Reading notes

Karen Kwiatkowski, Lt. Col. USAF (ret.) writes with power, painting a terribly sobering picture from her U.S. military point of view:

Asked on CNN’s “Late Edition” if the war was worth the lives of the 564 U.S. soldiers killed, Rumsfeld said, “Oh, my goodness, yes. There’s just no question … 25 million people in Iraq are free.”

Each new day adds more names to the Americans casualty list, leaving us to wonder how many U.S. soldiers the Pentagon thinks should be sacrificed to liberate countries like North Korea, Burma, Sudan, or even Cuba. … The 73-year-old Rumsfeld should know very well that bloodied, maimed or dead American soldiers can never equate to politicized abstractions like “Iraqi freedom.” …

The rest of us need to ask whether we want to continue to participate in the global experiment known as the “Bush Doctrine.” The terror fight can be won. But as the Madrid bombings illustrate, it is not being won by George W. Bush or his policies. Bush’s approach to the war on terror is deeply flawed by a misapplication of military and diplomatic resources, and it is further weakened by a simultaneous quest for military enforced hegemony over the Middle East and its energy supplies.

I always look at the U.S./world “Bush Doctrine” situation from a Christian theology point of view, as best I can, as best I know, and the situation I see is untenable, unholy, and unworkable. It is part of the problem, not part of any solution. I’m fascinated to see one military point of view (which I have no personal basis for) that arrives at essentially the same conclusion as my theological one does.

Thank you, Karen.

[via MediaFreeze]