USEFUL IDIOT: (YUSE-fuhl IH-dee-oht) pl. S. Someone whose stand on the War on Terror is diametrically opposed to your own, but holds views based on (a) pure emotion, (b) "information" that is clearly false or (c) ideas that are quite clearly not their own.
My name is J. Edward Tremlett... and I am a useful idiot.
For those of you who haven't been privy to my history as an op-ed writer, it may come as some shock to hear that a somewhat left-leaning centrist such as I was a vocal supporter of the Iraq War. But I was. I wrote a number of pieces on The American Partisan calling for us to get into that war, and one celebrating its "end."
It's weird that The American Partisan's absence from regular publishing has been a sideways mirror of my own disappearance from regular commentary. I tried to put it down to a move back to America, working full time again and trying to explore other writing venues... but the more I think about it the more I realize my political silence has been self-imposed.
Put bluntly, I've been wracked with shame over what I've said and what I've advocated concerning our actions in Iraq, and why. I think it's time to fess up - I f%^&ed up, and badly. And it's time I cleared the air and apologized.
I went from being against a war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq to being enthusiastically in favor of one in less than a year. It wasn't a turn on a dime, either: I slipped down a slope over the course of a few months that had me saying no, then maybe, and then yes with reservations. And once I hit bottom I was impatiently calling for hostilities to commence so we could get it over with.
At the time, I argued this potential war was about "preventing another disaster from striking America, or her allies, somewhere down the road. This means that we are going to have to engage in preemptive conflicts in the time to come. While I can see that power being misused, and remain wary of its becoming a legitimate option, I can't completely rule it out. And I think that in the case of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, it is justified."
With what I "knew" then, in 2003, that statement was self-evident. With what I know now - knowing that what I knew then was false, misleading or wishful thinking - that statement is a craw I've been choking on for almost four years.
Knowing what I know now, I reject entirely the notion that the world is safer with Saddam Hussein out of power, and now dead. Better? Maybe. But safer? No.
If anything, we've given our enemies a handy target, and increased their numbers. We've destabilized the region and given the fence-sitters of the Muslim world reason to think that the radicals were right all along.
Far from putting the fear of the Gods into Iran, Syria and Al-Qaeda, we've empowered them.
So yes, I was wrong. I screwed up. I acted as a cheerleader for a war that was unnecessary and counterproductive. I shrugged off the notion of civilian casualties, friendly fire, and incoming opportunists as "things that happen." I got on my knees and thanked higher powers that it was "over," and we'd "won," when in fact the troubles were just beginning.
I wasn't the only one who did these things, but I far expect better out of myself.
I never thought I would be the one to play fast and loose with human life, like people were toys. I never thought I'd look at civilians and soldiers as necessary casualties in the face of a greater cause. I never expected to sit on my fat ass and cheer from behind a keyboard as others went to fight and die, and as others were killed, for what I thought was right and good
How does that make me any better than some Al-Qaeda planner in a cave? Really?
You see, we all came to an important, harsh realization on 9/11. We realized that terrorism wasn't something that just happened overseas in countries we couldn't find on a map, but something that could happen anywhere - even to us. We realized we had to change the way we thought about it, because we now realized that we weren't safe. And we realized that we had to do something about it.
J. Edward Tremlett is a lot of things, currently. He's back in the states after a seven-year stint in Dubai, UAE. He's been published in such diverse places as The American Partisan, the International American, The End is Nigh, Pyramid Magazine and Worlds of Cthulhu. He has a story in the "Echoes of Terror" horror anthology. He's also ready to get back in the saddle and kick some ass after too long of a radio silence.
You may well have learned your lesson to question everything, to research everything. With reckless unbiased pursuit of truth and never trust your emotions, which are wrong 90% of the time in most of us, but those in congress have not.
I found it hard to believe that anyone could have taken Bush seriously with his lies, I knew not to be true, but then I had researched his grandfather's Nazi ties in 1932-1951, lending money to Adolph Hitler to build "factories and other infrastructure" from 1932-1942 and holding in escrow through Brown Brothers Harriman and UBC Bank $3,000,000 in Nazi (Getaway?) cash until 1951.
The real hard thing to accept are the 60% who didn't bother to vote, too busy losing their jobs, screwing their neighbors husbands or wives, going to the mall, text-messaging and generally confirming their uselessness as human beings. We ought to stone non-voters or have them wear red signs around their necks saying,
"MY INDOLENCE IN NOT VOTING AGAINST THE F*CKING SONSOFABITCHES CAUSED ALL THE HELL WE NOW HAVE UNLEASHED UPON OTHERS OF GOD'S CREATURES AND IF THE BUSHITES GO TO HELL, I SHOULD BE THERE TOO CHAINED TO HIS ASS."
I, for one forgive you, as I hope to be forgiven by anyone I have done harm to, but I can tell you this that anyone who let's their congressperson off the hook after all the work we did to elect Dems, ought to be chained to Bush as well.
The other day my wife and I made a promise; we would donate the money we were going to give to the Democrats to having Nancy Pelosi beaten in 2009 by any sonofabitch who wants to run against her in SAN Francisco's district 8. Who wants to run against a traitor out there in San Francisco's District 8? (Which may become my adopted hometown from now until the 2009 election.)
by
Professor Emeritus Peter Bagnolo (144 articles, 1 quicklinks, 95 diaries, 1311 comments)
on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 11:20:21 AM
because there was no trial. By announcing it to be an act of war the Bushies circumvented the proper procedure as such committing Treason. Not for the first time. I advise to read the books and articles by Vincent Bugliosi on the Y2000 Supreme Court Coup and Mr. Bugliosi is the best jurist in the USA.
by
Mark Sashine (50 articles, 19 quicklinks, 242 diaries, 3434 comments)
on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 2:55:46 PM
the thing that bothers me about those that were for the war before they were against the war is that if things worked out differently they would be now saying, "I told you so". Now that things have turned for the worse they are turning as well from their initial belief, and that belief was in war as the answer. My initial response as I saw the towers come down was that violence will beget more violence and hatred will beget more hatred. That has always been the case and it will always be the case. I truly hope that these people will see the truth in this respect and not fall for vengence and false patriotism again, and yes, there will be more to come, now, thanks to Bush.
by
Bill Ehleben (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 30 comments)
on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 4:28:12 PM
"the thing that bothers me about those that were for the war before they were against the war is that if things worked out differently they would be now saying, "I told you so"."
Right. And that right there is why this confession has been so long in coming. One of the things I had to wrestle with was the question as to whether I'd be feeling the same regrets and anger with myself if Iraq HAD a working WMD program, and was in league with Al-Qaeda. Would that have made premptive war a legitimate strategy, or would it mean that this time we got lucky?
by
J. Edward Tremlett (16 articles, 0 quicklinks, 59 diaries, 73 comments)
on Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 7:38:06 AM
Probably is good for the soul. It takes a big person to put it out there when the scales have fallen from his eyes. Especially because the corporate media haven't done their service to the public. Instead, they led the cheerleading for pre-emptive war. Perhaps the assumption was that the administration would, given the power, behave with some diplomatic restraint, or that they would take advice from our allies, even from the UN.
I didn't believe Bush then, but I could sort of see why some normally sensible people might, even if I disagreed. I certainly don't believe Bush now, either--he only lies when his lips are moving.
The administration permitted OBL to escape from Afghanistan. The president went from "get him dead or alive" to "I don't spend much time on it". Now OBL's probably still in Pakistan, and Musharaff says he can stay there unmolested, as long as he doesn't do anything to scare the horses. What did over 3300 of our troops and over 600000 Iraqi civilians die for, anyway? (Answer: war profiteering & control of another state's resources--in this case, oil).
But many people in this country have changed their thinking about the occupation of Iraq, even with the ban on photos and videos of returning soldiers' coffins. Not equipping our soldiers with sufficient protective armor, not giving them adequate care at the V.A. hospitals--the impact of just these policies alone will bite us in the ass for years to come, possibly for more than a decade.
The impact of this administration's policies might be changing lots of people's minds about this and other issues. I sure hope so!
by
Laur (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 22 comments)
on Sunday, June 3, 2007 at 10:02:54 AM
6 comments
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