Wednesday, March 16, 2005

What IF???

# What if the policies of foreign intervention, entangling alliances, policing the world, nation building, and spreading our values through force are deeply flawed?
# What if it is true that Saddam Hussein never had weapons of mass destruction?# What if it is true that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were never allies?
# What if it is true that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein did nothing to enhance our national security?# What if our current policy in the Middle East leads to the overthrow of our client oil states in the region?
# What if the American people really knew that more than 20,000 American troops have suffered serious casualties or died in the Iraq war, and 9% of our forces already have been made incapable of returning to battle?
# What if it turns out there are many more guerrilla fighters in Iraq than our government admits?# What if there really have been 100,000 civilian Iraqi casualties, as some claim, and what is an acceptable price for “doing good?”
# What if Rumsfeld is replaced for the wrong reasons, and things become worse under a Defense Secretary who demands more troops and an expansion of the war?
# What if we discover that, when they do vote, the overwhelming majority of Iraqis support Islamic (Sharia) law over western secular law, and want our troops removed?
# What if those who correctly warned of the disaster awaiting us in Iraq are never asked for their opinion of what should be done now?
# What if the only solution for Iraq is to divide the country into three separate regions, recognizing the principle of self-determination while rejecting the artificial boundaries created in 1918 by non-Iraqis?
# What if it turns out radical Muslims don’t hate us for our freedoms, but rather for our policies in the Middle East that directly affected Arabs and Muslims?
# What if the invasion and occupation of Iraq actually distracted from pursuing and capturing Osama bin Laden?
# What if we discover that democracy can’t be spread with force of arms?
# What if democracy is deeply flawed, and instead we should be talking about liberty, property rights, free markets, the rule of law, localized government, weak centralized government, and self-determination promoted through persuasion, not force?
# What if the “stop-loss” program is actually an egregious violation of trust and a breach of contract between the government and soldiers? What if it actually is a backdoor draft, leading to unbridled cynicism and rebellion against a voluntary army and generating support for a draft of both men and women? Will lying to troops lead to rebellion and anger toward the political leadership running the war?
# What if the Pentagon’s legal task-force opinion that the President is not bound by international or federal law regarding torture stands unchallenged, and sets a precedent which ultimately harms Americans, while totally disregarding the moral, practical, and legal arguments against such a policy?
# What if the intelligence reform legislation – which gives us bigger, more expensive bureaucracy – doesn’t bolster our security, and distracts us from the real problem of revamping our interventionist foreign policy?
# What if we suddenly discover we are the aggressors, and we are losing an unwinnable guerrilla war?
# What if we discover, too late, that we can’t afford this war – and that our policies have led to a dollar collapse, rampant inflation, high interest rates, and a severe economic downturn?
# What if Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda actually welcomed our invasion and occupation of Arab/Muslim Iraq as proof of their accusations against us, and it served as a magnificent recruiting tool for them?
# What if our policy greatly increased and prolonged our vulnerability to terrorists and guerilla attacks both at home and abroad?
# What if the Pentagon, as reported by its Defense Science Board, actually recognized the dangers of our policy before the invasion, and their warnings were ignored or denied?# What if the argument that by fighting over there, we won’t have to fight here, is wrong, and the opposite is true?
# What if we can never be safer by giving up some of our freedoms?# What if the principle of pre-emptive war is adopted by Russia, China, Israel, India, Pakistan, and others, “justified” by current U.S. policy?
# What if pre-emptive war and pre-emptive guilt stem from the same flawed policy of authoritarianism, though we fail to recognize it?
# What if Pakistan is not a trustworthy ally, and turns on us when conditions deteriorate?# What if plans are being laid to provoke Syria and/or Iran into actions that would be used to justify a military response and pre-emptive war against them?
# What if our policy of democratization of the Middle East fails, and ends up fueling a Russian-Chinese alliance that we regret – an alliance not achieved even at the height of the Cold War?
# What if the policy forbidding profiling at our borders and airports is deeply flawed?
# What if presuming the guilt of a suspected terrorist without a trial leads to the total undermining of constitutional protections for American citizens when arrested?
# What if we discover the army is too small to continue policies of pre-emption and nation-building? What if a military draft is the only way to mobilize enough troops?

I'm on my way out the door- This is alot for me to think about.
Power to the peaceful

1 Comments:

Blogger chuck said...

Yes...what if?

These "what if's" are very compelling! Many of the "what if's" have occurred to me; hence, I am quite sure they have occurred to many others.

If a critical mass of open-hearted folks considers these "what if's", constructive social change will flow like water.

March 24, 2005 11:40 AM  

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