How much do you owe?

There seems to be a large percentage of Americans and legislators who believe that America should no longer maintain troops in Iraq. Due to the frightening incompetence of the current administration and the American public that put it in power, the quick overthrow of Saddam Hussein has only resulted in chaos, violence and terror in much of Iraq. Only recently has a belated American conscience led to a call for change. Many of those who rightfully opposed a military invasion of Iraq back in 2003 now feel vindicated in the president's inability to "spread democracy" as Stalin had once hoped to spread communism; though this time with corporate sponsorship. Others, those that had been duped or who had chosen in hopefulness to ignore the obvious, now turn their reactionary backs on their once beloved decider. And, of course, there are those who defy reason and intelligence and believe this has been a noble effort all along, who blame the negative media attention for putting our soldiers in danger.

Democratic legislators hope that their late interest in oversight of the executive branch can erase their five year sloth and patriotic knee jerking. By baptizing themselves in the renewing waters of bombastic oratory, they believe, most likely correctly, that the forgetful American public will turn toward them in averting their gaze in embarrassment of the excesses of the least popular presidency since Richard Nixon (no slouch in excesses himself). The voting public will indeed forgive congress' fecklessness in shirking their duty to to preserve democracy in the homeland. And the public will expect these born again legislators to end this war with the same zeal they expected Bush's army to kick ass.

That this was an immoral war carried out with childlike ardor by incompetents there is no question. The premise of the war was a frightening but wholly created fairytale, the ensuing occupation has been a gyre of corruption, hubris, crime, ignorance and profiteering, and it has all been led by an executive smugly dedicated to torture and the elimination of civil liberties and due process.

And yet there are people living in the formerly functioning state of Iraq. A people to whom the American public (all of us, I'm afraid, not just the Bushies) needs to make reparations. It would be easy for the right to claim that tab was paid with the removal of the machinery of the dictatorship that had haunted them more than a generation. And it would be easy for the left (or some of it) to say, "I tried to stop it, I didn't vote for these guys, I protested, I wrote my representatives and senators and they waged war anyway, in spite of my protest, so I am not responsible. Lets get those kids out of there." The argument of the right is easily dismissed in light of their inability to replace said dictatorship with anything resembling order, peace, stability, etc. As for the argument of the left: too bad. This is democracy, and sometimes the deciders aren't chosen by us and sometimes they have the aptitude of a dancing monkey. But they make the decisions that represent us and we have to live with them, and fix them if necessary. The subjects of Louis XIV may not have been responsible for the wars being fought by France, but our guy does not rule by divine right (despite pervasive beliefs). We are all responsible for the mess in Iraq. All of us.

We, the people of the United States of America, have a moral obligation, as well as an incentive, to make every sacrifice necessary to undo the mess the current administration has made of the Mesopotamian state and give the people of Iraq, at the very least, the standard of living and order enjoyed before the destabilizing effects of the invasion and subsequent occupation. Does this mean a continued occupation as well as the expectation that American servicemen and women will continue to give their lives? It may, but I don't think so. If it does, there should be a draft. But it shouldn't. It defies reason to believe that continuing more of the same will produce better results. However the mess is undone, it must be done with oversight. Strong oversight. Perhaps by outsiders. Maybe the French. It will have to be done with skepticism and pragmatism rather than through the lens of ideology. And it will have to paid for with American tax dollars--lots of them (which will mean repealing those tax cuts). It will have to be done with great amounts of diplomacy (even with so called terrorists) and with the help of Iraq's neighbors (even the ones we don't like). And finally, it will take years, maybe decades, of determination. From all of us. Because that, my friends, is what democracy is all about. The deciders fuck up all the time. And sometimes they are down right evil. But they're our deciders, and we've got pick up after them when they are done.
And then put 'em in jail. That would rock.