This is not about the browser war.
There are no visible effects America is fighting a war. Not in the hearts and not in the minds of Americans. The yellow ribbon shows we support our troops, but they are in Afghanistan, Central America, Haiti, Rawanda, all over the place. The red ribbons show we support the fight against breast cancer. I doubt you’ve confused the two, but neither are an effect of war.
We have had citizens illegally wiretapped, but is that really an effect of the Iraqi war, or just a bonus bit of legislation that resulted from the neo-con rush post 9-11? Today, friday the 13th, the market place is breaking records. The dow broke its all time high, the s&p was five points shy of its record. So perhaps the only effect we are noticing of this current war is the fattening of IRA accounts.
I for one want an iPhone and have dreamed about that far more often than a stabilized democratic government in Iraq. I could really use an iPhone. But let’s take a moment today and think about the people who have had their country destroyed and thrown into a sectarian battleground because we went in to stop Saddam Hussien from developing weapons of mass destruction, which we can’t find and he couldn’t afford to develop.
Let’s not ignore the war.
fuckin right, j. i agree completely.
Comment by molly — July 15, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
I was with you almost all the way, man. You lost me when you seemed to suggest that Iraq was an awesome place to be when Saddam ran it. Is sectarian violence worse than the violence from an oppressive regime?
Your larger point, I’m with you. The iPhone rage is a great example of why America is like a fat pig, ready for slaughter. This is what we live for? I’m tiring of a country filled with people who spend their lives looking for more distractions to help them pass the time. Technology and innovation are proving to be no more than a vehicle of waste and acceleration towards our own oblivion.
So, how you doing these days?
Comment by Lyle_S — July 15, 2007 @ 8:35 pm
I’m doing pretty well, thanks. Things are so well it seems boring. Maybe a move to Iraq is in order?
I appreciate the questions. I’m not sure if the number of people killed since we invaded is higher or lower than any given year under Saddam. I think it’s higher…
Doesn’t mean we should have ignored him, but isn’t a great testomonial to invasions…unlike most liberals, I don’t want to pull out of Iraq. I agree with the president, we need to finish what we started. We started something big, and I don’t want Americans to back out now. All the folks who got behind the president need to put their money where their mouth was.
I think we need a huge tax increase, conscription, major diplomatic work around the Israeli conflict- less funding of their regime, revolutionary use of the military that transforms that branch of the governemnt from an assault weapon to a builder of infrastructure, we need to feel this one, because that’s how much effort it will take to correct the horrible miscalculation of this administration that led us in there.
How can we really be fighting a war if we have no deprivation? We could bring democracy to that country if we all worked for it. No one is. The president loves the power of faith based organizations, he should send them to Iraq, not to proselytize, but to bring comfort to the oppressed. I didn’t vote for Bush or support the war, but we can’t leave Iraq now, that will be a bigger moral crime than going in.
Comment by Rolston — July 16, 2007 @ 3:30 pm
And I mentioned the WMD because it is heartbreaking to be lied to by my government, to be the victim of a bait and switch scheme, and four years later there is no anger, people give the man a pass. He told us Iraq was Al quida and the country was stacked to the mosque tops with chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons. Neither was true and now we spend 12 billion a month over there because…..
were Kurds in more danger than the Sudanese in Darfur? No. It comes down to oil. It is vital to our country. To me too. If energy is this important to our country, why not spend 12 billion a month developing non petroleum sources? For you and my Dad and my Uncle and other people to say we did the right thing by going because the people were oppressed, then why do you stop at trying to correct this one injustice?
Stop siding with the giants of industry and start demanding financial equality around the globe.
Comment by Rolston — July 16, 2007 @ 3:41 pm
Well, I did a little research and estimates put Iraqi deaths between 100,000 and 150,000 since the invasion. Estimates for deaths under Saddam’s regime are 290,000. It took Saddam a long time to run up that death toll (in a supposed time of peace) and this war/occupation/whatever did that in a few years.
Still, I don’t think anyone outside of Iraq can really tell us which environment is worse. Since the media outlets need to get our attention to stay in business, I doubt will hear any positive news coming out of Iraq any time soon.
I agree that this country is not invested in this war. World War I was probably the last time we jumped in full boar without the aid of an attack on our soil. That’s a people thing, not a government thing. How could anyone unite the country around the concept of invading the middle east? People would have to admit that they care more about oil interests than they do about the rest of the world. Nobody appears willing to do that.
That’s too much energy for one comment. I’m going to have to start my own blog now, damnit!
Comment by Lyle_S — July 16, 2007 @ 7:34 pm
Thanks for looking into that. I was wrong about the number of deaths being higher since occupation, but we might catch up to Saddam’s numbers soon.
The one way to unite us around invading Iraq was to “fight terror”. That’s what the bait and switch was with Taliban, al Quida, and Saddam Hussien.
ANyway, it does get tiring talking politics. But you should get a blog. It’s a lot of fun.
Comment by Rolston — July 19, 2007 @ 7:19 pm