OK OK OK Enough Already.
Nothing drives me nuts more than the ridiculous statement that the Republicans continue to spout in the Iraq War argument. Are the Iraqi people better off now that Saddam Hussein is gone? The point is that it doesn’t matter. George W Bush ran on the principle that we (the US) are not the worlds policeman. He was upset (or people on his staff that write his speeches) that Clinton put US troops in Bosnia. Was that a good idea? How many troops went to Bosnia? Now look at the Iraq debacle. How many troops went there?
How did George W Bush sell the Iraq invasion to the American people? He told us that if we didn’t go in there would be mushroom clouds over America. I didn’t think so then and I don’t see how going to Iraq has prevented the so-called problem. North Korea and Israel and South Africa and France and the US have nuclear weapons. Russia and China and India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons. If one of those countries thought that the Muslims in America were not being allowed to worship Allah and oppress the Muslim women properly. Would they be justified in setting off a nuclear bomb to make their point? They could say that George W Bush made the point that preemption was a valid choice. I don’t think that this is what we want, but we set the example and we are encouraging them to take preemptive action.
The point is that Americans don’t think that preemption is a valid international strategy unless we know for certain that it is required. In Iraq we were not certain. We were not certain! We went into another country without being certain that they were a threat. We now know that the US intelligence community was not certain. We set a precedent that preemption is a valid strategy. So, when Pakistan invades India we need to be on Pakistan’s side, because preemption is valid! When China invades Taiwan, we need to be on Chinas side, because preemption is a valid strategy. When Ireland invades Northern Ireland we need to be on Ireland’s side, because preemption is a valid strategy. When China invades the US they have every right to do so, because they have every right to make a preemptive strike against a country that certainly harbor weapons of mass destruction, don’t they?
Of course the Republicans are the party of the exception to the rule. Cheney is allowed to favor gay rights, because his daughter is gay. Bush is allowed to invade Iraq, because they threatened his Daddy. Except abortion, no one is allowed to have an abortion, unless they are a man!
