Being in Iraq: We Feel Disgust, Not Despair
Certainly not – but we could easily be overwhelmed by disgust. In fact, that is the emotion many Americans experience when thinking about the Bush administration’s policy toward Iraq.
Why did America declare war on Iraq? Because we believed President Bush, who told us that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling ‘weapons of mass destruction’ there. He said the Iraqui government had chemical and biological weapons. He told us they were developing a nuclear bomb. He told us that we were in danger.
In the shock and grief that overwhelmed us after 9/11, we believed our President. Horrified by the death of civilians and the destruction of landmark buildings, we were easily swayed by his words.
Never mind that the international community did not see Iraq as a threat. Never mind that the United Nations could not find any trace of nuclear research. Never mind that no evidence of chemical or biological weapons could be discovered by international inspectors. Our President told us we were in danger, and we believed him.
No such weapons were found when Saddam Hussein’s government collapsed in April 2003.
That alone is cause for disgust. We were tricked into believing that a great threat existed when there was no threat at all.
No other country in the world agreed to join us when we planned an assault on Iraq. Although President Bush was eventually able to pressure a few of our allies into giving their support, international opinion as a whole remained against U.S. military action.
We were frightened into a war that was condemned by most of the world and that lost us the good opinion of many nations and individuals.
That is certainly a cause for disgust.
We are spending about $6 billion per month in this unnecessary war, according to the Bush administration’s own figures. Our national debt is skyrocketing at an alarming rate. It seems likely that not only our children but also our grandchildren will be paying price.
This is a cause for disgust.
Over 2,100 Americans have died in Iraq as a result of those lies. The Bush administration prevented news agencies publishing photos of their coffins. Many more your Americans have been maimed.
These young men and women offered themselves to protect us. They thought they were protecting their country. They sacrificed themselves for a lie.
That is cause for overwhelming disgust!
We are beginning to voice that disgust. In a recent CNN/Gallup poll, fifty-nine percent of citizens polled disapproved of the way President Bush had acted about Iraq. We are beginning to wake up. We are beginning to look through the cloud of politic rhetoric and see the truth behind it.
Americans are not a despairing people. We do not feel despair about our ability to help the world. We do not despair of protecting ourselves… when it is needed.
We do feel an overwhelming disgust at our military presence in Iraq.
