The promised metaphor that’ll explain my viewpoint (beware, Bush’s spin people will love this, you might hear it later, but you heard it here first).
So America fashions itself as a global cop. We send in troops into hotspots, we give aid to those in need etc. Whether we’re a “good cop” or “bad cop” is besides the point [further is whether we’re policing the right things- what about international corporate crime!]. Until the Iraqi occupation, the self-perception of many Americans is that this country helps to make sure there are no all-out wars. We do what it takes to keep the peace.
Let’s use that metaphor to analyze the Iraqi occupation:
Let’s say that the cops file a bogus warrant to search a house. And then let’s say that when the cops bust the door down, the people inside are relatively co-operative. The people inside the house even look like they want the cops to evict the person running the house. And eventually, the cops search enough that they find the guy running the house, but they don’t find any evidence to arrest or convict him of anything. So they turn the guy over to the people in the house.
By this time, the folks in the house are pulling out daggers and such to go at each other’s throats. Some of the people in the house want the cops to lead so they can get to fighting over who’s going to be the new leader. Unfortunately, the cops are supposedly the peacekeepers. So they stick around when they see the knives come out. So now, some of the people in the house take the side of the ‘police’ and others want to drive the police out.
So now the cops are stuck fighting the people attacking them, and also helping to train the people in the house to keep the peace.
Let’s say this happened next door to you. What do you think the cops should do? Should they exit so the free-for-all royal rumble can begin? Do the cops have a responsibility to protect the people in the house? Do they have a responsibility to repair the damages they caused?
According to my previous post (look up) these questions aren’t a matter of reality, they’re a matter of principle. As onlookers, we don’t know what’s going on in the house. All we know about is what comes up on the police radio, and sometimes we think that that’s propaganda. As onlookers can we really be the judge of whether we should send in more SWAT or have them pull out?
Not until or not unless we have reports from people in the house about what’s going on. So my official position is neither for nor against the war. My official position is that I am not informed enough to develop a sound argument either way. My official position is that I would like more open access to information for me and my fellow Americans so we know what’s going on in the house!
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