Here is one
reason I cannot comfortably be against this war, stated eloquently and with the
deep knowledge of history whose lack dismays me in so many supporters of both
viewpoints. It's an incredible essay well worth reading for its own educational
sake as well as for the lesson of history.
And yet ....
(I have
yet to state any position on this war without having an "And yet ..." once I dried
my tears of sorrowing pride there were still a couple points gnawing at me. I
would be comfortable betting a large sum of money that Mr Whittle, a self-desribed
reader of SF and evidently a student of military history, is familiar with Robert
A. Heinlein's dictum, "You cannot conquer a free man. You can only kill him." I
wonder if the converse is not true: "You cannot free a conquered man. You can only
kill or reconquer him." So are we doing the Iraqis a favor? If on the other hand
they are free, then we owe them the respect of spending more effort than I have so
far seen to gather their opinions on whether they want to be liberated. I
must waffle again, though, to note that it's quite possible we did so and I have
just not seen it -- and I will also note that something I heard from a Saudi
Arabian journalist on the news this morning does make it sound as if the Iraqis do
want to be freed from their current regime, though they they a different
question.
Astute readers will note that I haven't even touched the
more difficult issue of whether we are justified in a preemptive attack on Saddam
on our own behalf. History is generally the only accurate judge of that sort of
question; all I can say is that those prepared to anticipate Clio had best be
damned sure of their facts.
I do believe war in necessary sometimes
to rout out an even greater evil (and Mr. Whittle articulates my views on that
perfectly) but by what units is evil measured?
My other reservations
have to do with not the fact of war but the manner in which it is prosecuted. I
know our military today contains the heirs to the bravery of soldiers in all our
earlier battles; I hope that we have within our current forces and the planning
bodies who rule them the heirs
to the brilliant tacticians of the Civil War
and WWII. And I hope those tacticians are allowed to do their jobs.