'Now that the war has started'

[magid]

That's a quote from Bush's talk last night. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised how he hides behind the passive voice. If he hadn't started a war, how would it have started, with practically no one else in favor of it?

Of course, this does make me wonder what all those bombing raids we made in these last years were. I guess I just don't understand the idea of war in modern times.

Of course, there's all the other things I don't understand, that make this war ridiculous to me. What happened to Osama bin Laden, the one who orchestrated the major act of terrorism that set us on the path to war? It's not like Saddam Hussein is a wonderful guy, but he's been in power for 12 years since the last Gulf War, and there's no particular reason to attack now (oh, except that that will get the war safely over with by the time Bush is up for reelection, or something).

I also don't understand how not supporting the war can be taken as not supporting our troops. Wouldn't peace be less likely to cause soldier fatalities?

Was this how things were in the U.S. during the last Gulf War? It is strange to me, that the workaday world can continue so uninterruptedly. In Israel, we had gotten our gas masks, been taught how to use them (and the atropine, and whatever else came with in the gas mask box), sealed up a room. Other than exhortations to buy duct tape and nonperishable goods, there's nothing different. It's strange to me how the world can change so completely and not show it other than on the news stations, somehow.
o

Comments

[magid.livejournal.com]

It all hurts my brain; I guess this is why I never understood political history, since it's made up of such stupidities.

My general attitude towards acts of terrorism is that there's only so much one can reasonably do, without starting to hurt one's own quality of life, be it in the realm of losing civil liberties, or circumscribing what activities one does, whatever. And to me, once I start changing my life drastically, the terrorists have already won.
And really, there's not a whole lot one can do against someone who is willing to die for a cause. If a fanatic really wants to take some people out with him, there are so many ways to do it. There's no way to guard against it, really.

e

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

If a fanatic really wants to take some people out with him, there are so many ways to do it. There's no way to guard against it, really.

That's entirely true. But what we can do is try to prevent the fanatics from hating us in the first place. Just imagine if all the money we were spending on Bush Jr's war were being spent on humanitarian aid, instead. Just imagine if the USA participated in a network of co-operating allies, rather than boasting "I'll do it myself!" like a three-year-old, and alienating all but three of the 189 nations in the UN. Imagine if the USA were able to successfully portray itself as a champion of religious freedom, rather than a crusading Christian nation led by a born-again fanatic, bent on occupying Muslim states.

That might deter terrorist attacks. Bombs won't work.

[magid.livejournal.com]

That is a *much* better path.

Perhaps I'm jaded, but there's a lot of fanaticism even before this whole hoo-hah of a war; I think there are likely to be fanatics out there even were we on a reasonable path. Of course, being on this horrible one, there are/will be many, many more.