Together again!

So here we are. The left and the right are all pretty much in agreement that Iraq is a mess. The Iraq Study Group has issued their report and it seems we have given up. This is a victory for our enemy, no doubt.

So both sides have traveled different paths and we find ourselves at the same place. The right has tried and failed to bring peace and democracy to Iraq in the hope of changing the fate of the entire region. The idea being the same as taking a horrible tasting medicine to cure a steadily worsening illness. Had we been successful, a peaceful democratic Iraq would have been a very helpful ally in bringing the rest of the middle east into the current century and into the community of nations.

The left, on the other hand, tried and succeded in playing politics. They never wanted the Bush administration to succeed. There was never any real support from the left or its military wing: the mainstream press. I wonder how many cocktail parties are being thrown this weekend in New York and San Francisco celebrating the "defeat" of Bush? Of course this also means that America has lost, but I guess that's less important than getting Democrats elected.

That sounds pretty bitter but there it is. All sweetness and light on the one hand and all evil on the other. I realize that things are never really this cut-and-dried, but the exact opposite is how people on the left describe the situation back to me.

Bush and his rich cronies knew in advance about the 9/11 attacks. They took advantage of the situation to whip the American people into a war mongering frenzy. They ginned up fake evidence of WMDs in Iraq and lied to the English and to the American people to get them to go along with the invasion. This was all so they could get the oil in Iraq, to make themselves richer. And get revenge for the failed attempt to kill Bush's daddy. And to place our military in an advantageous position for further invasions of innocent, peace-loving middle eastern nations. God those Republicans are evil bastards.

I have heard this crap so often, from so many different people, and they believe it. So when I say the radical left is happy we lost, and that the media actively helped create this situation, why is THAT such an unbelievable notion? Are the selfish and cynical restricted only to one side?

So let's get out of Iraq. The left doesn't want to win and the right doesn't know how. Again, the Soldier is stuck in the middle.