Before the Iraq War, I had many assumptions about America and the American military. I thought I would share a few of them with you, and also share with you how they have changed, and what changed them.
1) Before the Iraq War, I thought that America's intelligence gathering/compiling was practically infallible when it comes to "the bigger issues". You know, the stuff that wars are started over. I now see that it is totally broken.
Reason: No weapons of mass destruction=no justification for war.
Consequences: America is viewed as having fabricated evidence, or as being incompetent.
2) Before the Iraq War, I believed that America would always go out of its way to employ, if not the word then at least the spirit of, the geneva convention--rather than go out of its way to work around it.
Reason: Camp X-Ray, and other "non-disclosed" locations. Attempts by the administration to refine the word "torture" to not apply to certain types of information retrieval methods.
Consequences: This reenforces the belief that America is a big evil empire. Gives people justification for their point of view that America routinely abuses human rights.
3) Before the Iraq War, I was confident that the standards of American decency and human rights was imprinted on the mind of nearly every soldier/marine in the US military. My trust that people in the US military will, in general, "do the right thing" under all circumstances is now broken.
Reason: Abu Grab, et al.
Consequences: ...
Whether it was legal or not, I believe that the Iraq War could have been relatively successful if it had been carried out appropriately. Good things could have come from it. It is now a total mess, on the verge of a bloody civil war. I no longer know what to think or feel. I am disgusted by nearly every detail of the situation.
Argh. I need to get back to work.
1) Before the Iraq War, I thought that America's intelligence gathering/compiling was practically infallible when it comes to "the bigger issues". You know, the stuff that wars are started over. I now see that it is totally broken.
Reason: No weapons of mass destruction=no justification for war.
Consequences: America is viewed as having fabricated evidence, or as being incompetent.
2) Before the Iraq War, I believed that America would always go out of its way to employ, if not the word then at least the spirit of, the geneva convention--rather than go out of its way to work around it.
Reason: Camp X-Ray, and other "non-disclosed" locations. Attempts by the administration to refine the word "torture" to not apply to certain types of information retrieval methods.
Consequences: This reenforces the belief that America is a big evil empire. Gives people justification for their point of view that America routinely abuses human rights.
3) Before the Iraq War, I was confident that the standards of American decency and human rights was imprinted on the mind of nearly every soldier/marine in the US military. My trust that people in the US military will, in general, "do the right thing" under all circumstances is now broken.
Reason: Abu Grab, et al.
Consequences: ...
Whether it was legal or not, I believe that the Iraq War could have been relatively successful if it had been carried out appropriately. Good things could have come from it. It is now a total mess, on the verge of a bloody civil war. I no longer know what to think or feel. I am disgusted by nearly every detail of the situation.
Argh. I need to get back to work.
