Responsibility and War

I have a good friend, lets call him Bob, who is quite the Republican. He calls himself a conservative, but I know better, so I'll just stick with Republican. Last week he came over to watch the Seahawks vs Rams with me. During half time we started talking politics and eventually we were debating the war on Iraq, which as you can imagine became quite a heated "conversation". When it was over and the second half started, I realized that the whole discussion had actually been about responsibility.

You can debate to no end why we went to war, but in th end the American people supported it. If they did not support it, they obviously did not vote well enough in the 2004 election (I'm not getting into any voting conspiracy theories at this time). As far as I'm concerned anyone who did not vote against Bush, or anyone who initially voted for the war is just a culpable as those who ordered the first bombs dropped on Iraq.

Four and a half years later there is quite a bit of resentment towards the president and the war/occupation. But there are still those, such as Bob, whom still support the war and even starting another one with Iran. Bob is not stupid though, he doesn't argue that the war is about WMDs anymore. His argument now is about what will happen if we leave.

There are many theories out there concerning what will happen to Iraq and the Middle East if the US packs its bags and leaves. Most of the Republican theories revolve around utter chaos after we leave, which is the route Bob takes. He asks me, "Will you and the rest of your liberal buddies take responsibility for the horrible things that will occur if we just leave Iraq?" This poses an interesting question of responsibility, from a Republican nonetheless.

Responsibility is something that is completely ignored in a lot of corners of society, and Washington D.C. is a shining example of this. Very few politicians who voted for the war have taken responsibility for their actions. Thousands of our troops have died, while unthinkable numbers of civilians have died as a result.

So, to answer Bob's question, I have no problem taking responsibility for what happens if we leave Iraq today. The real question is, will he and the rest of his buddies who voted for the war take responsibility fore getting us into this mess in the first place. You can't just say we maid a mistake, now we're stuck. If your car gets stuck in mud, you don't just hit the accelerator and hope for the best. You reassess the situation and find a new solution for getting out of the mud.

Lets also not forget the Iraqis in all of this. It's their country as well and they must take responsibility once we leave. The country will not be able to heal overnight from the wound we have inflicted on it. There may be a continuing civil war after we leave. But how is our presence helping at all. Our troops are just targets. Once they are out of the picture, the nationals fighting us will move on to fighting the other foreign invaders, such as Al Qaeda.

We tried to stay the course in Vietnam and look how that turned out. We finally took responsibility for our failure and got our asses out of there. Did Vietnam turn into a utopia after we left? Obviously not. But, both sides were better off once the conflict was over.

The invasion was a mistake and those responsible should understand the consequences of their actions. Everyday we stay there more and more people die because of those actions and for what? What noble cause is this all for? I hope one day those of you who caused, including you Bob, realize what you've done and try to make it right. For now, I'll take responsibility for my actions and continue to try and get our troops home.