Saturday 03/29/03 The Plain Dealer Losing respect on the world and national stage
It is not yet clear what we will win in the military invasion of Iraq, but it is all too clear what we have lost.
We have lost the support of the Iraqi people, as Shiites and Kurds who despise Saddam Hussein are nonetheless resisting the U.S.-led invasion. Rapidly mounting Iraqi civilian casualties, invisible to most of us, are manifest to the people of Iraq. Reports from Iraqi cities under attack make clear that our military is viewed not as a force of liberation, but of occupation.
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We have lost what little good will remained toward us from Muslims in general, and Arabs in particular. As Rami G. Khouri's March 25 Forum article states, "most Arabs see this attack against Iraq as sinister in its intent, illegitimate, unprovoked, unnecessary, counterproductive for the United States and destructive for the region." It doesn't take a leap of logic to see this rage leading to many new recruits for al-Qaida.
We have lost moral legitimacy in the world's eyes as a defender of freedom and democracy. Deeply suspicious of our government's motives, overwhelming majorities of the world's citizens were opposed to this war before its start and remain so to date.
We have lost the contract between our government and our military men and women that their lives would not be put at risk unnecessarily. To be sent off to kill and be killed in a war that was completely avoidable amounts not to the support of our troops, but to their betrayal.
Disconnected from the wishes of the American people that our leaders not wage a unilateral war, the Bush administration's actions only reinforce the impression that its real constituencies are the armament, energy and financial service industries that will profit handsomely from this war.
While history has yet to record the outcome of this war, it is already recording its fallout.
James Misak
Cleveland
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