Opening Pandora's Box

As an unapologetic Democrat and liberal, I see Joe Lieberman as a traitor to the cause. While it is true that if he chooses to caucus with the Republicans he will tip the balance of power in the Senate back in the direction it once was, what I find most deplorable is the hypocritical two-step he seems to be dancing at the moment.

EDIT: Thanks to some sharp-eyed readers at Daily Kos, I came to understand that the balance of power in the Senate cannot be shifted back to Republican control, based on new rules set forth by the Senate in the past few months.

Lieberman escalates attacks on Iraq Critics

I do not agree with his assertion that the Democratic party is merely the anti-Bush party. It has tried to end this conflict through diplomatic action, but the President has put his foot down. Furthermore, the more stubborn Bush is, the more he tears apart the Republican party. If Bush would agree to pull our troops out of Iraq in the next several months, the Democrats would lose a key position issue that so far has kept them in the good graces of the majority of the American people.

I cannot in good conscience support a war that was based on false pretenses and outright fabrications. If we get out now, then yes, I agree Iraq will fall into utter chaos, but it’s imploding right now and our brave men and women are getting killed and wounded.

We couldn’t win a civil war against the Viet Cong and we can’t make Shiites and Sunnis get along, either. We may have opened Pandora’s Box and my fear is that we merely have created the perfect pretext for an all out war in the Middle East: Iran on the side of the Shiites and Saudi Arabia on the side of the Sunnis. Already a war by proxy is being fought in Iraq. Perhaps all-out conflict was inevitable, but neither was it fair for us to expedite the process.

What I am almost dismayed to learn is that we have plans to give billions of dollars of military aid to Saudi Arabia. This is despite the fact that most of the 11 September hijackers were Saudis, as is Osama Bin Laden. This is despite the fact that the only reasons the Saudis even tolerate us is because we bankroll their economy by relying so heavily on their crude oil supplies. In addition,we gave even more military aid to Israel.

We are playing a dangerous game.

As much as I consider myself to be the anti-capitalist, I think the only way we can avoid an all-out conflageration is if we expand capitalism throughout the Middle East. So long as these nations have a piece of the pie, they will not spawn terrorists in great numbers. The only way to do this is to allow Middle Eastern nations the ability to develop a middle class. (This is in contrast to our country, whose middle class is shrinking. Maybe they can learn a thing from Russia or China). Nonetheless, the disparities betweens the Haves and Have-Nots in the Middle East is marked.

Furthermore, if indeed Hillary Clinton (or a Democrat) wins the White House, I am not unconvinced that terrorists will launch another attack on our shores just to test his/her will. It may not be to the scale of 11 September. It may be a dirty bomb or something similar. If that occurs, I believe that we would then have no choice but to start another war. I'm not entirely convinced that the nuclear option won't be at least put on the table.

War with whom or against whom, I do not know. But if war is inevitable, may we learn from the lessons of Iraq and wage a war merely to protect our interests and not to colonize.

The hard truth is that Saudi Arabia is not our ally, and neither is Israel. I think that increasingly, in an era of terrorism, we need to resort to isolationism and self-reliance, else we find ourselves forever mired in the chaos that I see as the Middle East in the foreseeable future.

As many have stated, wealth alone is not enough to curb terrorism. Indeed, the latest batch of UK terrorists were well-educated, wealthy doctors.

But the key is for Islam to reform itself and curtail its radicals. That's what we're all hoping. I’m not sure there’s anything any outside nation can do. I take the approach that we ought to just cut ties with the region and let them go on their merry way, blowing themselves to bits.

That may sound inhumane and cruel, but it may be the only solution that makes any sense.

I'll be honest with you, dear readers. As more and more countries obtain the bomb and as the Middle East continues to remain unstable, there are days when I wonder if we aren't going to end up destroying ourselves through nuclear action. Admittedly, that is a very bleak, doomsday scenario but I think it's increasingly plausible.

h/t Nate Nelson