Bob's Rant #4 - Mission Accomplished?

So, members of Congress want George Bush to set a timetable for leaving Iraq. He says no timetable until mission accomplished. Huh. Wait a minute, don't I remember a large banner claiming mission accomplished on the deck of ship behind Mr. Bush? So, why aren't the troops home. OK, I'm sure that for Mr. Bush that the major combat and post major combat missions are 2 different missions and he can explain them away. But, Mr. Bush is also quite guilty of arrogance and myopic thinking. His way or the highway.

I am sure that he means well and that he really believes everything he says (or least I hope so). However, we would all do well to keep reminding ourselves that this war is about more then Mr. Bush would have us believe. His WMD and Al Queda link postulates from the pre-war build up were crap then and now. But, I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he believed these 2 premises. I think the bigger picture goes back to positions he had established for himself before 9/11. Thus, 9/11 provided the vehicle to act on already existing biases for Mr. Bush as it applies to Iraq.

The Afghanistan mission was well justified and would appear to have been above board and honest. Good job here George.

So, the biggest problem with our Iraq policy is simply the continued failure to just be honest with ourselves. The mission isn't and wasn't accomplished. The mission hasn't even been clearly spelled out most of the time. Not to mention the degree of failure for us to predict outcomes. The dancing in the street sure didn't last long or occur in many places. So, perhaps the "real" reasons we are there are a little more complex and covert. Maybe, George wanted to give those with a Will and a Way to kill Americans a place to go where we could kill them? That may not be such a bad idea. Why fight them here, if we can fight them there? I might even support this policy. It is not based on hate or discrimination based on religion, creed, gender or anything else. If you have the Will and a Way to kill Americans, then we should mercifully and ruthlessly eliminate you. Our survival may depend on it.

But, to build a case for killing and dying on false premises, is an unforgivable act, so we better be sure first. We went too soon and for the wrong reasons, in my humble opinion. I do support our troops. But, I think their efforts could have been better invested.

The whole mess reminds me of previous thoughts I have had after reading Thomas Merton, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud and other pacifists. The more we divide and classify humans, the more easily we can excuse, explain the reasonableness for one group killing members of other groups. Shame on us. All of us. The extremists are wrong. We are wrong. Killing is wrong. One planet, one people, please. That said, I can tell you this is obviously more easily said then done. And, until we can find a way to justly deal with all people and wars do not take place, I hope I stay on the "most right" side. America is probably as close as one can get to most right. And, I do not support setting around waiting for the extremists.

So, Mr. Bush let's take the fight to the extremists. But, let's be extremely careful to avoid the innocent, choose our targets well, and by all means, tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.