Bombing of a University

This isn't the first bombing of a University in Iraq. I've always thought that bombing a university was somehow worse than other bombings, and this time I think I've figured out why. To me, a school is kind of like a church. It is a place of learning, where the foundations of our society are taught.

I don't see this war as an Iraqi vs. American thing, or a Sunni vs. Shiite thing, it's a battle between those who want society to progress and those who want it stuck in the past. Maybe it's more accurate to say that it's a war between people who eschew violence and who think people should be free to be who they are, and those who want to kill anyone who doesn't live the way they do, but I think of those people as being stuck in the past.

I have a lot of respect for people who want to live a simple life free of technology. The people who come most to mind when I say that are the Amish. Their society will shrink and grow depending on how their ideology appeals to those around them. They certainly wouldn't think of imposing their lifestyle on others. I think radical Islam should take a similar approach. Buy some land with other similar minded folk and live their lives the way they see fit. If other people like it, they'll follow suit and their numbers will grow.

It all comes down to a matter of respect. Everyone has an idea of how they think life should be lived. Do you respect other peoples intelligence enough to allow them to follow their own ideals, or do you force them at gunpoint to follow yours.

"Those who don't learn from history..."

I have a concern about our training of the Iraqi troops to handle the security in Iraq. It reminds me a lot about something I heard from a professor in college who said that one of the Romans biggest mistakes was in training the barbarians to fight for them. The barbarians then took that training back to their own people and attacked the Romans.

I’m sure a lot of the Iraqi soldiers we’re training are loyal to the Iraqi government and are genuinely interested in stabilizing Iraq, but many are not. Many are just in it for the money, and they carry their own prejudices against the various sub groups within Iraq, and it seems inevitable that much of the training we’re giving them is going to make its way into the hands of the Shia militias and Sunni insurgency. The training that we’re giving them today isn’t going to go away once peace is achieved (if it ever is). Once we give it to them, it’s out of our control, and we don’t know where it will go. Some of that training will make its way to Iran, Hezbollah and Palestine.

I know that Americans are tired of the war, but training Iraqis troops is only adding fuel to the fire.

Don