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4/11/2003 03:49:00 PM | Brad Plumer Hawkish morality These war weasels are like whack-a-mole: knock one down and another keeps popping up in his place. Now they're getting giddy, claiming that the antiwar left has lost the moral high ground. Oh dear, oh dear. Here's the esteemed Alston Ramsay: A few brief words on the anti-war movement. While I'm not sure I'd necessarily call the movement a moral failing as Emmett has, I think they razed their own credibility with their silence. And for that, they should be ashamed. As Stefan pointed out in our latest issue, many on that side of the fence have come to see Saddam's regime of terror as the "Achille's Heel" of the anti-war movement; it just makes them look bad, and, as such, they haven't/couldn't come up with a way to deal with it.Right, because the lefties aren't giggling themselves crazy over the toppling of Saddam's statue. Hey, guess what? Neither are Iraqis. All that jubilant footage on CNN was well and good, but here's an aerial view of the same scene (another lesson in media propaganda):  Well shit, that just doesn't quite bring the same tingle to my toes. Looks to me like most Iraqis are doing what the antiwar groups are doing: staying home and waiting cautiously. That doesn't make them immoral. That makes them prudent. Someone forgot to alert Mr. Hogan, Mr. Ramsay, and the rest to the fact that the war is not over. The real challenge begins as soon as the bombing stops. It was always that way, even for those of us who thought (as I did) that the actual fighting would be bloody and difficult. National Review pundits and Weekly Standard scribblers who pay lip service to the difficult process of reconstruction are no better than the leftists who try to trivialize Saddam's atrocities. If the Butcher of Baghdad is our Achilles' heel, Mr. Ramsey, then post-war reconstruction is yours. Steve Gilliard at Daily Kos has some excellent posts on why Iraq could still turn into a disaster (go here, here, and especially here.)Yes, these are all worst case scenarios, but perfectly realistic. So what then? What if Turkey starts rolling tanks into Kurdish territory? What if Syria and Iran try to sabotage the reconstruction process, as they have every reason to do? What if cities descend into anarchy? What if Shia and Sunni turn against each other, letting the country degenerate into an "Arab Congo"? Looting and uprisings and massacres, oh my! Will you still claim moral high ground and preach on, brother? Will you still puff yourselves up at the fact that the 12 Iraqis in the picture above were cheering the demolition of a statue? Hey, cool, plenty of Russians initially cheered their Nazi "liberators" during Barbarossa, and their hopes and prayers were quickly, ruthlessly squashed. American should, and assuredly will, do better, but they should remember that swapping one dictator for another is not liberation. And until proven wrong, the antiwar crowd has every right to be skeptical. Indeed, there is hardly a more moral position to take. So tell you what, 'loggers. When Iraq holds its first fair and free election, I'll cheer, pump my fist and break out the champagne. Until then, you won't get shit. Update: A few cliffnotes for this fellow. Mr. Wilson, the moral case for invading Iraq, as I see it, is to make the lives of Iraqis better. Unseating Mr. Hussein is immoral if Iraq is worse off for it in the end. And until reconstruction succeeds, that still remains a possibility. The removal of Saddam may well create a power vacuum as harmful and devastating as the dictator himself, in which case, no, there's no cause for celebration. The picture is there to illustrate just how many Iraqis have chosen caution and reserve rather than outright rapture (and I'm guessing that caution is actually the majority view), because plenty can still go wrong. Eh? You seem to nod at that fact without really thinking about it (although in fairness, your post on Tikrit was exactly what I had in mind. My apologies for being lost in my own excitement). If I'm proven wrong, and reconstruction goes well, and Iraq becomes a better place, then I'll happily admit that I predicted wrong. But until then, I have no reason to give you the joy and excitement you seem to want as proof of my credibility. I don't see why this is such an extremist position to take. Double update: As Mr. Wilson pointed out, I was being a bit rhetorically overblown when I said I won't be satisfied until elections come about. Even being optimistic, I wouldn't expect elections for at least a couple of years. But there is still so much to do: get the power running again, stop the looting and rioting, eliminate the Republican guard, impose order, create a working Iraqi police force, fend off Syria and Iran, get humanitarian aid flowing, resolve Kurdish-Turkish tensions, and on and on ad infinitum. Until all these things and more take place, the war isn't even close to being over, and elections seem like as good a benchmark for success as any. perma link |
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