A Lose/Lose-Lose/Lose Situation

Undoubtedly the biggest debate we have in this country right now is the war in Iraq. I obviously know why. Some people think we should carry through with our plans, support our troops and our president, and make our opponents eat our dust for hindering the hope of a democratic government in the Middle East. Others believe that every day we keep troops there we are losing more and more American lives, because of the president’s bad decision to exact revenge on the enemy of his father. Or whatever.
The point of me writing this has nothing to do with what is right or what is wrong, or what we should do when we NEED to arrive at a decision about this matter. The time WILL inevitably come, but that’s not why I am writing this.
I write this to make a few things clear that I think are somewhat muddy in the eyes of this nation. It first occurred to me the other day when I was driving and saw a bumper sticker that said “Bush knew about 9/11 and did NOTHING!”. Now, with my realization that the war in Iraq is not connected to the terrorist attack by Al Qaeda, I say this only to make a hypothetical point. I was seeing this person with the anti-Bush, anti-war bumper stickers now and picturing what would be there had we NOT gone to war with Iraq.
Now first of all, we need to bring up the fact that both Democrats and Republicans thought it would be a good idea to invade Iraq at the time. With the information that was given about the possible weapons of mass destruction, there were very few opposed to it. It seemed that there was a possibility that the United States could suffer another blow from a foreign country, like Iraq, and no one was ready for another 9/11; not in a million years.
I pictured this car, after not going to Iraq and after another attack on the US, having a bumper sticker that said “Bush knew about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and did NOTHING!” It seems just so likely that the same person could have an anti-Bush sticker if we went to war, and an anti-Bush sticker if they didn’t go to war. Why is this? Is it because this person is a hypocrite? Or an unreasonable pessimist? Or could this person just disagree with everything that is done no matter what it is? I don’t think so.
I think this person would really feel that way, and could justify both views. How is that possible?
We, as a nation, have been put in a lose/lose-lose/lose situation. That’s how. It was a lose/lose situation going into Iraq. It’s a lose/lose situation coming out. If we didn’t go in, we could’ve ended up with another 9/11 like attack in our country. If we do go in, well, we know what happens.
If we don’t leave, our soldiers die in what seems to be a useless battle. If we do leave, we lose everything we’ve fought for, seeming to have no respect for those that gave their lives for the cause already.
I don’t know if anyone will actually accept this view because we need to blame someone for all this dying and destruction going on. It is so easy to blame Bush and call him stupid (and make fun of his ears). It’s so easy to blame the Republicans for supporting the war and death, and so easy to blame the Democrats for their lack of nationalism and support for the troops, who are fighting so hard to keep our nation safe and free the poor Iraqis.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t give our opinion about what we should do about the war, afterall, we need to do something. I’m just saying, let’s stop blaming each other and try to make some progress.
If we need someone to blame, (which I believe we do) let’s blame the people in this world that put us in this predicament. Let’s blame the terrorists; the terrorists of Afghanastan and Iraq and Iran and the United States and wherever else they exist. Let’s blame the evil ways of Saddam Hussein and the terror and destruction he brought to his very own country. Nothing we arrive at will work perfectly, it can’t. It’s another lose/lose situation from here, but let’s stop splitting our nation into a segregated Venn Diagram of Blue Democrats and Red Republicans. Let’s find some sort of Purple area and move on. We need to stop destroying our nation from the inside out and build our nation up towards something productive.