Macro Thinking

Go read this, and then come back.

I'm going to have to tread lightly and put some disclaimers in up front. But, I do have a point of view to share on this.

Had he lived just two weeks longer, Francis would have seen yesterday's culmination of everything for which he sacrificed, fought, prayed and died. He was 21.

Any way you look at it, the death of a 21 year old is a tragedy. I feel for every last soldier serving in Iraq. I feel for those killed, those wounded, and those putting their lives on hold to serve in any capacity. That's why I write so much about it and why I'm so concerned about the reasons behind the war, and the conduct of it.

"He died for freedom," Francis' uncle, Kingsley Obaji, told me unwaveringly.

"He died doing what he believed in," said Kingsley.

"He was one of thousands of men and women who collectively made a difference in Iraq. There is no doubt in my mind.

"He died fighting for freedom. He believed in freedom."

Is it possible for me to write about this without being offensive to his family members feelings? I don't want to tell them they're wrong. I believe it's natural for a family member to try and find meaning beyond just death for someone so young. It could be unbearable otherwise.

But.. and I'm hemming and hawing here, I do have a few points to make.

The United States has never gone to war to liberate an oppressed people. That is what Iraq has turned in to. There were no WMD's, there was no link to Al-Qaida, there was no threat to the security of the United States. The purpose of the war has turned into the sole mission of deposing a sovereign ruler, "freeing" an oppressed people, and establishing democracy in Iraq.

I ask anybody; Are those our ideals now? Is the life of that 21 year old worth that? If somebody told that young man he was dying for the "freedom" of the Iraqi people instead of the defense of the United States, would he still have gone to war? It seems from those quotes that the soldiers family takes comfort in knowing that he died for those reasons, instead of it being senseless.

The weight of the answers to those questions is enormous. There are people worse oppressed in this world than the Iraqis. Do we now invade Iran, or North Korea? Based on the Iraq principle, are we willing to have all these dead and wounded soldiers resulting from humanitarian missions?

What about the Sudan? What about any number of African nations that are torn by civil war?

"He suffered very much on 9/11, like so many others. He knew he was lucky he didn't die," his uncle told them. "He had to help humanity. To stop terrorism worldwide."

I am conflicted that his uncle takes solace in a fallacy. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Iraq had fewer terrorists in their country in the days before 9/11 than the United States did.

"We pray and hope the election will come out a success," Cyril told me. "Then, Francis' death will not have been in vain."

As I've pointed out before, South Vietnam held elections, very similar to what we've seen in Iraq, prior to it's collapse to the north. So what did the election in Iraq result in? It is in the process of resulting in an Iranian style theocracy. Read here:

Al-Hakim, a Shiite cleric with close ties to Iran, said his United Iraqi Alliance had "a group of suitable candidates" for the post of prime minister, suggesting that his faction would not be interested in supporting a compromise candidate from outside their ranks.

So what we see brewing in Iraq is a theocratic government with ties to a country (Iran) that -really- does support terrorism and has nuclear weapons. Did we expect that the Iraqi people would elect pro-American leaders? Did we expect that all of a sudden, our countries would be great friends, and transform the middle east?

We gave the Iraqis a choice, and they chose religious fundamentalists of the very same sort that exhort people to terrorism. Nice going.

Now.. is anybody going to explain any of this to the family of the 21 year old man who died for that? Would anyone tell them that their "big picture" grasp is totally missing the small details that make their loved one's death more tragic then they can imagine? If he knew that's why he was there, would he had gone anyway? Would you?

Call me selfish - but I'm not trading my life for that. There had better be a hell of a lot better reasons.

- UPDATE -

From Corrente we find Iraq has had elections, as recently as 1954. Apparently it didn't go so well.

Sunday's vote has been painted as Iraq's introduction to democracy, but elections were held under British control, too. Some older Iraqis may have even participated in the 1954 elections, considered relatively free by some historians.

But the majority of Iraq's old parliamentary elections would not pass today's Western standards, and regardless of how fair the polls were, there was no hope for a true representative democracy in a country controlled by Britain.

"The historical memory (Iraqis) have of democracy is of weak governments that were beholden to the British," said Vali Nasr, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.
"Once there were elections, the British tried to get the governments that they would like," said Nasr. "That ended up completely destroying democracy in Iraq."