Here is to 2009 and the Year of the Bloggers…!!!

Thank you very much for your encouragement. I must admit, this piece was not very easy to write. My emotions were stirred as I was writing, and you probably know how careful you have to be when you are writing in an emotional state.

I am glad there are people like you who are willing to listen. I know there are many who aren’t, no matter how much “sense” an argument makes.

Yes, many of us believed our intentions were the best. We became fewer and fewer as deterioration set in. I believed we would roust Hussein quickly, but I also knew history and the ethnic makeup of Iraq. I knew freedom might take a generation to take root. My hope was for the young people to take up the mantle and carry it. Sadly, hate and indignation reached these youth before freedom did. I blame Bush and Cheney for that. It was their refusal to see beyond the capture of Hussein that caused the deaths of probably a half million people by now.

But as you said, there’s more than one question, and thus, more than one answer. To blame only Bush and Cheney for this outcome ignores their predecessor’s unwillingness to prosecute Hussein. Both Bush Sr and Clinton had a hand in creating the mess we are faced with today. For that matter, so did Reagan and Carter.

Nevertheless, it will be W who is remembered for refusing to plan the rebuilding of Iraq BEFORE we went in. I just can’t believe how stupid he was. I still get angry when I think how much deference we give to our senior government officials, and how even they are no more farsighted than you or I. It’s then that I remember how human we all are, and why freedom gives us all many chances to overcome our humanness.

I would really rather not use the word “but” here, but I am having a personal crisis about not using it.

You make so many valid points about so many valid things. I do remember the Iraq / Iranian War. I was a teenager and becoming awake and sensitized to what was unfolding in the world around me. I remember seeing pictures and reading in real newspapers about the atrocities. I remember some visuals of men hanging on gallows, that to this day still sometimes enter into my line of vision whenever I think about the War in Iraq.

But, for me War is not an option to be taken lightly, but, that is just me. We may start off with the best intentions to allow freedom to march in after our conquering armies, but after we are there the worst part of humanity always seems to enter the equation, on both sides. We then turn from a force of freedom to a force of occupation, and who wants someone else to occupy what you consider to be hallowed and sacred ground, your home.

The answer is never just a one part answer, because the question is never a one part question. And to answer your last question, I do always think about what I am protesting and why I am protesting it before I do.

Al-Zaidi, did accomplish a very important thing that day, even though so many Americans were immediately incensed by it. That is what we do. We think in knee jerk reactions and speak before we think. The act of this man throwing shoes at the President did indeed open a door for so many others to feel that they now had a voice to share with the world for the first time. That is a noble cause indeed. But, will this new found freedom also lead them down the path to self righteous freedom that we as Americans feel is our need to give away to the world whenever we feel the need to do it?