A liberal reader writes to Andrew Sullivan:
That said, the more I turn the problem over in my mind, the more I realize I can't morally excuse a U.S. withdrawal. The Pottery Barn Rule is cliché, but the underlying principle is not. No matter how horribly we have failed in Iraq, and no matter how ill-conceived the mission was from the start, we own the mess. Yes, Bush and Cheney and Rice and Powel lied through their teeth to sell the war. But as Americans and as citizens of a democracy, don't we all have to take ownership of this colossal [deleted]? Isn't it all of our problems, not just the administration's and its knee-jerk supporters'?...But don't we owe it to the Iraqi people, having invaded their country and having unleashed all these demons, to do our best by them, even if it means emptying our treasury and sacrificing many more of our soldiers' lives?
Easy to say when you aren't a soldier, or a family member of a soldier, who will do the dying for a lost cause, all so you can assuage your (quite proper) guilt. You think "we all have to take ownership" of this war. Fine. Join the military, go to Iraq. You don't get any nobility points volunteering other people's spouses, children and daddies to fight and die for your abstract principle.
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Guilt has nothing to do with making policy. We owe the Iraqi people nothing.
This is nothing more than the chicken-hawk argument and it should be beneath you, Rod. What is right or wrong or strategically smart or in the best interest of the US or Iraq has nothing to do whether you are in the military or not. Yes, people will die but those of us not in the military are not required to join up to have an opinion or to think about what is best for the country.
The people in the military volunteered to serve their country knowing full well who would be making the decisions. That is how democracy works.
Do you think you get "points" for emotional rants in the name of the families who have lost loved ones? Is your guilt moral superior to others? Passion is admirable in many cases but yours has lead you away from logic and careful thought.
"Guilt has nothing to do with making policy. We owe the Iraqi people nothing."
Where was this Mantra at the onset of this debacle, when those who spoke out against this war heard nothing but "what about liberating the Iraqi people..." Purple thumbs flashing, etc. -- in refute to an anti-war stance?
Just asking.
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