Hmm. There's a war going on, they say.

Since these blogs are supposed to be a place in which people spout off about events like war and international relations, etc., I'm going to put my two cents in.

I don't think this war is necessary, especially this war. I would characterize the American lead-up to this war as something of a diplomatic fiasco. As has been said a million times on a million blogs, when you lose a propaganda war with Saddam Hussein, you know you've screwed up. And maybe that's an exaggeration, but in the past few months we've seen worldwide protests the likes of which I have never seen. Granted, I'm very young. But it does seem that the Bush administration has managed to reinforce every cliche of the Ugly American.

It should have been easy to generate support for the ouster of Saddam, who is a genuinely bad man. But Bush and co. failed to do this. As I am not, not have I ever been, a fan of George W. Bush, I perhaps lack the objectivity to determine why the administration failed to generate a meaningfully large coalition, but I can tell you why I wasn't sold on this war.
I do not trust Bush. I never felt that his motives were genuine, for this war and in general. But I think that I could have been persuaded if presented with credible and honest evidence that the Iraqi regime not only had WMDs, but was capable of delivering them in such a way that would seriously endanger Americans and the world in general. I would also have liked to be convinced that Saddam had a credible intention of attacking American interests any time soon.

But I was not persuaded. There were no smoking guns. As far as I know, there still aren't. And much of the supposed evidence provided or acknowledged by the administration has turned out not to be credible, and in certain circumstances to be forged or plagiarized.

Then there are other reasons that I have heard, though don't necessarily agree with including the whole neoconservative masterplan angle and Bushco's extensive relationships in the oil and oil services industries.

From my persepective, I can't say how well the war is going. It doesn't look it's going to be an easy war for the allied forces, and it definitely doesn't look like it's going to be an easy war for the Iraqis. (by which I mean Iraqi military regulars, irregular forces, and civilians) I sincerely hope the war is short and considerably less bloody as certain former U.S. Generals seem to think it may become. I hope Saddam and the whole Baathist regime is succesfully removed from power and that a free society can bloom in Iraq. But I question whether this war was really the only way to have accomplished that result, or the best.

I wish the allied forces and the Iraqi people luck. I wish the people of Iraq justice and peace.