Here is my unvarnished opinion, and I really don't care much if anybody objects to it. I lived through the Vietnam era, I was subject to the draft, and granted, I'm a flaming liberal and an old Hippie...
First, on the powers that got us into this: When Bush ran for the first time, I saw him as a total isolationist. He didn't even know who the leaders of foreign countries were. I think his attitude was that we could be separate from the rest of the world and that we were supreme, so nothing he said or did would affect us.
This was totally wrong. You can't be a respected leader if you don't respect the people and leaders of other countries.
The people who attacked us are absolutely irrational. They don't see things as we do, and if you insult them, they will never forgive or forget, and will get revenge, even if it means that they die too.
I believe that this arrogant attitude of Bush and his Cronies actually precipitated 9/11. Bush senior had taken them on in the '90's, and now it was amplified by his progeny. I really think that if we had elected anyone else, it wouldn't have happened so soon, or at all.
So we were attacked. In many ways, I believe that going after Al Quieda was justified, and Afghanistan has been less than helpful in that pursuit. So we went after the Taliban...this is where the Guerilla aspect came in. The Taliban are like Cockroaches, and went under the woodwork...and now they're back...How do you tell the bad guys from the good guys? Kill 'em all? No, you can't..We ran into the same situation in Vietnam and we should know better.There is no winning in this situation...our initial focus was to stop Al Quieda...the Taliban is a very unfortunate aspect of that culture...they don't affect us...Our getting distracted by diverting from our goal is kind of like international relations A.D.D.
And Iraq? I think the administration dragged us into that out of sheer ignorance and arrogance. I think they went in wanting to be remembered as the ones who ended tyrany in the middle east( Just like uncle Ronnie!). I think they thought they could just go in for a few weeks and take down the rulers and the people would fill the streets cheering and there would be a tidal wave of Democracy...As we've seen, now it's caused the countries in the Middle East to start attacking others, and Al Quieda has in fact expanded to help the cause...and I'm not so sure that the people in those "opressed" countries really want to be Democratic. We are in fact taking away their way of life that they're used to and their friends and neighbors are dying. What would we do if another country tried to do that to us?
And in all of this neo-patriotic fervor, we've been beset with a strain of mindless patriotism. People who really think that just because the president says something that it's right, and should be respected. A friend of mine once when I referred to "Bush" actually corrected me and said "President Bush"..This is the same guy who went on and on about "Clinton". I'm sorry, I lived through the murderous lies of the Nixon administration (where many in the present administraion started out), and I have a really hard time with Blind Patriotism..it's really dangerous...if we see something that we know is wrong going on, as patriots, we need to say something. Personally, I think many of the neo-patriotic are too young and ignorant of the past and what can happen...too young to remember what has happened.
This whole situation has really made me grasp the difference between a great leader and a poor one. A great leader is one who inspires confidence, who, no matter what happens, is able to make us all feel as if everything is going well, that we're on the right track. FDR, Kennedy, Regan (even though I had problems with him) and yes, Clinton, all had this ability. Something terrible would happen, and they would come before the people and everything would seem fine.
I see Bush and his crew as bad leaders and incredibly dishonest and grasping. I think they are criminal in their motives for what they are doing, and I really believe deep down that they and their ilk genuinely believe that the people of the United States are stupid, and they don't respect us enough to be straight with us. I think that much of their motivation is financial and if nothing else they should be investigated for conflict of interest. I believe that no good, even with the perspective of time will come out of this administration, and with time, the criminality of it all will come to light. We will pay for the mistakes and misdeeds of this administration for some time to come.
A friend of mine saw a bumper sticker recently that I thought said it all. It said: "WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE GIVE BUSH A BLOWJOB SO WE CAN IMPEACH HIM?"
