Musings 11--Bush may have been right...ahhh!

I have to agree with Mark Brown, columnist for the Chicago-Sun Times, George Bush may have had more foresight than I gave him credit. So, I guess, I'm giving the devil his due.

I still think that Mr. President fudged his facts about WMD's and nuclear clouds. I think, even if his intelligence was wrong, one needs to approach such things as regime change with caution. I'm even glad that Saddam is gone. However, I still stand on the idea that the expenditure of treasure of American lives should only be in defense of our freedom. It is still hard for me to get my mind around the doctrine of preemption. Americans should not start wars...they should finish them. Yeah, I know, you say, the world changed on 9-11. Well, maybe...but, probably not.

The thing I worrry about is the powers that be who now have an existing example of what American might can do. I worry about corruption, because power corrupts, and we are the undisputed power in the world. Plus, did the world really change on 9-11. Muslim extremists hated us before, and they still hate us. What really changed, other than the large loss of life and economic damage, when the towers fell? Maybe I'm missing it. I'm one of the few who felt that it was a police action all along. Mr. President thought differently. One of us is wrong...for sure. Time will tell. If I'm wrong, I'll admit it. If Mr. President is wrong...he won't. That's the difference between he and I.

But, for now, I hope the people in Iraq will build on their democratic start. If there radical leaders were really smart, they would embrace the new system and corrupt it from the inside...like our representatives do. Now there's a thought!

On a brighter note:

It seems that Congress is going to finally give our soldiers better death benefits and insurance. Minimum seems to be about $100,000 up to $250,000. This will be retroactive before the first death occurred in Afganistan. It's amazing what shining a light on something can accomplish.

And also:

Lt. Col. Pat Ward is taking Geraldo Rivera around as he reports on the war in Iraq. It a dirty job and someone has to do it--I stole that line. Yer, looking good buddy...