Recall that in the beginning the Iraqi war was sold on the basis of a madman who had nasty weapons he was going to use on the United States; he was providing the main base for al-Qaida; the war was to be over in three months and would cost perhaps $90 billion, but that was OK because oil profits would pay it! The “Mission Accomplished” performance did not signal the end of the war, just the end of the beginning! By that time it was known that his weapons were nonexistent and the al-Qaida claim was essentially untrue. We should have had the sense to quit while we were no farther behind, but ego and macho don”t do that! Probably it would have helped if the authorities had informed the rest of us what the goals and objectives of the wars were, and what “win” meant. Now we are a trillion dollars in debt for the war and there have been no oil profits.
It used to be that changing one”s opinion as the result of newer and more accurate information was considered a mark of intelligence, character, and honesty. Who of us has not found the need to put on a wry grin and say “Well it seemed like a good idea at the time!”
Patriotism has to do with working toward the betterment of the country, supporting its growth, well-being and economic stability. It seems to me that our two wars are taking us 180 degrees away from those goals. A country that has an immense debt, is spending huge sums to renew its economy, has an infrastructure in shambles, has health, education and immigration problems really has no business using what little funding it has to pay for two wars. I feel we simply cannot afford the cost and the diminishing of our country.
I suspect history will point to the most important consideration being the fact that there never has been any effort to ask the United States people to participate and (perhaps) sacrifice financially in support of the wars. I feel a major contributor to the people”s lackadaisical attitude is due to the old saying “out of sight, out of mind.” Perhaps even worse is that most people are perfectly willing to let almost the full “people cost” of the war be borne by the armed forces, the warriors and their families.
The skill, valor and courage of our troops has long since been well-proven, as has their efforts to deal with the civilian population as friends and advisors. The problem in both wars is that the people we are trying to aid don”t seem to want to help themselves, and, as far as I can see, really don”t deserve more of our blood, sweat and tears.
I think it is time to really support our troops and bring them home!
Guthrie “Guff” Worth is a retired resident of Lakeport.
