Sunday, August 03, 2008

War of words, a word on war


Let's cut the bullshit on 'what the Left believes about war'. While there are pacifists aplenty in our ranks, we do not all subscribe to 'a peaceful solution at all costs' thinking.

Because there are plenty of us who are individuals (that's what going against the status quo requires), we have different beliefs and varying perceptions on how the world is constructed

and of who the enemy is.

I am bemused at the Right's attempt to categorise left wingers as all of one bloc, just because they form allegiances against one prevailing ethic or another. What do the atheist right think they are doing when they get into bed with the evangelical Christian, how does the fiscal conservative reconcile the reckless spending that characterises their Party in power? If anything, the Right are far more inclined to vote as one, despite their differences, and this has long been known to electoral analysts who see the mainstream Left's vote being eroded by a lack of support by the various anarchists, left libertarians, socialists and so forth who either vote for a minority party or refuse to vote at all.


II

I can't speak for every liberal or anti-capitalist, but I opposed the Iraq War in particular because I thought the reason for going in was flawed - and severely ethically suspect, given that the same men responsible for going in hard were the same who were propping up Saddam Hussein and supplying him with weapons.
Compare this with another war under the present administration: the routing of the Taliban in Afghanistan. This really was taking the fight to the enemy and I have no problem with it (so much for 'you lefties just oppose all war').
When you've got the weapons inspectors telling you there are none and you go in anyway, you're asking for karma to bite you on the ass. And that's exactly what happened. But rather than being big men - like they claim they are - and admit their mistakes, they keep making excuses and even claiming a premature victory, as if the act of stating something makes it so.

The protesters were right, not with the benefit of hindsight but with the benefit of foresight. Until the Right stops being mealy-mouthed cowards and admits that, they're pissing in the wind.

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