Cowards

I have been reading a lot about retired generals and their comments about both the Iraq war and Donald Rumsfeld and this is what I have to say about them.

Cowards.

Yes, I mean cowards. I find it unbelievably offensive that these men, with all their power and influence, waited three years to express their opinions. They waited until public sentiment turned against the war before they stood up to say something. They didn’t get any backlash from friends or family or the public in general for openly stating their opinions before this Vietnam-like mire of a war. Oh no. They waited three years. They retired. They waited for public opinion to turn. So, essentially, now that it is basically too late to really change anything, they are standing up to say, “Wow, this war was really poorly planned and we should never have done it, but (wait, what did Newbold say?) ‘while I don’t accept the stated rationale for invading Iraq, my view–at the moment–is that a precipitous withdrawal would be a mistake.’”

So why bother saying anything at all?

This is what I have to say to these generals:

Where were you in the fury of patriotism before the war, when any dissent would have been a death knoll to your career?

Where were you when General Shinseki risked his?

Where were you when protesters lined the streets, saying this was a bad idea?

Where were you when so many people suggested that Iraqi culture was very different from ours, and that keeping tribes and warlords and religious sects from killing each other might be more difficult than shouting “Hoowah” and bombing the heck out of the place?

Okay, so you don’t want to do anything about the war, you just want Rummy out. And your ideal replacement is — Joseph Lieberman? Are you insane? Lieberman is Jewish. Have you not noticed there is, um, a little bit of rancor between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East? Or that some saw this war as “pro-Israel” before it even started? What better way to unleash a fury from Palestine and other Arab countries, who would see that a Jewish leader was directing the Iraqi war.

Here are a few comments I received when I stated that I did not think the Iraq war was a good idea back in 2003 (and my thoughts regarding those comments):

“If you don’t like our country, go back to Japan.” Never mind that I was born here

“Stop sending me anti-American e-mails. I believe our president is a God-fearing man who prays and God is directing his actions.” Of course, thinking comes secondary to prayer.

“Please tell Missy not to send me any more unpatriotic articles. They are just upsetting.” I find 2,000 dead soldiers upsetting, too.

I have never understood why opposing a war is unpatriotic. We have learned the hard way that starting a war is easy and ending it is hard. I have always felt, and will continue to feel, that starting a war is not something to be done blindly because the lives of many, many people are at stake. If I think my country’s leaders are entering into war for the wrong reasons, or even if they choose not to justify their reasons to me, then it is my patriotic duty to oppose them.

Yes, I marched against the war in the spring of 2003. Yes, I wrote letters to my friends and family, urging them to oppose the war. Yes, I wrote to my congressman and whoever else I thought would listen, asking for them to stop, to wait, to gain support from our allies, to make sure the war was justified, and I did all of these things at cost to myself and to my reputation in the eyes of my friends and family, many of whom are military or former military. And, after the war started, I stopped protesting, because there was nothing left to be done. Nothing. And why beat a dead horse? I had my say and it was ignored, and three years later, all I could possibly do now is to say is “I told you so.” Which doesn’t mean a whole lot when people are dying over there, and thus I don’t bother saying it.

It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon now. I agree that we cannot simply withdraw from Iraq — it would be too dangerous to leave an unstable country in that region. But I don’t think changing the guard is going to change anything — except perhaps salve the consciences of those who said too little, too late.

Baghdad Burning

Riverbend, a nameless woman in Iraq, writes:

The thing most worrisome about the situation now, is that discrimination based on sect has become so commonplace. For the average educated Iraqi in Baghdad, there is still scorn for all the Sunni/Shia talk. Sadly though, people are being pushed into claiming to be this or that because political parties are promoting it with every speech and every newspaper- the whole ‘us’ / ‘them’. We read constantly about how ‘We Sunnis should unite with our Shia brothers…’ or how ‘We Shia should forgive our Sunni brothers…’ (note how us Sunni and Shia sisters don’t really fit into either equation at this point). Politicians and religious figures seem to forget at the end of the day that we’re all simply Iraqis…Three years after the war, and we’ve managed to move backwards in a visible way, and in a not so visible way. (From “Uncertainty” posted March 28, 2006)

Congratulations to Riverbend for her new book, which is longlisted for the Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction.