No apologies

[Mythsaje]

So, I thought this war was damn stupid from the beginning. I SAID that there was a difference between toppling a tyrant and occupying a country. And why exactly did they think we were going to be "greeted as liberators?"

I still haven't figured that one out.

I may have gotten a little shrill when I predicted a fucking nightmare in Iraq. A quagmire of truly epic proportions.

Funny thing, that.

I, and those who also projected these results, were called "cowards" and "traitors" and a whole host of other not-so-nice names.

We were right. From the beginning.

We didn't want to be. Or, at least, I would have preferred to have been wrong.

I'm just an author. I have no military experience, or first-hand knowledge of the interaction between politics and diplomacy, and warfare. But I knew. Of course, I wasn't caught up in an ideology that refuses to be wrong, even when the evidence is staring it in the face.

Some people live their whole lives in a fun house (or is that a house of horrors?) where the face they see in the mirror, the reality of their existence, is twisted, stretched, and spun into new and interesting shapes that prevent them from seeing themselves as they really are.

Somehow, some way, some day, we're going to have to come to terms with those who now have more reason than ever to hate us. If, as current estimates suggest, this war and its aftermath has killed over half a million Iraqis, there are going to be a LOT of pissed off survivors out there. And who are they going to blame?

Not Saddam. Nope. They're going to blame US.

So, no, I'm not going to apologize for being correct in my assessment of the situation.

I'm still waiting for an apology from those who were wrong.

The clock is ticking.

[Skittles]

1. I want to hear them say THE FRENCH WERE RIGHT

I want to F***ING HEAR IT

[mykpart]

2. I hate to admit it, but

I really didn't like the French very much before we invaded Iraq. For personal reasons. Then all the freepers started hating them and I felt that I had to stick up for the French. And it pissed me off. And I'll never again be able to enjoy a good "French" joke. Damn!

[Skittles]

3. huh

when I hear people saying stuff like "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" I simply marvel at their sheer ignorance - it is so evident they have no real idea what role the French played in WWII

[Mythsaje]

4. My wife and I were talking about the French the other day

and she said they're not rude IF you speak French. If you're an American and you don't speak their language, they treat you like crap. If you speak French, they're nice to you.

Okay, I'll admit it. The French bug me a little.

[OneBlueSky]

5. they never believed we would be greeted as liberators . . .

that was all just smoke and mirrors . . . their intention all along has been to control Iraqi oil and to establish a permanent presence and base of operations in the region . . . how the Iraqis reacted to these objectives was never even a serious consideration, other than its relationship to how quickly the U.S. could establish control . . .