Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Middle East and Me

I got a response to my appeal, and Q suggested that I explain what I think on what's happening in the Middle East. Iraq was specifically mentioned, but I think I shall encompass Israel and Gaza too.

At the beginning, I thought that going into Iraq was a good idea, along with half of America. Really, what else were we supposed to do? We had been told that Iraq had WMD's and was planning on using them in war. Saddam himself let everybody think so, so logically, he was ok with whatever consequences may have come from his actions. Status Report: Intelligence says they have nukes. Saddam says he has nukes. Result: Bush (like any rational human being at this point) thinks they have nukes and responds accordingly.

If Bush had sat there and done nothing, and Iraq did have weapons, well guess who was in huge trouble with everybody when a couple million people get blown up. So we went into Iraq.

Now Bush gets all this flack because we went in and didn't find any WMD's. Bush lied to us they say. Well, Bush was lied to and he is really just the mouth that relayed it to us. What about the Intelligence agents who gave faulty reports to Bush? Was the president (who is stuck behind a desk reading papers) expected to know more about what went on over there than the people whose job it was to find out this information? Simple answer: NO.

Now in regards to what happened afterwards:

Mistakes which I partially blame Bush for, and thought he could have handled better came next. We stayed. I don't say that we should have pulled out right away, but we should have taken steps to build a stable government and pull out as soon as possible before the Dems started complaining about their pet projects being undefunded because of the war budget. I realize that this could take a large amount of time, but really when the country reaches the stability level in which we found it, that is where we needed to wash our hands and say "Enough. We fixed one of your problems and removed a progress roadblock, now its your job to move past where you were." I know it sounds harsh, but we spent millions upon millions and thousands of lives doing what Iraqis should have been doing themselves. We were building them roads and schools that our country needs.

So at this point I think the solution is to pull out. Now.

George Washington once said: "The great rule of conduct for us, in regards to foreign nations, is , in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connecion as possible. ~ George Washington 1796

I'd like to also explain a little bit of what I think about Israel and Gaza. At this point I do not think we should be involved other than in convincing the stupid UN that Israel and Gaza should be left to fight it out. The whole situation is ridiculous. Israel is getting bashed across the board because it is defending its people by fighting back. Israel gave Gaza to Hamas in 2005. Since then, over 6,300 missiles and mortars have come out of Gaza, and targeted Israeli civilians. This past Christmas eve alone there were 80. And Israel has waited it out without doing anything. Mostly because of international pressure not to harm the "civilians" living in Gaza. Really? Seriously? How many civilians does Gaza have to kill before Israel can retaliate and protect its own? Is the government of Israel responsible first to Gaza's civilians or to its own people? Hamas targets civilians. Israel only wants to target Hamas. GO FOR IT ISRAEL!!!!!!

By the way, if I left anything unclear or if you have any, feel free to ask any questions you might have. Remember, be respectful, and don't call me close minded because I have disagreed with your point of view.

6 comments:

Emily said...

I'm not saying I disagree with you, but the Iraq situation is complicated for me. Yes, we need to be out of there as soon as humanly possible. BUT! The fact of the matter is we went IN there to make things better. We took control and tried to help, and in the process, we also wreaked (sp??) some havoc and caused some issues of our own. We need to clean up the messes we've made there and then come back. I think of it this way. If another country came in to the US to protect us from something or try to intercede on our behalf, great. But if they destroyed our cities, changed our customs and political system and really just threw everyday life in an uproar, I would be furious if that military just said, "Um, OK, not quite how we expected things to turn out...so, well, see ya." and pulled out, leaving our country in disarray. It may not be our place to fix all of Iraq's problems, but we need to take responsibility for what we've done there, for better AND worse, and do what we can to fix OUR mistakes and give the Iraqi people the opportunities to continue to rebuild their lives. Does that make any sense?

Q said...

I think we should pull out of Iraq a lot of our soldiers, because it is really expensive and none of our business. but I think we should leave just enough there to have a presence in the Middle East. That way, we can react quickly if need be. We'll pull out totally when they ask us to.

My isolationist side says to just get out of there, though, so I can see the flaws in my ideas. Sometimes I think that the world needs to relearn what happens when the Americans completely withdraw.

Honestly, I think we should let the Israelis do what they want if their neighbors are attacking them. Goodness knows they can take on their opponents. (Yom Kippur War, anyone?)

Somnite said...

MismatchedSockGirl: I can see where you are coming from, and I admit we do need to fix the messes that we have made while over there, but our money is far better spent doing exactly what you said (repairing what we damaged) than in building up an infrastructure and transportation system that is in some ways better than our own for no cause other than to "help them out."

Like I said, I don't say that we should pull out immediately, but we should be working as fast as we can towards returning to the state that the country was in before we interfered (minus Saddam)and then leaving them to do with the opportunity what they will. An no, we definitely shouldn't leave the country in the state that it is currently in. Infrastructure and roads need to be repaired and rebuilt from the damage we have done.

Q said...

Oh, and I forgot to say: People only tell you to be open-minded when they are closed-minded and think you should think the way they do.

Emily said...

*cheers* Yay, Q! That's so very true.

Anonymous said...

Soooooo true!

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