My Way Or The Highway

I know I shouldn't bother reading the Murdoch press, but today I came across this quote by reporter Greg Sheridan in "The Australian" newspaper:

"Anyone hoping that the Americans suffer a humiliating defeat in Iraq to bring them back to earth is really hoping that Arabs remain forever chained in tyranny, poverty and failure."

I am so tired of hearing that crap. You are with us or you are against us. If you don't support our illegal war, you support dictators and terrorists. If you don't support Bush's tax cuts for the mega-rich, then you wish Saddam was still in power, don't you? If you don't vote for right-wing extremists, you must be a gay, tree-hugging, anti-life liberal fool who sips caffe lattes in art deco bars while drawing welfare.

Do the press and politicians think we are all so dumb that we can only swallow "either-or" propositions? Why is it necessary to demonize anyone who disagrees with your ideas?

I don't want to see the US suffer a "humiliating defeat". But withdrawal from Iraq doesn't necessarily have to equal a US defeat (that is once again an "either-or" proposition).

If Bush pulled out now, he could legitimately claim to have (A) gotten rid of Saddam (unless he comes back) and (B) given the Iraqi people a chance for freedom, if they want it. He could also claim that Iraq is now free of WMDs, whether or not it was before the war. But he wouldn't be able to keep his hands on the oil, and he probably wouldn't be able to keep a US military base in Iraq, so of course he won't do it.

I would like to see the US withdraw quickly and efficiently, with no further loss of life. I would like to see brave Iraqis seizing a real chance at a truly independent democracy. Sure, a quick US withdrawal now will create a struggle for the Iraqis, but at least it will be their own struggle for their own futures.

In an AlterNet interview, New York Times journalist Paul Krugman, a moderately conservative economist who has become a leading critic of the Bush administration, goes into more depth about how Bush and Co. exploit this "either-or" over-simplification.