WAR AGAIN! Well, probably by this time tomorrow we'll be fighting in Iraq, possibly in Baghdad given the reports stating that Saddam was planning to make his stand in the streets of the city rather than in the vast open desert.
I truly hope it's worth the lives and cost in materials that we're going to bear. Once Saddam is removed - feet first or otherwise - the U.S. will have to take on the responsibility of running the new Iraqi government. The Turks are pissed off because we told them to stay out of the Kurdish northern Iraq region, and Jordan, Syria and Egypt are pissed because we'll be destabilizing all their governments, given the expected street protests that will tie up the commerce and social stability for years to come. And then, of course, there're the terrorists, who are sure to grow agitated and very active in the coming months.
Actually, I'm more worried about the fallout from the war with Iraq than the war itself. It's possible more soldiers will die from terror actions than from mano y mano combat with Iraqi soldiers. And it's surely probable that American embassies and American landmarks will be targeted, within and without the United States. I truly hope this action is worth it. I still don't agree with the presidential mandate (was it Nixon who put it place) that our government does not assassinate heads of state. It seems like such a small thing to send in a platoon of snipers and waste Saddam with one bullet, rather than go through the economically devastating stress of all-out warfare. But, there we are.
It's tough trying to maintain the so-called 'moral high ground' when your nation exports weapons of mass destruction as well as thousands of tons of conventional weaponry to many rogue states. And at the same time, we're going to crush Iraq for doing the exact same thing, only to a far lesser degree.
But OK, I'll accept that Saddam is a threat to the world and particularly to the United States. I'll even bite from the apple pie of an argument that says Iraq presents a clear and present danger to the U.S. At this point it's moot anyway. We're going to war, and that's the fact.
I'm just thinking out loud, so to speak, about the ramifications for everyone around the world. No one knows how the conflict will shake out, and that's worrisome but not so daunting as to quash the determination by this administration to conduct this war, no matter what.
I will only say, be prepared for all hell to break loose in the world and inside the borders of this nation. Because we're going to be stirring up a hornets nest with this attack.
Oh yea, we'll also be turning America's historical progress toward a direction that, heretofore, it has not turned since Teddy Roosevelt smashed the Philippines and squashed Cuba. The world's peacekeeper we're not! It's probably going to take a lot of getting used to but I think, in the end, we will convince ourselves of our moral rectitude. Say a prayer for the soldiers in the field; say a prayer for the children and innocents on the ground in Baghdad; and say a prayer for your neighbors because after tomorrow, the world as we know it will be changed irrevocably.