The Biggest Tool for the Right Job

April 23, 2004

Some readers might remember the discussion I had with Cameron of the late great Snarkalicious about the runup to the war in Iraq. (My posts are here and here).

I think there were a lot of good reasons to invade Iraq or try to depose Saddam, and I wish it had been attempted under the Clinton regime. But I thought then and continue to believe that Bush was the wrong person. You know, a little like trying to blow off a gangrenous leg with a land mine. The leg has to come off, everyone with sense agrees it has to come off, but a land mine? Can’t we think about it a little first?

I argued at the time that Bush was not the right person because he had not done his homework and he had not demonstrated any dedication to the principles of freedom and democracy we were supposedly going to spread in Iraq. As a matter of actual fact, he has demonstrated and continues to demonstrate antagonism towards those principles. This, combined with Bush’s arrogance, convinced me that we’d get the above land-mine solution.

There’s little joy in saying “I told you so” over this, so I can let Krugman say it for me:

Why was it predictable that Iraq would go wrong? The squandered victory in Afghanistan was an obvious precedent. But the character flaws in the Bush administration that led to the present crisis were fully visible in the months that followed 9/11.

Oh, and as to the “it’s not a war for oil, because that makes bad business sense” point:

Cronyism and corruption are major factors in Iraq’s downward spiral. This week the public radio program “Marketplace” is running a series titled “The Spoils of War,” which documents a level of corruption in Iraq worse than even harsh critics had suspected [...] the common view in Iraq is that members of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council are using their positions to enrich themselves, and that U.S. companies are doing the same. President Bush’s idealistic language may be persuasive to Americans, but many Iraqis see U.S. forces as there to back a corrupt regime, not democracy.

There are many of us who supported the idea of removing Saddam, but not the method. We were sneered ad for wanting to have committee meetings. “We have to do something!” they said. “After all, Saddam could launch a terrorist attack any minute!”

But everything that is going on now is the result of not properly taking stock, not properly thinking about the situation, and not doing our homework. And there’s no indication Bush has learned anything from his mistakes.

Have we learned from ours? I guess we will find out in November.

Posted in Politics