Tuesday, October 24, 2006

You cannot say that we were not warned

Now that even the president has dropped "Stay the course" and just about everyone admits that the Iraq invasion and occupation has been an unmitigated disaster I have a question for those Americans who supported the invasion. There were people who were knowledgeable about the region and its history telling you before the invasion that what was going to emerge after an invasion and "regime change" was much more likely to be civil war and an Iran-style Islamic dictatorship than a stable democracy. Why did you not believe them? I have a follow-up question. Billions of dollars have been wasted and thousands of lives lost (some estimates are hundreds of thousands of lives lost). Do you feel that you need to change something about how you decide who to trust and what to believe now that you see the disastrous results of not listening to the experts?

2 comments:

Dave Barrett said...

windinghills,
I stand corrected. Not everyone yet agrees that our invasion and occupation was a disaster. Some people are in deep denial.
Are you unaware that the estimates for the number of Iraqis killed as a result of our occupations are between 44,000 and 665,000? That is the number of people above and beyond the number who would have died if we had not invaded -- the number who would have died if Saddam Hussein was still in power. Are you unaware that 3 years after the invasion electicity and water availability is still far below the levels when Saddam was running things -- even with the sanctions in place?
Right now death squads are kidnapping, torturing and murdering people all over Iraq. How can you believe there is a remote possibility that life in Iraq would have been worse for the last 3 years if we had not invaded?

Dave Barrett said...

windinghills,
Your original reply said that we have no way of knowing what Iraq would be like if Saddam was still in power. As a reply to my statement that the invasion of Iraq and overthrowing of Saddam Hussein had been a disaster and a mistake you seem to be saying that you think it is possibly that things could have been worse if we had not invaded. If that is not what you meant then I ask you to please clarify.
Do you think that it is possible that things could have been worse if we had not invaded and otherthrown Saddam?