As the prospect of an attack on Iran grows more likely, nobody has arrived at a rational explanation for why our nation would undertake such a foolhardy adventure with such a high probability of disastrous consequences. If reason cannot be our guide, we must look elsewhere. The only explanation that fits all the available evidence is that Americans wish to expunge their sins in Iraq through a catastrophe.
Like the guilty murderer in “Crime and Punishment,” Americans cannot carry the pain of what we have done to Iraq. We have effectively destroyed a nation of 20 million people that was the cradle of civilization. Close to a million civilians have died in the war; two million have fled; much of the country’s institutions have been looted and burned; and cholera is ravaging refugee camps.
We did this to Iraq, and we know that we did it. No moral person can carry responsibility for this enormous transgression without atonement. Here is what form I believe the atonement will take.
It is said that America attacked Iraq to secure oil. We shall atone for this crime by being deprived of oil when export traffic in the Persian gulf is halted by war against Iran. The US strategic petroleum reserve may have sufficient capacity to absorb the shortage, but the immediate impact of a Persian Gulf shipping shutdown will likely result in skyrocketing gasoline and fuel prices and shortages as panic buying and hoarding behavior breaks out.
It is said that America attacked Iraq because Iraq was an easy victim, unable to inflict significant casualties on our forces. We shall atone for this crime by incurring heavy casualties in Iran. Iran is not a soft target. Iran’s military has not been weakened by sanctions and defeat in the desert by American airpower. Iran has had many years to prepare for the American onslaught, and it has ample stocks of modern weapons; a large army; and mountainous terrain well-suited to defense and guerrilla warfare. American forces attacking Iran will likely suffer significantly higher casualties than in Iraq.
It is said that America attacked Iraq to stimulate its economy and feed billions in government money to politically-connected corporations. We shall atone for this crime by having our treasury drained by the ruinous cost of fighting a nation four times larger than Iraq. Foreign governments will eventually cut off lending to our self-destructive nation, and we shall have no choice but to inflate our currency or raise taxes to pay for a huge expansion of the Mideast war. This will bring economic pain to much of America.
As America drifts toward a war that almost everyone believes will be a disaster, there is an eerie stillness in the land. I believe that, consciously or not, Americans expect to be punished for the destruction of Iraq, and I believe that they expect that punishment to come from a war with Iran. That is why I believe the war will happen, because we believe we must atone for our crimes.
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As you can see by all the comments here, lol….it is really just HORRIFIC to even think about!
Especially since it really REALLY brings up a sense of complete hopelessness. If we can’t stop them from attacking Ira, after all…..we and congress and the rest of the world just plain have NO power to stop Bushco.
To hard to REALLY think about.