So many dead

The violence in Iraq baffles the imagination. Another 90 + killed in mosques. Another 6 + killed in hotels. Atleast 4 more people obliterated their bodies in the name of religion and politics and hate and desperation. No one needs another tirade launched about the war’s legitimacy and it’s execution, so let me keep this brief. Suffice it to say, the Hussein regime and it’s brutal repression needed to go, but this was not the way to do it. The hubris, ideological distortion, and selfish motives that led our current administration into this quagmire have destroyed so many lives unnecessarily and alienated us for generations from so many people it makes you nauseous to consider. The soldiers in Iraq are doing incredible things by building the infrastructure for modern development, opening schools, and giving oppressed people a ballot. But those actions are overshadowed by the instability that’s a direct offshoot of our essentially unilateral approach. It’s cynical and ridiculous to characterize the Bush administration as purely evil. Those who do see the world in black and white, and that’s bullshit. Aside from the oil reserves and callous geopolitical strategizing, those who masterminded and directed this campaign also considered 100’s of thousands killed or maimed by chemical warfare and wanton slaughter at the hands of the Hussein regime. But moral indignation doesn’t justify brash, irresponsible retaliation that, in many ways, compounds the misery. We should have the whole goddamn world playing a part in this enterprise and ensuring that instead of strapping nails and wire to their chests, those people reap the benefits of democracy and freedom. This never was a job for such a limited military contingent, and maybe not a military contingent at all. Regardless of how positive the ultimate outcome-and I truly hope stability and democracy prevail-those who calculated this assault and reconstruction have erred on an unforgivable scale and can now only hope to save face, and a few innocent, war-torn lives.