Well I should have started off by saying that I support what is happening and have from the beginning. Just not how it is being done(without anywhere near a majority of approval from the rest of the world).
I also think that the Iraqi people will(if they don't already) support and thank the coalition for what has been done for them.
I guess what I am really wondering about is how many of the smiling faces we are seeing and have been seeing are because they really think we are doing them a favor and not just taking them from a horrible situation(but one they have for the most part lived their whole lives with and know any better) and putting them into another that for them may not be better but only different? (I don't mean that giving them freedom isn't better for them, just that how many of them really understand what the possiblities are and support that? and how many are afraid that what we bring is an end to their culture?)
I think that to say the smile can't be faked is wrong though. And to say that Iraqi's tearing posters and tearing down a statue means they support it either.
How many of these people do you think have the feeling that the way they react will decide whether they live or die? I mean after all, that is the way it has been for many years. Do you really think their reactions are based on their loyalty(or lack of) to their leader? I have been wondering if they are reacting favoribly to our coming more out of happiness, or just resignation to the fact that what they may or may not want is of no concern, but they will have to live with the result either way.
If they thought that Saddam was going to win don't you think their reactions would be completely different? I do.
Again, I completely support the fact that this needed to be done. This post is not about whether this is right or wrong, just about how the Iraqi people may see it.
For the second part.
From the very beginning I have thought that Saddam and the coalition are fighting different wars.
We have said that we are stepping in to remove a horrible dictator and a danger to the world. I agree with that and support it.
I also belive that Saddam does not care for his people in any way other then that he has what he has at their expense.
Because of this, I tend to think that the war Saddam has been fighting is more of one to try and discredit America and hopefully bring it down in the eyes of the world. He must have known that his country would not stand a chance against a coalition led with the strenght of the American military behind it. He has had a long time to think about this, and may feel that when the time comes, he can't stop being removed but will do his best to inflict as much damage as he can anyway.
What I am really worried about, and have been from the beginning, is will this kind of tactic work?
If America had waited for approval or solid evidence, we wouldn't have to worry about this. Now I think we do.
And what if we do find weapons at this late a date? Will this help us? Or will the rest of the world just assume that it has all been planted. I personaly would not put it past our government. It seems we have done this type of thing before anyway.
Will this just help to enforce mistrust in America?
I am worried that the lives lost in the war are gonna be nothing in comparison to what will happen as a result of the way we went about beginning this war.
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