Did we learn anything new from the President’s speech tonight? Not really. If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you’ve heard/read it all before. I still have serious concerns about the motivations behind this sudden drive for armed conflict in Iraq, but the evidence is compelling. I’ve read some of the evidence against Iraq, and am ashamed that my own country knew about the chemical attacks on his own people and in some cases even supplied the chemical agents to Iraq during that country’s war with Iran (another case of the U.S. supporting the lesser of two evils).
What really bothers me is that this is yet another case of a regime we supported with money, arms, and an unknown quantity of “other” things coming back to become a threat. I understand the need for backdoor diplomacy. I know we need intelligence and espionage, but I would be much more comfortable with the President’s case if our rapsheet were much shorter, and there were fewer members of the Administration involved with Interests that could benefit from a new regime.
What would make me feel better? I don’t know. I think I’m past the point of arguing against the use of force in Iraq. I just want my government to stop supporting the enemy of our enemy, even though the regime we’re supporting is only slightly less evil than our enemy. If our government (including our politicians) were more trustworthy and honest. If the motivation behind policies were more transparent, and Dick Cheney had his “Energy Task Force” meetings in public where we could all witness what happensed.
My real problem? I don’t trust George W. Bush. I don’t trust Dick Cheney. I don’t trust Congress. I don’t have faith that the CIA, FBI, DEA, ATF or any other acronymed agency can stop a determined maniac from killing me. Has it always been this way? Was Abraham Lincoln trustworthy? Was FDR? Harry Truman? What happened? If it was never the way it should have been, what can we do to make it that way?