The Young Turks

A perpetuation of unilateral military aggression is a terrorist's greatest recruiting tool. The Muslim population is more susceptible to the propaganda of extremists. We have not subdued the terrorists; we have made them stronger. This endangers the safety of Americans at home, as it makes the occurrence of terrorist attacks much more likely.

We then find ourselves in a moral dilemma; the longer we pursue such an agenda, the more we squander what's left of international good will, and the more dangerous of a world we live in. We have committed the citizens of America to a foolish blood pact that trades American lives for that of Muslims. This is a Faustian deal that I, and a majority of Americans are, very uncomfortable with.

Lest us not forget America's sustained relations with Hussein's murderous regime in the past and the continued relationship we've maintained with an undemocratically elected military dictator, the good ol' general in Pakistan. So, as we subvert civil liberties of "unregistered enemy combatants" here, suspend due process of law, intrude on the privacy rights afforded to all Americans by the Constitution, the notion that we can somehow exercise moral authority and impose democracy on a sovereign country, the concept of war being inherently undemocratic, is laughable.

Furthermore, the initial assertion of WMDs has since proven to be false. We must deal with the reality of the situation on the ground, and not wild speculation of what could have been. I guarantee, if even the slightest evidence of WMD was found, our administration would be reminding us of it on a daily basis. Also, the premise that Al-Qaeda was supported by the Hussein regime is equally absurd, as it is common knowledge that Hussein silenced all political dissidents that subverted his authority, and the aforementioned terrorist groups was one of them.

The only viable argument left to defend our continued occupation of Iraq is that it is in America's best interest to establish a democracy in the Middle East. I must disagree with this contention. The Shi'ite majority of Iraq now in power, who were kept in check by the murderous Hussein regime, have already cozied up with Iran, also led under Shi'ite leadership. This undermines the balance of power that we have been so carefully maintaining in the Middle East for the last forty years.

Also, if one would bother to understand, not sympathize with, but merely understand, the main complaint of the terrorists is the continued interference of America in foreign affairs involving Israel and the Middle East. Permanent military bases in Iraq, as McCain suggests, would only exacerbate such a problem, and inflame the anti-American sentiments steadily gaining traction among more moderate elements of the Muslim populace at large.

And lastly, we have no moral authority to impose our concept of governance, no matter how superior we believe it to be, on that of another sovereign nation. This rhetoric reeks of the colonialist concept of the white man's burden and the plight of the noble savage, so it is of no surprise that prominent neocons like the detestable Dinesh D'Souza have recently come forward with articles promoting a 21st century imperialist revival. I am of the belief that it is America's responsibility, as the world's only remaining superpower, to encourage democracy throughout the world. But military action is the least expedient and most immoral way of doing so.

Such behavior is best abandoned with the other racist absurdities of the early 20th century. Colonialism is a polite way of saying exploitation, and what continues in Iraq is such exploitation of Iraq's natural resources, geopolitical position, and dire situation, all for the benefit of PMCs like Black Water and the military industrial complex (Halliburton and its KBR subsidiary, for example,) that have dictated our foreign policy for far too long.