Uma autocrítica sobre o Iraque

O blogue de Brad DeLong Grasping Reality with Both Hands transcreve a autocrítica de John Cole no Balloon Juice sobre o Iraque. Isto insere-se numa onda de artigos de introspecção crítica surgidos na imprensa norte-americana sobre a tomada de posição de conhecidas individualidades quanto à guerra, no quinto aniversário do seu início. O artigo fala por si.

"I see that Andrew Sullivan was asked to list what he got wrong about Iraq for the five year anniversary of the invasion, and since I was as big a war booster as anyone, I thought I would list what I got wrong: Everything. And I don't say that to provide people with an easy way to beat up on me, but I do sort of have to face facts.

I was wrong about everything. I was wrong about the Doctrine of Pre-emptive warfare. I was wrong about Iraq possessing WMD. I was wrong about Scott Ritter and the inspections. I was wrong about the UN involvement in weapons inspections. I was wrong about the containment sanctions. I was wrong about the broader impact of the war on the Middle East. I was wrong about this making us more safe. I was wrong about the number of troops needed to stabilize Iraq. I was wrong when I stated this administration had a clear plan for the aftermath. I was wrong about securing the ammunition dumps. I was wrong about the ease of bringing democracy to the Middle East. I was wrong about dissolving the Iraqi army. I was wrong about the looting being unimportant. I was wrong that Bush/Cheney were competent. I was wrong that we would be greeted as liberators. I was wrong to make fun of the anti-war protestors. I was wrong not to trust the dirty smelly hippies. I mean, I could go down the list and continue on, but you get the point. I was wrong about EVERY. GOD. DAMNED. THING. It is amazing I could tie my shoes in 2001-2004.

If you took all the wrongness I generated, put it together and compacted it and processed it, there would be enough concentrated stupid to fuel three hundred years of Weekly Standard journals. I am not sure how I snapped out of it, but I think Abu Ghraib and the negative impact of the insurgency did sober me up a bit. War should always be an absolute last resort, not just another option. I will never make the same mistakes again."

Aditamento

No mesmo blogue, e sobre o mesmo assunto, Brad DeLong justapõe duas opiniões: "Anne-Marie Slaughter vs. Jim Henley on the War in Iraq: "War is a big deal. It isn't normal. It's not something to take up casually" e opta, de modo definitivo, pela segunda. Infelizmente, estou convencido que aquilo que é dito na primeira não pode ser descartado com essa facilidade. O que se passou - as lições da história - não pode ser esquecido, mas o que passou, passou, diz-se em economia - o disparate foi feito e tem de se lidar com ele; se isso não for bem feito, as consequências podem ser ainda piores.