Posted by Dinah on March 22, 2006, at 10:20:29
In reply to Re: A few other cases *trigger* » special_k, posted by AuntieMel on March 22, 2006, at 9:33:03
Thanks Mel.
I didn't have the energy to look up the numbers.
I really admire the way you take the time to back up your assertions with the facts. And that you generally look up *all* the relevant facts.
Have you ever read "A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal" by Asne Seierstad? It's not so much a book of facts as a book of her experiences and interactions with the people of Iraq. It really brought home for me the moral ambiguities of the situation.
In retrospect, I probably wish we had never gone in. I'm so regretful that Saddam Hussein didn't allow the inspectors to continue to inspect. I understand the issue of pride and considering that he shouldn't have to answer to the UN, but it came with a very high price in this case. I am horrified to read about the regime's alleged actions against its citizens. But is that enough to invade a sovereign country? We've generally decided that it isn't. But retrospect is easy. Especially given the history of his alleged use of chemical weapons and his invasion of Kuwait. The first Gulf War I thought was totally justified given the invasion of a sovereign country. And it wasn't carried forward, and we left a lot of the people who rose up against the government in an awful position. Was that right either?
It's hard to decide when intervention should come for humanitarian reasons. I was really worried about intervening in central Europe given the resulting unrest, but it seems to have worked out ok? Or maybe I'm missing something.
And sometimes I look at what's going on in the Sudan and wonder how it's possible to not get involved. But on the other hand... Well, self determination and all that. Has aid been requested?
I just don't envy people with the power to have to make that kind of decision. It must be such a difficult position to be in. I wouldn't want that kind of responsibility for anything.
However we got in though, would it be responsible to pull out at this point? With the country destabilized by the loss of it's ummm... strong leader who managed to keep ethnic tensions ummmm... from being expressed freely. Having removed that strong leader, don't we have a responsibility to stay there until some way is found for the people of Iraq to live in relative harmony? The same way we did in Bosnia/Croatia?
poster:Dinah
thread:621784
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20060322/msgs/623324.html