infinite improbability

Thoughts on the war

From the get go, I've been pretty ambivalent about the whole Iraq war, not because I didn't think that Saddam is a scum bucket that needed to go, but because I had the feeling that the American people did not have the will necessary to see it through. My biggest fear before the war started was that the American people were not prepared for a long conflict with a poorly defined enemy, and that people had an inaccurate picture of how easy it would be. I didn't want our soldiers going over there to fight unless we were prepared to do what it would take to win.

Unfortunately, it seems like my biggest fears are coming true. I don't quite understand how it was that the American people thought that everything would be a walk in the park after the end of major combat operations, and the fact that so many people seem surprised at the continuing violence shows how little the American public had been prepared for what really happens in war. It seems as though, even though we have the most powerful military on the planet, Vietnam has so warped the American psyche that we're afraid of any minor setbacks and lack the collective will necessary for long conflicts. The one consolation that I have is that Bush and Co. aren't showing signs of backing down, because if we do, we're opening ourselves up for attacks the likes of which we've never seen, since the message we'll be sending is that we're weak and don't have the will to see something through to the end. This is why I see it as absolutely essential to the future security of this country that Bush is reelected as President. A man like John Kerry who can't make up his mind on any posistion is not going to have the political will to continue and to see Iraq to a successful conclusion. A John Kerry Presidency absolutely terrifies me because at this moment in history, we need a strong leader, and while Kerry might make a fine peace time President, he doesn't have the spine necessary for a war time leader.