OK, as much as I don’t like the war, and in as much as I believe that we’re there under false pretenses, I think that the report put out by theBritish Government (warning, pdf)
says a LOT about what was going on in Iraq BEFORE we got there.
Oddly enough, there was little outrage in the public media that I can recall about the atrocities that Hussein and his Republican Guard committed. The people of Iraq were powerless in his wake, and in need of some assistance, and almost by accident, we are giving that assistance.
Make no mistake about it, this is a revolution. This is a bloody revolution, and it will only get bloodier as we go. There is no turning back, there is no retreat. I feel with all my heart for the people of Iraq, and despite the obvious fraud that brought the US and the “coalition” to their soil, I believe future generations will ultimately benefit from their efforts.
Regarding Margaret Hassan,
I can’t speak for either of these two, ahem, posters, but I think the death of this woman IS more important, in that it speaks directly to the fact that no matter who in the world tries to render aid in the post-Saddam era, that the so-called “insurgents” (who, in my mind are little more than terrorists, criminals and cowards) can and will kill them for absolutely no reason at all, other than to prove they can. Her death, however, is no more important than that of any other aid worker, foreign or domestic.
What’s going on in Iraq is not made more palatable, (by any reasonable person) by avenging the death of a western aid worker, because that’s not what’s happening. What’s happening, as I stated, is now a revolution, and that particular form of warfare, is one in which the American Military is steeped.
There is no “justification” that is obvious today, because we are smack in the middle of the conflict, however if we look out on the horizon, Iraq has a potentially bright future in the middle east, and in world politics, sadly, because of the previous regime, it will take much death and bloodshed to bring about that future.