So today marks 5 years in Iraq. So I thought this would be a good time to talk about it. My opinions on this issue have ALWAYS been against the general public. My thoughts on this topic have always been “against the grain” The general public was for it in the beginning, and against it now. Which is rather interesting because I’ve been opposite that both times. I remember at the beginning of the war, there was a protest at my high school (I live in a very democrat anti-war village). I didn’t feel like I could support this protest for two reasons:
- Most of them seemed anti-war because: “War is bad.” This logic drives me absolutely insane. If you are going to protest a war have a reason to protest that specific war. Say your reason. I believe: “War should be avoided, but if it must be done it must be done” It is not something to be entered into lightly. (See my notes below on peace)
- I didn’t think that ditching my education, even if it was during a class that I hated, was a good idea. Actually, looking back, if there was a class that I would have liked to ditch it was the one during the protest. In fact many people went to the protest because they wanted to ditch their classes. The class I was in was almost empty
This does not mean I supported the war, In fact in the days following the protest a couple people asked me and I had to clarify, “No, I do not support the war, but no, I do not support your protest either” It was an odd position to take, in retrospect. I was not in support of the war in those days for one major reason: “It would be a distraction from the real conflict: Afghanistan & Bin Laden” Today, who talks about Afghanistan? It’s gotten better in the last couple of months, now that Iraq is getting quieter (I’ll get to that). However, during the time of the worst in Iraq, Afghanistan was never mentioned. That is the real war on terror.
I have much more to say but it’s far too long for the front page: continue reading…
