I think I've figured out my position on whether or not the U.S. should go to war against Saddam Hussein. I think I don't know. I furthermore think that, like many Americans, I am reacting more to the partisan volleying in our national debate than to any realistic assessment of the risks and benefits of action or inaction. I think Bush, Cheney and their minions are making a lame, arrogant and incomplete argument for attacking Iraq…but I keep reminding myself that it is possible to make a lame, arrogant and incomplete argument for what may well be the correct course of action. It is also possible to believe that Hussein needs to be taken out but that doing so without building an international consensus first will cause more harm than good. If I had a vote in the matter — and we can all feel safer that I don't — I suspect I'd come down on that side of the argument…today. Tomorrow, who knows?
Part of my problem, I suspect, has to do with the avoidance of direct debate. Prowling the pro-attack websites and columnists, I see a lot of attempts to argue that anyone opposed to wasting ol' Saddam is a Democrat partisan (never mind the many prominent Republicans who feel that way) or a wimp (never mind the many war heroes). I am naturally suspicious when someone is arguing a position largely by misrepresenting and mischaracterizing the opposition. I'm also uncomfortable with how many questions have gone unasked and unanswered regarding Dick Cheney's past business dealings in the region, and with the fact that the White House can't seem to get its story straight on whether or why they think Hussein is connected to 9/11.
The other part of my problem is the vast number of ancillary issues that are clouding the debate, starting with the extent to which leaders on all sides are trying to manipulate this question for advantage in the upcoming elections. We also have a lot of people who are raising the matter of Bush's electoral legitimacy, and even some reaching back to scratch festering sores from the Vietnam war. This kind of stuff shouldn't be getting in the way but it is.
Beneath all that, there may be a sound case for us going to war against Iraq. I hope we all get to hear it before we do.