Michael Moore: Cut and Run, the Only Brave Thing To Do

Michael Moores neuester Rundbrief beginnt so:

Friends,

Tomorrow marks the day that we will have been in Iraq longer than we were in all of World War II.

That's right. We were able to defeat all of Nazi Germany, Mussolini, and the entire Japanese empire in LESS time than it's taken the world's only superpower to secure the road from the airport to downtown Baghdad.

And we haven't even done THAT. After 1,347 days, in the same time it took us to took us to sweep across North Africa, storm the beaches of Italy, conquer the South Pacific, and liberate all of Western Europe, we cannot, after over 3 and 1/2 years, even take over a single highway and protect ourselves from a homemade device of two tin cans placed in a pothole. No wonder the cab fare from the airport into Baghdad is now running around $35,000 for the 25-minute ride. And that doesn't even include a friggin' helmet.

Is this utter failure the fault of our troops? Hardly. That's because no amount of troops or choppers or democracy shot out of the barrel of a gun is ever going to "win" the war in Iraq. It is a lost war, lost because it never had a right to be won, lost because it was started by men who have never been to war, men who hide behind others sent to fight and die.

Let's listen to what the Iraqi people are saying, according to a recent poll conducted by the University of Maryland:
** 71% of all Iraqis now want the U.S. out of Iraq.
** 61% of all Iraqis SUPPORT insurgent attacks on U.S. troops.

Yes, the vast majority of Iraqi citizens believe that our soldiers should be killed and maimed! So what the hell are we still doing there? Talk about not getting the hint.

There are many ways to liberate a country. Usually the residents of that country rise up and liberate themselves. That's how we did it. You can also do it through nonviolent, mass civil disobedience. That's how India did it. You can get the world to boycott a regime until they are so ostracized they capitulate. That's how South Africa did it. Or you can just wait them out and, sooner or later, the king's legions simply leave (sometimes just because they're too cold). That's how Canada did it.

The one way that DOESN'T work is to invade a country and tell the people, "We are here to liberate you!" -- when they have done NOTHING to liberate themselves.

Weiter geht es hier.

Eine interessante Argumentation, die sicher durch eine Erklärung gewinnen könnte, warum Deutschland als Gegenbeispiel nicht taugt. (Nachdem die USA Hitler geschlagen hatten, gab es keinen jahrelangen gewaltsamen Widerstand eines Großteils der deutschen Bevölkerung gegen "die Besatzer"). Moores Argumentation zufolge hat der Irakkrieg nach den "Massenvernichtungswaffen" und "Husseins Unterstützung für die Al Qaida" (beides nicht existent) auch die letzte vorgeschobene Legitimation ("ein Volk vorm Diktator befreien") verloren. Es geht um internationale Machtpolitik, und bis auf ein paar eifrige Blogger ist das inzwischen auch so ziemlich jedem klar.