David Brooks puts his head up his...well, I'll just say he's doing something anatomically impossible...

Link.

Let's make this clear. The war was NOT about what a vicious, evil, horrible guy Saddam Hussein was/is/always will be till we find him and shoot him. If it was, we'd have to begin wars all over the planet if we want to save everyone who suffers under political repression. Between the former Soviet Republics, most of Asia, large swaths of Africa, Central and South America--hell, just about everywhere except Antarctica--there are egregious human rights violations. Hell, if Brooks is so upset about public decapitation, why doesn't he call out Saudi Arabia on this?

Plenty of web loggers have brought Brooks to task over his take no prisoners editorial, most more creative than me. But to add my .0002 cents worth: Brooks goes on to say that it's these goons, part of Saddam's security apparatus, who are spearheading the opposition. Apparently, they are able to somehow intimidate the population in spite of their loss of power. Hmmn. Somehow, their control over the population extends to the point where they've cowed the general Iraqi public to house and feed them, while not ratting them out to the Anglo-American forces.

Fortunately, according to David, most Iraqis will understand our benevolent intent, even when we are forced to engage in acts of brutality. Sorry about the gaping head wound, Mr. or Ms. Average Iraqi, but you can take comfort in knowing your gruesome death served a higher good.

I sure am glad that pundits like Brooks can assist this great nation in overcoming our aversion to ignoring the various Hague Conferences and Geneva Conventions regarding basic responsibilities of nations engaged in war...great job, David. I look forward to your column on the Thousand Year Reich.

Brooks also opines that most Iraqis are disgusted by the "scumminess" of the opposition, and, you know, I'm inclined to believe him. As I posted below, most Iraqis likely want nothing to do with the opposition and recognize the need for the occupation to continue. Guess what? It no longer MATTERS. Pandora's Box is open.

When I see/hear about polls that show 2/3rds of Iraqis disapprove of the resistance/accept the occupation, I think about what would happen in this country if ONE THIRD of the public hated the government to the point where at least some would engage in car/truck bombings, ambushes of patrols, shooting down airplanes and/or helicopters, and the like. If 1/3rd of the public was that dead set against the government, I don't think it COULD function, even with all its military might.

Also as noted below, Iraq is COMPLICATED. THAT'S WHY we shouldn't have invaded in the first place. There are plenty of folks there who are a LOT like yourself and myself, mostly just making it through the day, planning for the future (or trying to), seeking out partners/spouses, fretting over children, showing concern for seniors, and so on. But that doesn't mean they want to be JUST LIKE US, even as we've essentially offered them a $20 billion dollar bribe to lay low long enough to re-elect President Bush...

To go back to my metaphor regarding Iraq under occupation and an inner city/slum in the US: it is NOT an exact parallel, even as I'll remind folks that 25 years of war/sanctions have devastated Mesopotamia. However, to ask the Iraqi people I've described above to somehow become our "eyes and ears on the ground" is as ludicrous as asking a suburb dweller here in the States to become the eyes and ears of the cops patrolling our inner cities. Not a chance...

Final note: I think we'd have a better chance of revitalizing our inner cities with an infusion of investment, i.e., real dollars, than we will have of placating Iraq with a $20 billion dollar bribe. Which is probably why the Senate was so gutless that they wouldn't even put it to a roll call vote. Great job, Senators...with the exception of Robert Byrd, to whom I say great job without a Big Gulp-sized cup of sarcasm. Byrd, at least, hasn't shirked off responsibility, wrapped himself in the flag, and proceeded to curl up in a fetal position, thumb in mouth, like most of the other Senators...