Life, in general
Hey all. I'm probably going to get blasted for saying this, but this isn't one of my inane, left-field soapbox diatribes. This is just a minor observation of mine and there is no intent here to start any sort of name-calling or other disputes. It's actually more of a question, a desire to get more input on the matter.
Perhaps if I read other news sources, I would get a clearer picture of what's going on with Iraq. I really only read the New York Times, though, which I believe is fairly even-handed when it comes to actual news and not the op-eds they sometimes toss on the front page (even though I usually agree with the op-eds not by people named William Buckley). I catch the occasional article about the Iraq situation from the New Haven Register as well, but the Register is a piece of toilet paper. However, all I ever see is how the U.N. weapons inspectors have yet to find any evidence of threatening weapons or terrorist ties. I see that we (the United States) remain steadfast in our criticism of Iraq and are sort of dueling with the U.N. over when we can go to war with Hussein. I see that some random European "ally" is against our plans for war.
I believe that's the general formula for pretty much all of the articles I read on the situation. I might be leaving out something but I can't remember at the moment. Now, we Americans are completely convinced on the idea that Saddam Hussein is lieing to the U.N. weapons inspectors and is hiding a cache of warheads and other crap someplace in Iraq that he won't let us go. The Iraqi leader is no angel and this is not, by any means, an unreasonable opinion. Chances are highly likely that Iraq is, in fact, hiding weapons and training scientists for interviews. I would not put that past the fuckers. However, as some of us like to say when dealing with sensitive matters - "What if...?" The Bush administration appears sold on Hussein lieing and whatnot. We are poised for war with Iraq and we're basically waiting for the OK to rush in there and start fighting. Colin Powell, who has the arduous task of dealing with the U.N., has been saying that war is inevitable now and very close, and that the United States will plunge in even without help from our allies. The basic gist is that we are going in soon, evidence or no evidence, and we're going to finish what Bush Sr. should have back during Desert Storm.
Now, I don't think anybody has a high opinion of Saddam Hussein. I don't think most Americans have even a decent opinion of anyone from Iraq. I'm pretty sure nobody on this planet of sound mind and logic would miss Hussein. Some people will be upset at the innocent lives that might be lost, but that's to be expected. Even I personally believe we need to find a way to get that man out of power. But what if we go to war on the weapons-of-mass-destruction ticket and it somehow turns out that he actually wasn't lieing and actually did disarm Iraq? Granted, that's a hell of a stretch, but the "What if...?" is a hell of a question. What if that fetus we just aborted really is a human being? What if the man we executed really didn't kill those people? What if God exists? What if the poor black student we just admitted to our school really wasn't more qualified than the rich white student we denied? What if we are wrong about [insert dilemma]? All are reasonable arguments you hear from either side of the ideological and political spectrum.
The situation lends me to think that we are being a bit too hasty. I don't think that any of our allies are stabbing us in the back, but they probably feel that we are being too sure of ourselves. We don't, as of yet, have solid evidence for war and our allies don't want to chance the "What if...?" situation. It's sort of like random drug testing - by law you cannot say that a person refusing to take the test is doing drugs. I think we should take a hint from our allies, bide our time and wait for the evidence that's 99% likely to surface. And once we get that evidence, I don't think we'll have any qualm from them, and we can put an end to Hussein's subversive trickery.
But maybe I'm missing something. Input?
Knaa'mean?