I Told You So
Some of us, mostly Libertarians, knew that invading Iraq would be disastrous. It's too bad that our warmongering Republicans and Democrats in Congress have so little foresight. The following is an excerpt from Steven Greenhut's latest article: Sorry to Say, 'I Told You So' on Iraq.
Clearly, the war has not improved U.S. security or helped the Middle East. The war certainly hasn't led to the domino effect predicted by ideologues who thought that one nation after another would move from dictatorship to Western-style democracy. The U.S. budget has taken a hit, with the war costing upwards of $200 billion. America's prestige - for those who care about such things - is at an all-time low.
The country is in shambles, and the death toll is appalling: 2,300 American soldiers and 25,000 to 30,000 Iraqis, not to mention the tens of thousands who have been injured, according to most guestimates.
It's a given that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator and deserves anything he's got coming to him. That still doesn't legitimize democracy-building as a legitimate U.S. war aim. If it is, then our nation really ought to get busy, given the scores of nations across the globe that are suddenly in the need of regime change.
These so-called "conservative" thinkers understood that government cannot drop aid and social workers into an American inner city and fix things, yet they were willing to believe that American troops could parachute into a far-off nation, depose a dictator and remake the nation.
It should be our wish and prayer that Iraqis one day embrace a democratic system that respects the rule of law and individual freedom. But it is not our business to create it. Even if it were, such an undertaking probably isn't even possible.
Clearly, the war has not improved U.S. security or helped the Middle East. The war certainly hasn't led to the domino effect predicted by ideologues who thought that one nation after another would move from dictatorship to Western-style democracy. The U.S. budget has taken a hit, with the war costing upwards of $200 billion. America's prestige - for those who care about such things - is at an all-time low.
The country is in shambles, and the death toll is appalling: 2,300 American soldiers and 25,000 to 30,000 Iraqis, not to mention the tens of thousands who have been injured, according to most guestimates.
It's a given that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator and deserves anything he's got coming to him. That still doesn't legitimize democracy-building as a legitimate U.S. war aim. If it is, then our nation really ought to get busy, given the scores of nations across the globe that are suddenly in the need of regime change.
These so-called "conservative" thinkers understood that government cannot drop aid and social workers into an American inner city and fix things, yet they were willing to believe that American troops could parachute into a far-off nation, depose a dictator and remake the nation.
It should be our wish and prayer that Iraqis one day embrace a democratic system that respects the rule of law and individual freedom. But it is not our business to create it. Even if it were, such an undertaking probably isn't even possible.
posted by Jason Colquitt at 5:17 AM
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