our
blindness makes our national egocentrism indistinguishable from deliberate
hostility toward other cultures.
5. Act with humility. It’s bad enough
that we lied to get into this war. Dubya’s subsequent arrogance (and that of
his subordinates) has made it impossible to hold the so-called “Coalition”
together, and it certainly hasn’t made us any new friends in the aftermath of
the invasion.
6. Remove corporate profit as an incentive in the
theater. In a true Free market this wouldn’t be a problem, but we’re
nowhere near that market, and government-santioned corporate corruption,
waste, and theft are rampant. Since this was an unprovoked (and, some argue,
an illegal war), the subsequent profiteering only makes the war seem more
obviously in the service of corporate greed. Corporate involvement, if any,
should be 100% transparent and 100% accountable. A for-profit war is nothing
but corporate-run mass murder.
7. Allow broader access to reconstruction
contracts. Though France and Germany opposed our initiation of the war,
they shouldn’t be excluded from the bidding process if they have something to
offer. Narrowing the field to only those who were cajoled into joining our
war makes it seem that the war was intended for (generally American)
corporate profit.
8. Secure the assistance of Arab nations. This
requires more diplomacy than we have, I know. Arab nations have been largely
excluded from the shaping and rebuilding of post-war Iraq, and our continued
failure to appreciate the extant cultural differences makes their exclusion
all the more costly and apparent. Additionally, the inclusion of Arab
nations would further demonstrate that this is not a war to put the middle
east under US rule.
9. Hand over the reins. Despite providing the
overwhelming majority of military forces, we are clearly unable to manage the
disaster we have wrought. If we truly are part of a Coalition rather than an
Empire (with a few lackey nations), we should be willing to submit to the
authority of another power. No other nation would command US forces, but the
US would not be in charge of the whole quagmire.
10. Let them choose the
government that they want. Dubya and co. endlessly prattle that “Freedom
is on the March” and “We’re sowing the seeds of Democracy.” That’s all
crappy sloganeering. If we really respect the freedom that we pretend to
have given these people, we should support no candidate, we should offer no
rules of our own, and we should clearly not object if the resultant
government is entirely contrary to our wishes. Otherwise we are clearly
showing our disdain for freedom and for another nation’s sovereignty.
Ten. That’s all for now--it’s late, and I have to work tomorrow.
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Whoops!
11. Do something about Israel. No, Israel’s not 100% wrong in all things,
and yes, Palestinians are not without blood on their hands, either. But if we
had to pick one thing (other than cultural imperialism (as opposed to
militaristic imperialism)) that enflames Arab rage against the US, it’s our
unwavering support of Israel no matter how many children they murder or
Palestinian families they evict or walls they build. If we’d only step up and
say that Israel has sometimes acted inappropriately and without matched
provocation, we’d increase our credibility markedly. And we should require them
to return our nukes, too.
Eleven.
Dave!
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Message has 1 Reply:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: A few things...
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| (...) Here are a few thoughts--not sure how feasible they are, and some will require greater diplomacy than is currently available to the administration. 1. Get rid of Bush. His handling of this entire debacle has been nightmarishly inept and (...) (19 years ago, 27-May-05, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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