"New order of the ages" did we say? If it looks none too orderly today, 'Tis a confusion it was ours to start So in it have to take courageous part. -ROBERT FROST
On Nov. 19, I went to George Washington University in the nation's capital to see Ira Glass, host of the public radio show This American Life. (I know some of you are already groaning at the mention of public radio, but stay with me.) It was a great talk, and we had great seats. At one point, though, Glass made a crack about the war in Iraq and somebody with even better seats than ours responded.
"US out!," he yelled.
Glass is a professional and handled the interruption like a pro: coolly. He turned and said, with a bit of a smile on his face, "I don't understand this whole 'US Out' thing. So we leave Iraq, the whole country goes to hell, and that helps out the US... how?"
What he's implying there is the same basic message in the Frost poem I quoted above: If the US completely withdraws from Iraq right now, we're leaving the Iraqis to clean up our mess. "Sorry to destroy your entire country, fellas. Good luck re-stabilizing it. Hey! Send us a postcard and tell us how it goes!"
I'm being flip, of course, but I'm quite serious. I hate this war, I hate the fact that we went in there, and I hate what we've done to it since we got there. But read that last part again. "What we've done." The United States has created this quagmire. We destroyed a government and happened to take down the entire economic, technological, and social infrastructure as collateral damage.
Because we were so zealous to overthrow such a bad man (and yes, he was a horrible man), we forgot about making a single plan for a stable entity with which to replace him. Which is how the terrorist elements that weren't there before managed to get in now: We didn't take any steps to stop them.
Article comments
1 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Your problem, Mike, is that you don't know how to be a good imperialist. You have a conscience.
Imperialists destroy other people's countries and leave if they have to, leaving only self congratulatory notes for the world to read. The British did that in the Middle East, and not long ago, a British ambassasdor type referred to this nation as "that shitty little country."
No apologies for screwing up the destinies of Jews and Arabs and playing a significant role in the death of 6,000,000 Jews (the Brits kept Jews from entering the country from 1939 to 1948). Just self-righteous arrogance.
Right now your nation is in the place that Britain used to occupy. The United States is presently the premier super-power on the planet. Enjoy it while you can. It won't be long.
By the way, the piece was well written.
2 - Michael J. West
Thank you, Ruvy. I only wish a conscience was enough to answer all these questions...
3 - Temple Stark
A section editor pointed your way as a pick of the 11-19/11-25 week. Click HERE to find out why.
Cheers. Temple