Okay - we attacked Afghanistan - rightly - after the 9/11 attacks. There weren't too many good targets to take out, of course, and we let the primary, number one excellent target, Osama bin Laden, get away.
So we switched to attacking Saddam Hussein, which, of course, wasn't really attacking Saddam the individual (although that was part of it), it was more of an attack on Iraq. We attacked Iraq ostensibly because of the weapons of mass destruction, which all sane people now realize do not and did not exist. So the rationale changed to liberation of the Iraqi people - after all, no one can reasonably suggest that Saddam Hussein was a great leader who took care of his people (unless you use the phrase "take care of" in the same way the Corleone family might).
That's got to be a tough balancing act - we are invading you to save you! I suppose if the "post-war" had been managed better, if we got the electricity and water back on right away, if we didn't protect the Oil Ministry better than cultural treasures, if we put a value on learning about their culture and having our representatives be respectful of that culture, maybe, maybe, maybe the war on Iraq could have been something truly beneficial for the people of Iraq.
But here we are, a year after Shock & Awe, and some of the people of Iraq are rebelling in a fairly frightening way. So we're going to have an overwhelming response to the Fallujah attacks.
I just can't help but feel that nearly every step the Bush administration has taken in the War on Terror has been a huge mistake. We could have truly liberated the people of Iraq, but we're now at war with the people. My heart goes out to the families of those killed in Fallujah. My heart goes out to the Iraqi people who were victims of Saddam and are now victims of the U.S. My heart really goes out to our troops, who are being used so egregiously by President Bush.
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