Recently, I wrote a blog about the public smearing the President's name and proclaiming the war in Iraq as a mistake, check out my blog, The War In Iraq. I have had people write me about this blog in agreement with my feelings. This came as somewhat of a surprise, as the people who are agreeable with what Bush and his administration are doing in Iraq seem few and far between. I was fortunate to have one reader send to me an article written in The Washington Post, Turning the Corner in Iraq:Democrats are Ignoring Real Progress.
This article put a smile on my face. As I shared with my readers earlier, the people serving over there that I have spoken to want to go back, and have. They have reported they are making a difference over there in many ways, training the army, providing security so the new government can function, and more. And for our future security, we need to make sure the new government can function under stabile conditions before they leave. Given I have not been there myself, I have felt it necessary to give weight to what they share as they are living it. I only know what I know from the news.
Once again, Iam left disenchanted with our established system for elections and our short terms for elected officials. The four year term for President does not seem long enough for me. There is always the year before elections that seems so unnatural. It seems we always are faced with power struggles between the Democrats and the Republicans, that the needs of our people as a whole becomes secondary. There is all this propaganda that is being sold to the public. There is a hold back on doing necessary things due to how it may effect the future vote. There is the lame-duck congress. I get so aggravated by this whole scenario until one of my friends eventually points out to me the reality that America is still the best country to live in on this planet, even with all our idiosyncrasies. This is true.
I have felt there has been posturing going on between the parties using the war and the issues of Iraq as a way to gain more influence over the public for the coming election. A lot of pessimism has been sold to the public: that we are in another Vietnam, that this is all about oil, that we make money selling guns and machines to terrorists to fight the war so we continue on. I can go on and on. It is easy to buy in on these statements, if we are not fully informed on all the actions going on in Iraq. This is why, having the article written by Charles Krauthammer gives me a feeling of vindication. I really do hope we make a difference over there, a profound difference. The people living under "Sadman Insane" were living a meager existence and in fear of being iniolated for the most absurd of reasons. They are due a descent living. The problem is it will take time. Our patience is running out. We have to be careful. Do leave before the job is finished due to our impatience, may cause for a serious regression in stability over there and therefore hurt the Iraqi people far worse. We need to finish the job we started.
I still have many ask, why are we the ones that have to go in, why is it always America? For me this is not so difficult to understand. We have so much, we are one of the bigger guys. The bigger guys should look out for the little guys. We were raised with this understanding since we were youths. We also have so much in America , it is easy to be envious of us. If we are not out to make a difference to help those suffering, foreigners may want to take us down. Envy is the root of all evil.
We are making progress. Our boys (and girls) will be out, eventually. Hopefully, in years to come, we will be proud of what we accomplished in Iraq. I know how Bush is taking a lot of heat today. It will take years before we get an accurate read on how well we did in taking out a grizzly dictator prone to cleansing campaigns that killed tens of thousands and then rebuilding a government that was safer for the people- where people did not have to live in fear and could openly speak their minds.
Comments