What I Really Think

I don't think this war was necessary but I do think it was inevitable. The moment Osama bin Ladin's proxies attacked the United States, Iraq was a target, and probably before. That said, I'm glad we tried to go through the United Nations, and I'm glad for all the talk about liberating Iraq and improving the lives of the Iraqi people. Perhaps that talk will all end up being nonsense, but I hope not.

Now the War is here. So it's no longer time to discuss whether or not this is a good war or a smart war, but to focus on the after effects of this war. I have every confidence in our armed forces. They will do the job and do it well, and there's no reason for me to second guess battle plans or strategies. But the after war is something else entirely. We have to live up to our promises if we are going to forge the future we want. Thomas L. Friedman, commenting on this subject, stated;

"Defeating Saddam is necessary but not sufficient to achieve those ends, which are a more progressive Iraq and a world with fewer terrorists and terrorist suppliers dedicated to destroying the U.S., so Americans will feel safer at home and abroad. We cannot achieve the latter without the former. Which means we must bear any burden and pay any price to make Iraq into the sort of state that fair-minded people across the world will see and say: "You did good. You lived up to America's promise."

To maximize our chances of doing that, we need to patch things up with the world. Because having more allied support in rebuilding Iraq will increase the odds that we do it right, and because if the breach that has been opened between us and our traditional friends hardens into hostility, we will find it much tougher to manage both Iraq and all the other threats down the road."

Something to think about it, for those who are eager for us to go it alone in the future.