You Can't Handle the Truth

For a long time now those of us who protested this war in Iraq or even questioned the logic of going to war were told be our fellow Americans that it undermined our country, that it made us weak, that it was unAmerican, and that it put our troops in danger (because they aren't in any danger right now). It seems that once committed to something it is not only unAmerican to reflect on decisions made but it is dangerous. Regrettably, today we now know that this poor logic is not merely an American phenomenon. The British parliament voted against requesting an investigation into the Iraq war. In short, the war is not open to scrutiny. Prime Minister Blair and many senior level members of the Labour Party argued, much like Cheney and Bush, that to question the war is to undermine the troops and put them in danger.

There are several problems with this logic and much of the nonsense being spouted out by our own administration. But firstly, why is it dangerous to ask why are we here and what are we doing here? Or, dare I say it, how did we get here? The logic being touted is that to question why the troops are dying is dangerous and could lead to more deaths and, thus, we should wait until the end of the war. But if we wait more will die and, if they are right, people will die by asking so there is nothing to stop us from asking- people will still die. Surely if the cause is just and the reasoning sound then investigating the war might actually raise morale as it might finally let the troops know why they are there. But Blair and Bush seem to think that it is better that people die and not know why. This is just stupid.

Here's some more logic from our own administration this time. Cheney was let out of his cave yesterday to do some political stumping for fellow Republicans. What brilliant bit of deduction were we treated to this time around? Well, it seems that the insurgents are Democrats and that they are killing more soldiers because that will get Democrats elected. Cheney's logic? Vote Republican. This is just stupid. While I sincerely hope that no sane American with half a brain cell buys this BS, it is not even logical to argue that the nearly 3,000 dead Americans and thousands more wounded are indicative of an insurgency strategy to elect Democrats. But let's look at it this way. If people want to kill us with Republicans in power and they, by Cheney's logic, won't kill us if Democrats are in power then why vote Republican?

This is the same crap the Republicans hauled out last election when they said Osama bin Laden wants you to vote Democrat (which is dumb since global hatred of Bush was the greatest recruitment tool he had). But this time around it is just getting old, tired, and plain dumb. To end this war, to 'win' this war- as the Republicans like to say-, we will need to set a time table and likely negotiate with the insurgency. The insurgency is the root of the problem and not 'terrorists' and they have one request: Leave Iraq.

But there is a greater fear that motivates the Republicans, greater than the fear of not fully fucking over Iraq to 'win' the war. And that fear is the same fear that is staring Prime Minister Blair right in the eyes. If the Democrats take back the House then they will very likely want an investigation into the causes of the war. The Republicans fear the truth being aired out (even if it is possible that while they were gullible to a fault and stupid to the bone, that they may not be guilty of anything). The Republicans are afraid that any investigation will quickly turn into the contemporary equivalent of the Pentagon Papers combined with zest of Watergate.

Yes, quite honestly if we look into why were are in Iraq we may very well find out that we were, as a country, lied to by the govt (not the first time) and that many of our friends and family died for no reason at all. And yes, it is possible that if we find out that our misadventure in Iraq was a sham that some soldiers will die. But if we continue to go on avoiding the truth people will still die and the fallen will still be dead. This is bitter fruit to swallow. I for one would rather we know what went wrong so that we don't do it again.