The Chaff

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Wednesday, August 11th, 2004

See me after class

I remember the night George W. Bush announced that we were sending troops into Iraq. I was driving home from work, and the news that there would be a speech that night came on the radio. I felt the hope drain out of me, and I had to blink back the tears just to make it home without having an accident. I knew what he was going to say.

I’d known it for a while, but I’d managed not to consciously admit it to myself. The clues were there, though, that we were going to war no matter what Saddam Hussein did or didn’t do. I didn’t have any special knowledge or anything, but the arguments buzzed my bullshit meter pretty loudly. The logic just didn’t work, the reasoning wasn’t followed through–everyone in the administration sounded like one of my developmental writing students trying to bluff their way through an argumentative essay.

WMDs? Hm…vague definition, keeps changing, and it applies more to Iran and Pakistan than Iraq.

Saddam “hasn’t proven he doesn’t have them”? Can’t prove a negative proposition. It’s not logically possible. You have to restate it as a positive proposition.

“We know he has them and we know where they are.” Um…okay, so why don’t we tell Hans Blix? I’m sure he’ll be interested. And he’s asking.

“Inspections don’t work–Saddam can hide the weapons from the inspectors.” But “we know where they are”? Seems contradictory without further explanation.

“Saddam supports terrorists; he provides payments to families of Palestinian suicide bombers.” Like it or not, lots of Arab nations do that. If this is a cause for war, Iraq will have to stand in line. And, like it or not, Palestinian suicide bombers are not really a threat to us.

“Saddam had links to Al-Queda.” But not as many links as Saudi Arabia, Afganistan, and Pakistan. How many of these nations did we take out first?

“Saddam is a brutal dictator who kills/abuses his own people.” Again, this is not a condition unique to Saddam. How does he rate special treatment?

Nice start, but the ideas aren’t fleshed out, and the argument isn’t very strong. Add more details, tighten up the logic, and address the counter arguments. C-.

By the time I actually saw the speech itself, the whole thing already felt wrong. We were going to war, and the stated reasons were unconvincing. The sea change had happened. America had crossed the line: we weren’t the good guys anymore.

I cried that night. I hear that Bush pumped his fist and said it felt good.

Fucker.

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