I've Had Enough

My biggest reservation about the war in Iraq has always been that it was likely to foster more ant-american hate, and the resulting terror, than less. And now I see shit like this in the NY Times this morning:

We are screwing up big time. War is hell. Bad stuff happens. John Kerry talked about the "war atrocities" he witnessed when he was in Vietnam. I don't blame our troops over there. They are just dealing with the reality of the ugliness they find themselves caught up in.

I blame the guy who sent them there. George W. Bush has unleashed a wave of anti-americansism that is making us less safe, not more safe.

And I've had enough of it.

Comments

[Rod]

You are correct Fred. Have you read Ted’s blog about traveling as Canadian because it’s not safe to be an American abroad? Bush is making us look really bad.

[john]

can you link to the story that photo was attached to?

[compelled]

We're spreading freedom. Do you hate freedom? When you give people freedom, sometimes they make bad choices. Would you rather Saddam be in charge?

This war was obviously worth fighting. We've stablized both the country and the region, with very few (and decreasing numbers of) lives or casualties, almost no money or time, and removed all of the Ba'ath party from power forever.

As a country with no other security risks or obligations, and a massive surplus of money and population, it is clearly our duty invade another country and wait for it to reform in our image. This is our duty alone. We must prevent other nations from sharing in this cost.

In addition, this is going far better than even the proponents of the liberation imagined, and YOU shouldn't let the biased media influence you with their 'reporting' or 'facts'.

Finally, please don't forget that this administration was ELECTED on a platform of, and with an overwhelming mandate for, Nation-Building and imperial world reform and realignment.

Your dissent goes far, far beyond the limits of decency, and is downright unamerican.

[fred wilson]

compelled, you are very funny.

too bad the subject is serious

[Tom Watson]

Yeah, compelled had me there for a second or two - quite funny - but enough, time to oust our own illegitimate regime.

[Giordano]

I would like some of the Neo-Cons that dwell on Jeff Jarvis blog to comment on the pictures of American soldiers torturing and humiliating Iraqi captives. Unfortunately, they never talk about this kind of stuff. If they think the Arab world perceive them as "spreading freedom" after seeing that, they're wrong.

[Tommy C.]

Okay, I will take a shot at answering Giordano. Here it is, and it is short: The soldiers who did these horrible things represent a miniscule portion of our total deployed forces. These soldiers in no way represent the majority of our troops, our leadership or all that the U.S. represents. I am sure that even with the overwhelming stress that these fine soldiers deal with every single day, that they in no way applaud these pictures or actions. See, http://daggerjag.blogspot.com/. Get a grip fellas, we are not the next in line of torturing Baathist regimes.

[Giordano]

What I'm saying is that, even if (I hope) everyone knows that those soldiers are not the reflection of the whole country, the image this projects is a well known one: one of Americans showing disrespect for other cultures and countries, like people who think themselves better of everyone else. That's a common perception everywhere else in the world: people think that Middle America is ignorant and don't cares about the rest of the world, and stuff like this will not change this opinion. I think the people who took those pictures are undereducated, more than evil.

[Bill G]

While it irks me to no end about what these soldiers did, I have to agree with Tommy C - let's put this in perspective.

Remember Daniel Pearl?

What our soldiers did pales in comparison to what was done to Daniel Pearl and others unfortunate enough to have been captured by the other side in the Middle East.

[TommyC]

Giordano: I agree with you last point; uneducated, which obviously leads to situations like this. I think that, added with the pressure of service in a combat zone leads to these types of abuses. However....maybe not. These folks could just enjoy fucking with people--Iraqi, black, Jew, Italian--it may not matter. Here is something to think about from a friend of mine who is a Navy JAG. When he first started to describe to me what went on during a carrier deployment--crimes ranging from petty theft to rape--I couldn't believe it. However, once he told me to just think of a carrier--or in this case, Iraq--as a small city that contains all the good and all the bad of any other city/place in the country/world. These people are bad, uneducated, etc. What they are not, is representative of you, me or the majority of our armed forces.

[Jerry]

Hey folks...www.mediamatters.org notes that on an episode of that Fair and Balanced show, Hannity and Colmes, a former Army sergent called the abuse "no worse than hazing."

TommyC...you make excellant points. But your points will be lost on the rest of the world. Do you really think the 10 year-old Arab boy growing up in Syria is going to make that distinction five years from now when he's called upon to blow himself up, taking dozens of people with him?

Of course you can't blame the administration for these actions...you can blame them for putting people into this situation.
And Fred's larger point is that this war has made our country less secure. We all know that is true.

[El Jefe]

Those soldiers who participated in the creation of the photos will be dealt with. Severely. As a 20-year veteran I am appalled by this.

Fred, I got rain over the weekend. Funny thing is I'm not blaming Bush for that. WAKE UP! How many UN resolutions (and non-action by the UN) and the support of congress will it take?

[ay caramba]

Of course, lest we forget, this war was to show our steadfast support of UN resolutions.

In particular 1441, requiring Iraq to disclose any WMDs, and cooperate with inspectors.

The former nonexistent, and the latter forced to flee before the bombs started falling.

But of course, this was all about defending the credibility of the UN against people like Saddam Hussein who would thumb their nose at it and do whatever they felt like...

maybe it's not Fred who needs to WAKE UP!

:-)

[Mark]

Fred, blame Bush all you want, but giving the soldiers who did the dirty work a free pass ("they were victims of their environment") is an insult to the human race.

It is every individual's responsibility to act in a moral fashion. Give that idea up, and you give up on the Enlightenment.