"It is about the character of America"

"It is a shame so many people have missed the point that we all know so well and hold so dear," writes Chaplain David L. Slater from the Al Anbar Province of Iraq, in a message posted by Deb at Marine Corps Moms:

We will be questioned, criticized and ridiculed no matter what we do. So I’d rather suffer for doing what is right than for doing nothing about what is wrong. This is actually a Biblical principle. I Peter 3:17 says, "For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong."

This is not about whether Iraq is worth it. It is about the character of America, and individual Americans and their families who have always been willing to sacrifice and suffer, even for the unworthy, just because it is the right thing to do.

The opposite of nuanced, Chaplain Slater's words are brave and straight and true. Geopolitically speaking, Iraq must become a democratic oasis of freedom in a theocratic desert of hatred and fear. But for those whose bodies and souls are on the line, the Chaplain's words are both comforting and steeling.

Comments

[Lori Dougherty]

This is a sincere question, not a challenge; I struggle with this and am truly interested in your answer: Why "must" Iraq become democratic? What if they are culturally unsuited to it? What if what they want is a theocracy, or monarchy, or socialist republic? That last is ridiculous, I know, but the point is, even if one allows that we did the right thing by going in and taking out Saddam, what gives us the right to decide what kind of government they're going to have? It just seems arrogant to me for us to assume that they must be a democracy. Why is that different or better or more moral than the imperialism of the British Empire or Nazi Germany or the USSR?

[Sissy Willis]

It's the geopolitics, first and foremost. Take a look at the map, and you'll notice we're closing off Axis-of-Evil linchpin Iran with Iraq to the west and Afghanistan to the east. We're trying to strangle an enemy who has declared in both word and deed it wants to destroy us -- that includes the terrorists and their state supporters. Try reading some of the Iraqi bloggers (Iraq the Model in my blogroll has lots of links) to get a feel for how democracy may be taking root over there. Also, check out our withdrawal of troops from Germany and South Korea for a take on how American "imperialism" compares with the older land-grabbing kind.