Alden Swan dot com

While the top news story of the past week was undoubtedly the feud between Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump, I’d like to address another issue which appears to rank a little lower in terms of national interest: the President’s New Iraq Plan. Yes, I know, this is now old news and most people have already gone on the record either for or against it, and it no longer even appears in the headlines. But, I needed time to think. Unfortunately, some of that has come between the hours of 2:30 and 4:00 a.m. when I lie awake concerned about the state of the world and the things I forgot to do the day before. I came close to writing this last night during that time period, but that would have meant getting up and waking either my wife or my cat. I chose to let sleeping – and not so sleeping – people and cats lie.

So, here’s my assessment, after hours of fitful consideration: I don’t have a clue what Bush is up to; his decisions concerning Iraq are completely befuddling to me, without any apparent sense of logic or rationality. I have given him the benefit after benefit of doubt, and have simply run out. He is either an astounding genius, thinking on a level that normal humans can’t grasp, or he is Don Quixote, willing to risk an entire nation to carry on his war with the proverbial windmill. I like Don Quixote, but I’m not about to go off on a quest with him.

I can hear my liberal friends and readers cheering in the distance. I have not, however, except perhaps on some minor points, changed my views. I admittedly hold some some beliefs tenuously in tension against others, like a physicist’s belief that light is a wave (oh, wait… it’s a particle). Here, for the record, are some of the things I believe:

• I am, at heart, a pacifist. By this I mean that I am called to make peace, not war. As the Apostle Paul said, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). That being said and human nature being what it is, I believe I would die and even kill to protect the lives of my family (in defense, not as an affirmative action. I just had to make that clear…). I think about this when I am awake late at night and hear noises outside my window. (Whether I would kill or die to protect you remains to be seen.)
• I think that Bush is, at heart, a good, well-meaning person. From what I know of him, I like him. His economic policies were “right on the money,” so to speak, resulting in tax breaks for people like me, and record-breaking stock market numbers, without any over-inflated dot-coms to drive the numbers up. He was a great president during the immediate post-9-11 period.

  I would like him to succeed, for his own sake as well as for the sake of the country. I do not think, as does my son, Keith Olbermann, and Green Day, that he is an idiot. He has 3 major failures, that I see: For one, he failed to stop the obscene pork-barrel spending by congress (in fact, failed to veto anything). Second, he enlarged the Federal Government in the name of security but left our borders unguarded. And last but not least, I do think that he’s had several years of very bad military advice on Iraq, and that his advice has gotten worse.

• I agree with the late President Ford (as I’ve blogged already) that the arguments given for invading Iraq were not adequate, or at least not adequately presented. As others have pointed out, the justifications have shifted over time, and it certainly calls into question the true motivation. At this point, I don’t think anyone really knows why we’re there, except to try to bring a scintilla of order to the chaos that is Iraq.
• I have always questioned whether invading Iraq when we did was the right thing to do. Saddam was a bad dude, no question about it. But, he perhaps wasn’t the most dangerous man out there, and there were other available means of dealing with him. As I have said, I believe that there are things worth fighting for, but I’ve never been totally convinced that this is it (again, the “it” has changed over time, suggesting that the “it” we know may not be “it” at all).

Now, there are some very good reasons (in my humble opinion) why I think Bush’s plan to send 21,000 more troops to Iraq is like going “all in” after the turn on a pair of twos. Certainly, as John McCain has said, it could work… But, I wouldn’t bet my money (or my life) on it.

But, seeing as how this post is lengthy enough, I’ll give you these reasons tomorrow…

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—
Of cabbages—and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings.”
– The Walrus and the Carpenter, by Lewis Carroll

The death of a President of the United States of America always presents itself as a time for a bit of national self-reflection; a time, as it were, to talk of cabbages and kings. Gerald Ford’s passing is no exception, although I fear that the execution of a madman may steal the center stage for a bit. Still, I am sure that there will be news specials, articles and books aplenty in the coming weeks and months, which should be quite interesting, since Ford was President during one of the more unsettled periods of our recent history.

Gerald Ford was a decent president, in both meanings of the phrase. He was, perhaps, not the best of our Presidents, but certainly not the worst. He also seemed to be a decent man, understanding concepts like discretion (a trait which is not shared by all living ex-Presidents). Ford gave an interview a couple of years ago which has been held under wraps, to be made public only after he had died. Of course, it was no time at all before the first snippets of that interview made its way to the press, with the headlines reading, “Ford disagreed with Bush on invading Iraq.” Of course, as you’d expect, the article’s characterization of Ford’s remarks differed somewhat from what he actually said.

One of Ford’s comments was he disagreed with the Bush administration’s justification for going to war; on this point, I would have to agree with Ford. He did also disagreed with the invading of Iraq itself; what really struck me about this was not his disagreement with the invasion, but it was his reasoning; Ford didn’t think we should involve ourselves if it was not directly related to our national security: “Well, I can understand the theory of wanting to free people… I just don’t think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security.”

On one hand, I can see his point, and I think many, many Americans would agree as well. However, what struck me was this: That line of reasoning would result in making America the totally selfish nation that much of the world already thinks we are. Isn’t that the height of selfishness, to say that we will only free people if it’s in our own best interests? How does this relate to Isaiah 58? If we really did adopt this kind of philosophy, then where would it stop? Do we withhold charity as well, if it’s not in our national interest? Again, I understand what Ford is saying, and understand that he had to have been impacted by the Vietnam fiasco. His thoughts deserve to be considered.

I think that we as a country need to decide what kind of a country we are. Will we only fight to protect our own? We could be like Switzerland, who, as I understand, won’t join in other wars, but whose law requires that each man be issued a gun in case they need to defend their own borders. If this is true, then they are not anti-violence, they just only care about themselves.

Of course, Iraq raises many issues, and I’m not dealing with all of them, just focusing on this one point: is it ok, either militarily or by other means, to only take care of ourselves? Do we have an obligation to use our resources to free those in bondage, or should we let the Hitlers of the world have their way?

I respected President Ford for his loyalty, his discretion, his humility, and his commitment to his ideals. I’m looking forward to reading the full text of this interview.