Disillusioned by Iraq
June 22nd, 2006I can deal with carbombings and kidnappings. That, dear readers, is War. War happens to include evil acts, and that aspect of War — however disgusting it is — is just something that one has to come to terms with and understand. No War will ever be devoid of violence, and every War will have dead innocents. It’s important to keep this in perspective, because if you don’t, then your cause is shielded. If all you’re thinking is, “We’re killing innocent Germans” during World War II, there’s no way to focus on stopping the Holocaust and ending the reign of Hitler.
So, I can deal with the violence. I can understand it and even, to a point, rationalize the irrational. But when I read that my government has been lying to me, to reporters who have returned from Iraq with good news, I find myself becoming disillusioned. Look, there’ve been a ton of stories from Iraq saying that the War is going well enough and that people are doing much better. The most heart-warming thing I’ve seen in the last year was, I think, footage of Iraqi children who now had schools because of us. I’ve tried to believe that the War is going well, and because I’ve not the money to go to Iraq myself (and I would go, if I did have a rich family with the money to fund me, like Farris Hassan did) I have to rely on the reporters who report that Iraq’s well…enough, considering that it’s a warzone.
Today, though, I had my faith in the War shaken by this article.
The Washington Post has obtained a cable, marked “sensitive,” that it says shows that just before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat assessment of the situation there, “the U.S. Embassy in Iraq painted a starkly different portrait of increasing danger and hardship faced by its Iraqi employees.” This cable outlines, the Post reported Sunday, “the daily-worsening conditions for those who live outside the heavily guarded international zone: harassment, threats and the employees’ constant fears that their neighbors will discover they work for the U.S. government.” It’s actually far worse than that, as the details published below indicate, which include references to abductions, threats to women’s rights, and “ethnic cleansing.”
Look at that article, and read through the listed items in the memo. Then note that it was signed by our ambassador in Iraq. I am a firm supporter of the War, and I want those poor people to have a better life. Reading this — something that very much suggests that to not be the case, and shows me a fool for believing it — is incredibly disillusioning to me, and it breaks my heart. I don’t think I can be counted as firm a supporter as before, as I’m having trouble believing anything from the Right about Iraq because what I just read is Wrong, and disturbingly so.