The Case for War in Iraq?
Note: This post originally appeared on a now-defunct site on May 11, 2004.
I unapologetically supported the idea of going to war in Iraq. I never really believed in this whole WMD idea, but I thought the war was just on humanitarian grounds. From the beginning, I wished the UN had supported taking action against Saddam Hussein's regime; but despite their inaction, I still agreed with the Bush Administration's stance of unilateral force if necessary. In fact, I still hold Russia, France, and Germany indirectly responsible for much of the botched operation that has since ensued because it was clear from the start that their objections were based on political and cynical motivations rather than legitimate ones. I always had misgivings about the Bush Administration's ability to conduct this war properly; after all, Afghanistan was still left unfinished, and the timing of the Iraq war did seem somewhat questionable. But I was willing to let it slide: I thought we had a military that could handle a war on two fronts.
As it turns out, our military cannot handle the war adequately on either front. My cautious trust in the Administration was misplaced. I always had misgivings about Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, but I thought that Paul Wolfowitz and Colin Powell were reasonable men. Boy, was I wrong about Wolfowitz. If I've learned one thing from this affair, it's this: neo-conservatives are no more enlightened about the "real world" than anybody else. If anything, they seem to live in a fantasy world where America's superpower status is somehow magically omnipotent and needs not answer to anybody, including the American populace.
The war in Iraq could have been a just war. I thought I was seeing through rhetoric on both sides. On the left, the "no blood for oil" peaceniks just seemed too cynical to be right. On the right, the WMD threat did not seem credible. And so, I arrived at my conclusion based on moral reasoning: any dictator we remove is a good thing. If the UN wasn't going to live up to its role as the world's governing body, maybe America could fill some of the gap.
America has not filled this gap. Donald Rumsfeld has openly admitted that the tortures we have so far seen are only the tip of the iceberg. As far as the larger war effort, Rumsfeld's Pentagon has been woefully (perhaps criminally) unprepared for the occupation that was certain to follow an invasion. Colin Powell's strategy of overwhelming force, though more expensive, would have been the only realistic way to succeed in this war. I was amazed that Rumsfeld's invasion-on-the-cheap policy won the support of the White House. As a result of that policy, and other failings, this Administration has seriously damaged, if not destroyed, any chance of building a friendly, democratic Iraq.
If I'd known then what I know now, I never would have supported this war. I sorely overestimated the leadership ability of this Administration. Like many liberals, I hoped for an internal coup which would increase Colin Powell's influence. But that did not happen. And I will be the first to admit that I was taken in by the neo-conservatives. But I was wrong on nearly every front.
