War in Iraq… a good first step

On the mailing list I mentioned last post I was asked point blank whether I meant to say that I supported the removal of Saddam in Iraq and the invasion that did it even if it were to turn out he had had no part in initiating or supporting the 9/11 attacks. Here is my response (spell checked with emphasis added)…

“Essentially, yes. That is what I am saying. It comes down to this… The 9/11 attacks showed us that we cannot any longer pretend that people who have dedicated their nations, their religions, their children and their lives to our destruction are simply “over there” and pose no threat. As such, it became clear that this is a “us or them” struggle. One for nothing less than our survival.

Once that is unequivocally clear, then the question becomes simple… how do you exterminate those who are bent upon your destruction so completely that they no longer threaten you? In this case you do it by fundamentally reshaping the politics, cultures and capabilities of an entire region of the planet. I believe this is not only a moral course of action but an ethical imperative on our leadership.

This is not a new thought – it was true of the massive swell of Communism and Socialism in the 50′s till the fall of the Soviet empire. It was true before it with the rise of the Nazi Reich and their allies. It was true before it in history time and time again. Sometimes you must exterminate not
only an army, but the culture that spawned it. You must stamp it out to the point where it is no longer a serious threat. The anti-Western and violent fundamentalism of the Middle East is just one more example of this. It simply has to go.

To do that, you must begin to remove governments. While there will always be guerilla style conflict in the area the simple reality is that this will diminish as the cultures which created and nurtured those fanatics gives way to another culture. It’s easy… you simply have to occupy the nations long
enough for the citizens to be exposed to freedom and the positive effects of an open society long enough for it to take root. Once it does, they will wipe out the guerillas for you and with you. You cannot force democracy with an invading army, but you CAN put your boot on the throats of
anti-democracy, anti-freedom forces long enough for freedom to take root.

When it does, it will grow on its own.

In short, you just break the cycle. If for a the span of a childhood you can prevent an entire generation from growing up on a daily dose of anti-US education and propaganda, integrate them with the modern world and provide freedom to them then they will never fall prey to the sort of fundamental insanity fostered in the region.

Iraq was a good place to begin this process. Even if they were innocent they were still a good place to start. The government we removed was a vile cancer and I don’t shed a single tear for its passing. We did a good thing, we gained our strategic beachhead, sent a strong message and we are honing our tactics and equipment at a fantastic rate. Iraq is a fine place to do all of this so that Syria and Iran can be disposed of. Hopefully the Saudis will see the writing on the wall and get their act together, but if not then they will need to go as well.

I see not a single ethical problem with the wholesale terraforming of the Middle East into something that no longer threatens to be the birth place of our destruction.” – me, from an email sent on 05.17.2007