In Which Brandy Asks Herself "Have I switched to the 'anti-war' group?"

The story so far, Brandy wrote several well-written and passionate articles in support of the upcoming invasion of Iraq. As we join her she is considering her position.

"So as I have said MANY times, I long for a reason to be against this war...I have now found 2 reasons to, in the very least, be supportive of waiting quite a bit longer/ possibly being AGAINST attacking Iraq. The first of my -oh, I shall stop and contenplate on this for awhile is from: US Senator Robert Byrd's comments on the Senate floor,

Feb. 12, 2003
WE STAND PASSIVELY MUTE
"This nation is about to embark upon the first test of a revolutionary doctrine applied in an extraordinary way at an unfortunate time. The doctrine of preemption -- the idea that the United States or any other nation can legitimately attack a nation that is not imminently threatening but may be threatening in the future -- is a radical new twist on the traditional idea of self defense. It appears to be in contravention of international law and the UN Charter."

I know this has been stated before...the whole "but Iraq hasn't done anything yet" ideaology...but Byrd has stated it in a way that makes me think...in America one is not jailed for 'thinking' of doing a crime, that until a crime is committed the individual can not be held -even IF everything points to him being a criminal...not sure if I'm making any sense...but the whole Minority Report thing. Now then, this isn't to say that this reason ALONE would work -if one could go back in time would they assassinate Hitler BEFORE he did anything? And Saddam is by no means innocent...but this certainly has made me stop and think.

The second reason I think we should wait is in what Pres. Bush had to say last night....I mean what the F was that all about?

He clearly stated that he does NOT have a completed plan on dealing with post-war Iraq...now then I love this country, but we suck at establishing foriegn governments, as a matter of fact I can't think of a single success story...maybe Germany? I can NOT support Bush if he has not planned this ALL the way through...this really scares me. This is a REAL reason to be anti-war."

I will say that although I thought Bush's speech was a bit too pat, particularly in relation to some of Paul Krugman's articles on the recent failure to initially budget money for Afganastan. But there is a success story in our history, namely Japan. The Japanese economy was devestated by the war. General MacArthur essentially rebuilt the country, making it a strong and productive democracy in the far east. At the time it was believed by many that the Oriental mind was incapable of understanding and practicing democracy.

Make me a Commentator!!!'s Military correspondent Justin commented that he felt that MacArthur's success was more a reflection on the nature of the Japanese people, rather than the US. The Japanese people's acceptance of a stratified and highly organized society let them accept MacCarther's commadns in a way that perhaps the people of Iraq might not.