Against My Better judgment (A Political Post)

I should know better than this, I'll alienate people, but I have to blow off steam. I've recently run into Iraq war supporters that have my head spinning.

First of all, I'm a registered Independent. I lean left, but hold several right-wing views. I don't fit in either political box. Liberals call me a conservative, conservatives call me a liberal. Isn't it funny how, if you don't completely match someone's political philosophy, you automatically, unceremoniously, and with much derision, get dumped into the other box?

First, it absolutely blows me away that people are still spouting off, in regards to Iraq, "we remember 9-11." I remember 9-11, it sent me into a 6 month depression. It was also the responsibility of bin Laden, and had nothing to do with Iraq. No matter how deep you dig, no matter how hard you look, the links are not there. The administration has admitted so. Publicly. And when you explain this to people, they shut down. They'll go so far as to say "I don't care". It's like you are challenging their core beliefs, telling them they have to become liberals if they think otherwise. Why is this? How did the country become so totally and completely polarized that people are THIS AFRAID to change their views on an issue for fear they'll end up in the other box?

Next, for those who understand the above paragraph, you'll get the argument that we are there for human rights reasons. We are grand liberators of this country. The fact is there are numerous dictators that were every bit as deserving as Hussein of our military attention, and some more deserving. There are countries that are MUCH more volatile, and hold MUCH more of a risk to the US. Not to mention that this was NOT a stated reason for going to war. I think it was a huge political mistake for Bush to not use this excuse from the start, but he didn't. He's using it now, as an afterthought.

Finally, there's the stated reason of WMDs. Evidence is surfacing that the administration actually manipulated intelligence on this point to support the military action.

Does anyone doubt that the US is MUCH worse off now than we were when Hussein was in power? He was a terrible man, there's no question about that. But there are several terrible dictators around the world. And Hussein posed no credible threat to the US.

So, what's left? How could anyone who is capable of independent thought support this war? I would really like to hear a SINGLE valid reason for this war. In response to this question I actually had someone tell me that this was the plan - to create instability that would lure in terrorists so we could kill them. Riiiiiiight....

OK - rant over (for now, anyway). I'm a very politically conscious person, so I can't promise we won't be back here again, but I'll try to keep politics out of my posts.