The Inertia of Peace, War Thoughts, Projo Blip
Yesterday afternoon, I went to see the documentary, "After 9/11" at the Avon Cinema. It was a melange of ideas ranging from terror is bad to terror is inevitable to how do we respond to terror to.... Lots of things.It was a long hour.
Toward the end, though, they showed a CNN reporter making his way through an Iraqi city devoid of troops. "They're all gone," the reporter said -- while the Pentagon received this as the best available on-the-ground direct intelligence.
I thought, "And now they're back."
It occurred to me that perhaps these plans were in place before we arrived. Perhaps Saddam Hussein had a contingency called, "US Invasion." that included the melting away of troops, the hiding of weapons, and the current insurgency.
At the end of the presentation, they opened the floor to questions and answers. I raised my hand with an answer. "If you want to make a difference in this mess, vote for me." There were some hisses from the audience. Another politician. I said that I was embarrassed to have to do this, but I could think of no other way to get the message across. "Kennedy voted for the war. I oppose it. I will work to end it."
War Thoughts
War Thought #1 (The obvious one): If we're at war with terror, the Bush Administration is doing a rotten job. There are more terrorists today as a result of the war than there were before. We are in control nowhere. If we're not at war with terror, the Bush administration is doing a rotten job. There are more terrorists than ever.
War Thought #2: We're at war, like it or not. The question is, how do we disentangle ourselves. Honor is gone. We have no honor in this war. Results are unclear -- how do we know we won. The enemy is invisible. Once they take off their mask, they look just like everybody else in the countries we invade. Their location is indeterminate. They don't have a particular national identity or location.
I maintain that we can't win this war because of the above reasons. We need to find ways to diminish the power of terrorists. We can accomplish this by:
1) not reacting the way they want us to. When there is an attack we need to plan our response, not lash out and not overreact.
2) Don't spend ourselves into poverty. Billions and billions to defense is an illusion of security in a terror war. It won't protect us from innovative distributed terrorism.
3) Hunt down and take out terrorists like crimminals. Don't give them the illusion that what they are doing is noble. They are mad dogs. Yes, they have a political agenda. This does not give their methods validity in a civilized society.
4) Reduce media coverage. Sad to say but terrorism is the latest reality show. Yes, tragedy is tragedy. When terrorists get results by blowing things up, they will continue to blow things up.
5) Get out of Iraq. We can not put in a government and expect it to be respected by the radical fringe in the Middle East. They need to generate their own democracy. We can invite the UN in to help with that process. We can protect the borders from Iran and Turkey. The citizens of Iraq need to take responsibility for their society -- quickly.
6) If we are going to stay in Iraq then we need to gear our nation up to a war economy. We must start tightening our belts, not spending and reducing taxes. We need to buy war bonds not consumer products. We need to drive less and conserve energy.
If we don't do any of these, then we will stay in Vietnam... I mean Iraq for a long and bloody time.
Also, this blip in the Providence Journal:
Binder challenges Kennedy in Dist. 1
In the 1st Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy faces a Democratic primary challenge Tuesday from Mark Binder, a professional storyteller and a newcomer to politics.
Kennedy, 37, of Portsmouth, the son of Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, is seeking a sixth term in Congress. Kennedy has made mental health issues his "primary passion" in the House of Representatives. He also cast the only vote in the Rhode Island delegation authorizing the president to send U.S. troops to invade Iraq.
That vote helped motivate Binder, 41, of Providence to challenge Kennedy, Binder said. Binder opposed the war and has pledged to introduce legislation to "bring the National Guard home" from Iraq.
The winner of Tuesday's primary will face Republican David W. Rogers in the November general election.
posted by Mark Binder @ 2:23 PM
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