I’m teaching a class…

I’m teaching a class this week, so blogging will be very light (yes, even lunchtime breaks will be short).

One thing I want to pass along. Watching Fox news over the weekend, I heard a guest (and for the life of me I can’t remember who) put this point of view forward:

Iraq is a fledgling democracy. There have already been some local elections of sorts, and the national one is coming in January. Their own national guard is beginning. “Insurgents” have been killing people to stop this. So how does this sound any different than guy blowing up building in our own democracy (OK, “democratic republic” but you get the idea)? The 9/11 guys were “terrorists”, not insurgents, not activists and not militants. The guys doing this in Iraq are not all from Iraq–a substantial number are from Iran, for example–so it’s not entirely an internal “civil war”. These guys are “terrorists” trying to thwart a democratic republic that, among other things, allows for a measure of freedom of religion. They are “terrorists” in the exact same way the 9/11 guys were.

Shouldn’t we be fighting alongside a new ally in the war on terror? Yes, the bombings are probably happening because of our presence there, but not entirely, since often the targets these days are Iraqis, in whole or in part. And our presence there is the only reason those reforms are happening. Should we have left a murderous dictator alone? Isn’t democracy a Good Thing? Even if you don’t think the war in Iraq was part of the war on terror, the reforms that are in place are giving terrorists fits and they’re trying to stop it with all they have. This is the War on Terror.

So then, where would you rather it be fought; on the terrorists turf, or downtown Manhatten?

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