Dear you,

Please read this post, even though you make a habit of skipping what I have to say on the war.

I've written before in this space that "this will probably be my last Iraq post." It's an erroneous but sincere expression of my frustration with what is going on with America. Like Alan Shore (Boston Legal), I too thought outrage would ensue when the WMDs that everybody thought were in Iraq (everybody but the military, the inspectors, and the rest of NATO) were not. I expected people to care where forged documents and flat out false claims in Bush's State of the Union came from, and why the administration repeatedly lied to the public about the risks posed by Iraq to our country. I was sure that news of torture by US soldiers, of 30,000 civilians killed, of no stop to American casualties — these would be unacceptable to the public. Unauthorized wiretapping on thousands of Americans, a directionless war on a noun, prisoners held without trial, and hundreds of billions of dollars spent on somebody else's country — surely we've had enough. And yet, the loyalists keep beating their drum. First it was to the tune of taking Baghdad. Then to fixing the water. Getting Saddam. A constitution. Elections. Forming government. Have you noticed yet that it's not working?

(For all my frustration, I have to share with you that I'm very happy that I vocally opposed the war before it began. I haven't done enough to influence things, but I have tried my darndest to convince you that it was wrong. I've done this with blogs, debates, email discussions, lunches, telephone calls, contributions to antiwar publicity, and letters to my representatives. I know I can do more. But I am at peace with not supporting the many thousands of deaths that have been caused because of this war. And yes, it is my right to take this soapbox. I chose the higher moral ground. This isn't pride, it's truth. I want you to join me up here.)

As for you, it's time to stop droning, and start getting mad. The war was wrong to begin with. You insist that we couldn't have known better, but I'll forgo the history lesson, but let Charley gloat. You were wrong. You are still wrong. It really is high time to not only admit the fact, but give some rethinking to the direction, because the present one is not working. You too can read the daily events on the matter. Your cable news program may not be covering them, but they are happening. And they beg that you abandon your indifference. We are guilty of wrongdoing. You need to start to try to reverse it, as I have.

What would you say to actually listening to the folks who knew it was wrong to start with? There really are those who have predicted every step of this Project, you know, and been spot on. People like Justin Raimondo and Pat Buchanan, who this week give us more glimpses at what is to come. Go on, have a peak. Allow the ever-changing goals and constantly rotating bad guys (at least as far as who the administration tells us is the enemy) to generate some puzzlement, and wonder why we're doing this. Wonder why thousands of our finest are dying for this region that does not want us. Wonder why gobs of our tax dollars are going to building projects that aren't ours. Why we're losing focus on strengthening education and innovation back home, where we are quickly falling behind, all while trying to get Iraq on its feet. Why the people we "liberate" want to execute a convert to Christianity. How 9/11 got us into Iraq in the first place. Why we think that the Middle East's problems are our problems. Why the world increasingly despises us. Worthy questions. Ask them!

And pray tell, you, what is patriotic, logical, or humane about the present endeavor? Nada. It's a downright shame. Patriotism is allegiance to a Constitution, a separation of powers, a Bill of Rights. Not a president or a party. Take a page from Eric Haney, founder of the Army's Delta Force, when asked for his take on Iraq:

Utter debacle. But it had to be from the very first. The reasons were wrong. The reasons of this administration for taking this nation to war were not what they stated. [Army Gen.] Tommy Franks was brow-beaten and pursued warfare that he knew strategically was wrong in the long term. That's why he retired immediately afterward. His own staff could tell him what was going to happen afterward. We have fomented civil war in Iraq. We have probably fomented internecine war in the Muslim world between the Shias and the Sunnis, and I think Bush may well have started the third world war, all for their own personal policies.

See? You can support the troops and not support the war. So stop supporting it. The sooner you decide that it was wrong, and that it is still wrong, the sooner you too can view the current events with a conscience clean of the future blood to be spilt. We both paid for this war. But some of us chose to err on the side of not killing innocent people. When push comes to shove, that's always a safe bet. And, of course, it's usually not — nor was it this time — an error at all. Remember that, next time. And learn it already this one.