Five Years

I realize now that I neglected to mention in my previous post that today marks the 5th year anniversay of the Iraq war. Nearly 4,000 Americans have died and thousands upon thousand more have been greviously wounded, many of those individuals have likely suffered permanent damage. I would be remiss not to mention that hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have also been killed in the ensuing violence. Frankly there isn't much that I can say that I haven't articulated before in previous posts to this blog. There is no doubt that the war in Iraq has been one of the largest foreign policy blunders in American history. The fact that hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost or permanently altered, both American and Iraqi, in a war that was predicated on lies is a tragedy beyond my comprehension. I simply do not posess the ability to transcribe into words the profound sadness I feel whenever I think of the war.

I suppose what I could reflect upon on this 5-year anniversary is what I've personally learned over the past 5 years. In a way, I've finally understood how meaningless war is. The fact that countries (not just the U.S.) resort to violence and killing to solve problems or to reach a stated goal is a particularly barbaric reality. I can understand when wars are fought in self-defense; as it is necessary for one entity to respond appropriately to another that is trying to destroy it. I can also understand when war is necessary to stop regimes such as the Nazis or the Japanese Empire. These enemies were hell bent on killing millions simply because said millions were different from them, or because they occupied a territory that the aggressor desired. Enemies like this can seldom be reasoned with and war becomes a necessity rather than a means to an end. However, we should never go to war unless we've exhausted every other avenue that might lead to a peaceful resolution. This did not occur in Iraq. There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator but he could have been dealt with had the UN been given the time and resources it needed. We should've exhaustively considered the consequences of our invasion. It's clear now that our government either was not aware, or more likely did not care about, the violent tensions between the Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish peoples of Iraq. It's also clear that there are those in our goverment whom to this day still don't understand the complicated ethnic and religous divisions within Iraq, John McCain chief among them.
I've learned that sometimes we are too quick to strike. We let our anger and our ignorance consume us, and rationality is left by the wayside. I believe that this is what happened with Iraq. 9/11 was still fresh in our minds and too many of us supported a war simply because we bought into the Bush Administration's lies that Saddam Hussein was partially responsible for the attacks on American soil.
I've learned that in times of crisis we often equate patriotism with supporting whatever the government does. We forget that one of the core principles of our democracy is our freedom to criticize our own government when we think it is wrong. Indeed the patriotism that existed after 9/11 through the first year of the Iraq war more closely resembled nationalism. Nationalism is a truly dangerous sentiment. It leads us to believe that we are superior to others, that we know what is best for other people. I consider myself a patriot, I love my country, but I am no nationalist.
I've learned that sometimes being a patriot isn't good enough. If your against the war you get questions like this: why don't you support the troops? Don't you know that your opposition helps the terrorists? Why do you hate America? I believe that we are better than this and that we have already begun to move past this. Unfortunately there are those in positions of power such as George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, John McCain, and Joe Lieberman that will probably never understand this, and that is too bad for them.

This post/note should not be read as a mea culpa or a condemnation of anyone. It is simply my reflection over the past 5 years of war. I think we have all learned a lot and hopefully we have all emerged from this experience as better individuals. I suppose only time can tell. It is clear that war is terrible. Even when a war is successful there are many that are left dead and many of those that survive do so with lives that are for all practical purposes destroyed. It is true that there are those that return from war as better people. I would be remiss to deny such a thing. However the fact that so many lose so much as a result of such senseless violence is a calmity of the human condition.

St. John the Idiotic

Yet more evidence that John McCain is a complete moron: he said yesturday in Jordan that it is "common knowledge" that Iran is training al-Qaeda operatives in Iran. Wait a minute...what? See, I was under the impression that Iran was a Persian country full of Shia muslims; whereas al-Qaeda is a terrorist group dominated by Arabs that also happen to be muslims of the Sunni sect. Why would Persian Shiites aid Arab Sunnis? Once again, my impression was that these two demographics have been in conflict with each other for upwards of a thousand years. Look, Iran is not exactly our biggest ally, nor should they be, but to say that they are training al-Qaeda operatives or even working in anyway with al-Qaeda is simply ludicrous. It would be like saying that the Orange Order and the IRA were banding together to expell the British from Northern Ireland. That just wouldn't happen. It's even more disturbing that the media is calling it a gaffe. As Max Bergmann writes at Democray Arsenal:

Many in the media seem willing to dismiss McCain's statement that Iran is training Al Qaeda as a simple slip of the tongue. This is wrong. McCain did NOT misspeak. If he had simply made the statement once, he could perhaps expect to be given a pass.
But he didn't just say Iran was training Al Qaeda once. He said it in his initial statement. He was then asked about it in a follow up question where he repeated it. It is not a simple slip of the tongue if when challenged on the "slip" you then. [He also repeated it on Hugh Hewitt's radio show] That is not a gaffe. That is called believing something that isn't true. It is called being confused. And being confused about the differences between Shia and Sunni when claiming that you should be elected president of the United States on your foreign policy knowledge and experience, is simply not okay. This is a big deal.

Indeed, this is a very big fucking deal! This is a very disturbing occurence. There are two possibilities here:

1. John McCain believes that al-Qaeda is being trained by Iran. In this circumstance that is quite alarming and I agree with Matt Yglesias: perhaps John McCain isn't really paying much attention to what is happening in Iraq.
2. McCain know that Iran and al-Qaeda are not in league but he is willing to lie about it anyway, IN FRONT OF A CROWD OF MUSLIMS IN JORDAN!

Look, I understand I'm biased and I obviously am not a fan of John McCain, but this is a truly dangerous situation. McCain doesn't know squat about the economy (by his own admission), taxes, healthcare, or really any other important domestic policy issue. Apparently, he also knows very little about foreign policy and national security (his professed strengths). Now, I know you may be thinking, "give me a break Scott, this is just one time!" Yes, this is just a single occurence, but if he doesn't understand the difference between Shia and Sunni muslims, and the shaky dynamic between the Persian and Arab ethnicities; then in reality everything he thinks he knows about the Middle East and the Arab world is probably wrong. This is stunningly idiotic. I hope for the sake of this country and this planet we elect either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton to the presidency over this know-nothing fanatic.

A Note of Explanation

Sorry for the slow blogging. The past two days I've been at the Take Back America Conference right here in DC. I'll be there again tomorrow. It's my hope that I reach my normal blogging output by Thursday. Until then I will try to post when I can. Thanks!

Review: 10,000 B.C.

Well, 10,000 B.C. was pretty bad. Roland Emmerich is such a hit or miss director to me. I loved Independence Day, Stargate, and The Patriot; The Day After Tomorrow was ok; and Godzilla totally sucked. Well, ok, I guess that's mostly hits, but I'm gonna stick with my "hit or miss" label anyways. I just couldn't get into this movie. The script, co-written by Emmerich himself, was just painfully bad. The guy goes on perilous journey to save girl plot is beyond cliche. The character development is lax and the acting is terrible. Some of the visuals were kind of neat, but today it's your run-of-the-mill CGI. I would avoid this movie if at all possible, and if you must see it, rent it on DVD.

Rating: *1/2

* Uwe Boll/Michael Bay Bad **Keeanu Reevesish ***Great ***Fantastic

Our Conquering Hero

Via Matt Yglesias, I stumbled upon this Reuters article that includes this fancy little tidbit:

"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."
"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.

Wow. Where to start. Actually, nevermind. You all are smart enough that you know that what Bush said is beyond preposterous and it would be insulting of me to point out all that's wrong with that statement. That being said, look on with a mixture of wonder and disgust at our glorious commander-in-chief.

Um, Brilliant

By way of Jonathan Chait's recommendation, I read Michelle Goldberg's brilliant column for the Gaurdian deriding certain feminists for alleging (in so many words) that refusing to support Hillary Clinton is sexist. Finally! Look, this is just a great piece, and I agree with Chait, you need to take 10 minutes out of your life to read it, because you will emerge smarter. I consider myself a feminist. Yes, I'm a straight male that has no problem saying that I'm a feminist. I am really offended though that people like Gloria Steinem are accusing those of us that support Obama of forgetting about the victimization of woman. There is no doubt that the MSM's treatment of Clinton has been deplorable, but it's not fair to group Obama supporters in with the media. Many, if not most Obama supporters will enthusiastically support Clinton in the general election if she is the nominee. I very highly doubt that this will be the case, but it's true regardless. It's especially unfair for older women to accuse younger women (that overwhelmingly support Obama) of abandoning them. The cold hard truth is that Obama appeals across gender and racial lines, especially among young people. Clinton's base consists of older women, Latinos, and working-class whites. Clinton's lack of support among young women is more a result of demographics than anyone abandoning or shunning the feminist cause.

This is all the more frustrating because people like Steny "I really kind of suck as the Majority Leader" Hoyer are worrying that the ugly gender and racial attacks are hurting the party. What? Which gender attacks are you speaking about Steny!? The Obama campaign has not made gender an issue. As I stated above, the MSM certainly has, but it is patently unfair to accuse the Obama campaign of making gender-based attacks. That's simply not the case. Conversely, the Clinton campaign has made race a centerpiece of their attacks on Obama. The latest example is the public meltdown of the once great Geraldine Ferraro.

In conclusion, it's not fair, and frankly, it's wrong for Clinton supporters to accuse those that don't support their candidate of being sexist. I like Hillary too, and I think she'd be a great president, but please, she's not so great a candidate that the only reason that anyone wouldn't support her is because they are sexist. That's just an offensive and illogical argument. This race has been divisive enough already. Clinton's continued presence has become increasingly toxic. While I consider the fearmongering of Steny Hoyer and others that the campaign will fatally damage the party overblown, the continued racial attacks can only hurt. Hillary needs to accept a dose of reality and end her campaign.

20 in a row!

Over at the Plank, Isacc Chotiner has a great post up describing his elation at the Rockets' win last night, which marked their 2oth in a row. I have to admit I haven't been paying too much attention to the NBA this year, as the Bucks have been beyond lousy. However, it is not lost on me how amazing it is for a team to win 20 games in a row! Houston's 20 game streak has propelled them into a tie with San Antonio for first in the Western Conference's Southwest Division. This streak continued even after Yao Ming was lost for the remainder of the season a couple of weeks ago. Moreover, as Chotiner points out, Houston is doing all this with a very likable group of guys. Tracy McGrady is an extremely likable and talented player that is as socially conscious as he is gifted in the art of basketball. Chuck Hayes, Shane Battier, Steve Novak (yeah Milwaukee!) and the rest of the crew are the epitome of class and professionalism. I hope these guys beat out the arrogant and chronically boring Spurs for the Southwest title and roll over Kobe and the Lakers to the finals. Only time will tell!