I think we can all agree that freedom is a good thing. So is democracy. Human rights are a good thing as well. Public education should be supported. A free and vigorous press is essential for a healthy, free society. Ending oppression and maximizing personal freedom are hall marks of a liberal government. These issues have long been major core values of progressive parties.
Except when it comes to Iraq.
Why?
The voices on the left urging us to pull out of Iraq now are growing in strength.
Why?
Iraq now has more political freedom than any other Middle Eastern nation. They have more newspapers. They have political organizations representing a wide continuum of ideologies. The schools are opened and the political prisons are closed.
Yet some on the left would have us leave before making sure that a newly liberated Iraq has the strength to keep their new freedoms.
Why?
It's funny; a conservative President is deeply engaged in bringing a liberal democracy to an oppressed people, and the people fighting him most viciously are not Ba'athists and Islamic extremists, but liberal democrats.
Why?
Could it be that their hatred of Bush and conservatism is so strong that they will automatically oppose anything he tries, regardless of the merits?
I hope not.
Posted by Rich at October 29, 2003 11:26 AM | TrackBackIt is that way on both sides. The conservatives don't like the liberals and the liberals don't like the conservatives. The sad part is that each want their side to dominate so they choose the oposite side of the other party no matter what the issue. Conservatives could start a push for a more liberal America and the liberals would oppose it just because it is the conservatives. Thats how much the bipartisan system is screwed up. People no longer formulate their own views. The formulate the views of their party!
Posted by: Isaac on October 29, 2003 2:26 PMI don't know about growing in strength, most of the reports on last weekends protest look at how small they were. And don't forget that Turkey and Palestine both are democracies though admittedly have their problems (the military's role in Turkey and the electoral record of Arafat in Palestine).
Many of the more mainstream voices advocating the United States to leave (including Kucinich) aren't advocating just up and going..they are advocating giving control to the U.N. and having a multi-national force take-over. Even with the UN resolution, many nations (incl. Pakistan and India) have issues with sending troops due to the fact that these troops would be largely serving under U.S. command and control.
Posted by: Manish on October 29, 2003 3:04 PMBefore we drop Iraq off on the UN's doorstep like an abandoned baby, let's take a quick look at the Balkans. 10 years and troops still walk the streets to keep the peace.
Based on their past history, along with their reluctance to act against Hussein, based in no small part on the French/German desire to keep their sweetheart deals with the monster, I have zero confidence in the UN's ability to reconstruct Iraq into anything resembling a modern, liberal democracy. We've paid, and continue to pay a heavy price in blood and money to free Iraq. The only way to make sure that those costs are not wasted is to see the job through.
Posted by: rich on October 29, 2003 5:58 PMI have to agree with rich. The UN's only interest is getting their stick's into the pot, as long (of course) as the US taxpayer foots all or 90% of the bills. If the complaining nations want to "help" they can start by opening up their checkbooks and sending in some extra troops.
Posted by: radtec on October 30, 2003 12:57 PMDon't get me wrong...I think the United States should stay and have a presence, but I do think that they should also seek outside help. Giving more control to the UN means less of our dollars and less of our troops. Plus the addition of other troops from other Arab countries as well as India and Pakistan would probably lower the temperature in Iraq. However, none of these countries will commit to an operation that is run by America.
On the money end, the UN/World Bank had to setup an external fund to accept donations because no one would donate to the U.S. Quite a departure from Gulf War I when many countries wrote checks to the United States to defray the cost of fighting. Of course, giving no-bid contracts to Haliburton will do that to you.
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