It's Our Own Fault

Reading Riverbend's sorrowful blog post yesterday, I was impelled to send her an email saying I am sorry. Then I thought, wait a minute, why should I feel sorry? I opposed the war from the start, I've been writing, posting, emailing and blogging relentlessly (if somewhat ineffectively) against the war, and I have even had several anti-war letters published in national newspapers. But I am sorry, and there's no avoiding it.

I'm sorry that my own country, Australia, is participating in the horror that creates a daily misery for Riverbend, her family and other Iraqis. I'm sorry that I didn't do more to stop this tragic war before it even began to start. I'm sorry and ashamed that my fellow Australians just don't care enough to even find out the truth about this war, which is being waged in our name with our money. I'm sorry, Riverbend. I'm sorry.

Like it or not, this war is our fault. Those pictures shame all of us, not just the warmongers. They shame the very foundations of the eroding democratic values that our leaders claim as the justification for this mad, illegal war.

The relentless Margot Kingston drives the point home today with another great, insightful article:

"John Howard is a weak man, the worst possible leader of Australia in an era with potentially catastrophic consequences for the West and what we stand for.

Strong men encourage dissent from people of good faith with expertise, not silence it. Strong men are unafraid to say no to close friends (in this case America, when it was obvious President George Bush's decision to invade Iraq would mean disaster for America, and potentially for Australia).

And strong men, if they make a decision they believe to be right but which is unpopular, seek to persuade their people of the rightness of the cause, not avoid the issue until there is no choice...

Bush has spent more than $100 billion on this war so far. Imagine what could be done for Americans, and the world, with that amount of money. Imagine how a president with brains and courage could have united the Western world and moderate Muslims against Islamic extremism, and reduced the West's dependence on the oil that drives our persecution of Iraq?

And imagine if Tony Blair and Howard had had the courage to say no to an idiot President advised by mad ideologues like Rumsfeld. Maybe, just maybe, the American people would not have fallen for the lies Bush told over the 3000 bodies of American citizens on September 11. Maybe, just maybe, the civilised world would be united against the enemy, and be attracting to our cause the people who the enemy is trying to recruit, instead of forcing them to join the other side...

You know how they get away with it? Because we, the people, let them. In the end, Bush, Blair and Howard invaded Iraq because our democracies were not strong enough to stop them. Blame politicians, blame the media and blame ourselves. The question for all of us, after we purge Australia of this weak, amoral excuse for a leader, is to work out how we can ensure we never let any "leader" do this to us again. "