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As Bush was plotting his unprovoked attack on Iraq, Colin Powell cautioned him, "If you break it, you'll have to fix it." Well guess what; like a brat throwing a tantrum Bush "broke it" - big time! He destroyed an entire society, decimated its infrastructure, killed over 40,000 of its citizens and, to no one's surprise, is utterly befuddled as to how to "fix it".A consistent theme among Republican apologists for Bush's war in Iraq is that Democrats criticize, but offer no solutions. Actually Democrats have offered several alternatives to Bush's shoot-'em-up tactic, but Republicans dismiss these plans as not sufficiently belligerent.
Let me suggest that the details of any approach to a solution flow from its philosophical foundation and it's that foundation that's at the heart of the political dispute.
Despite his claim that Christ is his favorite philosopher (yes, he really said that in 2000) Bush's policy of starting wars and torturing captured prisoners is antithetical to the teachings of Jesus, whose "philosophy" involves loving others as yourself. He is more properly described as a disciple of Machiavelli, whose two major works, "The Prince" and "The Art of War" are concerned with an all-powerful leader's acquisition and maintenance of political power by whatever means he may deem necessary (a unitary executive).
As one liberal American citizen my view on relationships among people and nations is reflected in John Donne's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" - "No man is an island, entire of itself" and "any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind."
Starting from a recognition of our common humanity we can hammer-out the details of building a livable world. The current Machiavellian path is a treadmill to oblivion.
