Simple choices such as eating healthy or splurging on the triple dip cone, and tough choices like working for less money at a job closer to your kids' school so that you can spend more time with them. Some of them don't have a "right" answer, just a lesser of evils. Will We Choose to Win in Iraq? I would like to see us win, so that we can get out. Are we doing all we can to achieve that goal? There is one more possible reason to head for the exits in Iraq: Victory is either impossible or (what amounts to the same thing) prohibitively expensive. And there is a sure-fire test of whether or not victory truly is impossible: See whether a rising number of American soldiers in a given city or neighborhood tends to produce more violence or less. If the answer is more, then it is pointless to send more soldiers; the ones who are already there are doing net harm. But that is not what the evidence shows. I encourage you to go read the complete article. One section in particular caught my eye. It's not a new sentiment, but useful to remember as we head into our election season for this year... Our side in Iraq holds elections. The other side kills people who stand in line to vote. America's military is fighting not to protect one set of thugs from another, but to allow a democratically elected government to establish itself in a society a majority of whose members want it to do so. It's hard to imagine a more morally worthy goal. And that would be true even if our enemies were not uncommonly murderous--which they plainly are. Rarely has a militarily powerful state fought for nobler ends. Go read the whole thing, and let me know what you think. How much does the war in Iraq (and don't forget Afghanistan) and the tension with Iran and Korea affect your thoughts on voting this year? |
Saturday, September 02, 2006
We all have choices
Posted by Barb at 9:53 PM
Labels: Commentary, Politics
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