The Unbreakable Wall

Last night a couple PBA members, including myself, were up for a discussion in the comments of this post: Military Families Trust Bush

It was a fairly productive discussion for awhile. He was defensive and was desperate to defend his president, but our points were solid. Then came the kicker. I see it as the fundamental barrier, the wall that divides this country in half, the point where I feel like I'm no longer talking to a human being. I'm stuck. I walk away in complete disbelief knowing there is nothing I can say. I've been talking to a robot, no humanity, no empathy, just some kind of pride I cannot comprehend. I search my brain for anything Lakoff may have said that would help me understand. It's not there.
When he wrote the following lines, I saw no sense in continuing.

Really, what is your objection to our invasion of Iraq? Is it because we rid the world of a brutal dictator? Do you hate the fact that we liberated millions of people? Does it tick you off that Uday Hussein doesn't get to shred people any more? Because it seems like you're going to great lenghts to stretch and spin this issue into something you can use against the President.

We made a mistake about the WMD's. Got it? Everybody knows that now. But it worked out ok. Afghanistan just had elections. Iraq is on its way there. Our action in Iraq scared Libya into giving up its WMD's. Once Iraq and Afghanistan get a decade or so of freedom under their belts they are going to be powerful allies in the continuing efforts to wrest control of the middle-east from the stoneage tyrants who control it now.

There will be less terrorism in the world because Saddam Hussein and his rogue state of Iraq is no longer around to provide aid and safe harbor to the terrorists. That is a cold, hard fact. Anybody saying otherwise is in denial.

So feel free cherry pick quotes from the President's statements about the war in Iraq. Engage in all the conspiracy theories you want. You're wasing your time. The truth of the matter is that we accomplished something great in Iraq and in Afghanistan. If you don't want to recognize that because of petty, partisan bickering than be my guest. Personally, I'll be taking pride in what my countrymen and women have achived in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will take comfort in the knowledge that the actions there have made my life that much safer.

How do I tell someone that I hate the fact that we needlessly killed tens of thousands of innocent people, maimed many others, tore their country to shreds, left a vast wasteland of depleted uranium and land mines that will make their country unsafe for decades and has become a new breeding ground for terrorists who have lost everything because they see little hope. Hussein was ready to deal just before we invaded. We ignored it. The possibility that he would have sought refuge somewhere else was within our grasp but we let it slip by. As we already proved to this writer, we knew there were no WMD's before we went in. It wasn't a mistake.
It was a blatant display of shock and awe. Now our soldiers are dying trying to clean up a mess. They are not happy about it. They do not, by any stretch of the imagination, trust the guy who sent them there.

I just can't grasp the polarity. I can't break that wall because I do not understand it. It would have been a waste of my time furthering the discussion. This is what we have to overcome. Ideas? posted by Cyndy | link | | |
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