Dave Matthews and his considered opinion.

Note: I am not normally given to Fisking^TM; I leave that to the professionals, like Juan Gato and Charles Austin. But this just sets my teeth on edge. (Via Drudge, via jkrank at Sofia Sideshow.)

Dave Matthews Speaks Out About the War
I hope this letter finds you all well and that in these uncertain times you find moments to be joyful.

I want to speak my mind about this war with Iraq, or I will choke on my conscience.

Are you offering me a choice?

What is the motivation? Regime change? Shouldn't that be up to the people of the region and the people of Iraq?

I would agree, but Iraq's not a democracy. Dictators stay in power via the use of force. Removing that threat of force so that the people of Iraq can become self-governing is part of what the war would be about.

The only real threat from Saddam Hussein is to his neighbors and none of them support a U.S. invasion.

Or maybe they just don't want to be on record as supporting an invasion, given that their neighbor Saddam is a murderous thug with remarkable grudge-holding abilities.

Is it to stabilize the Middle-East? Wouldn't it only do the opposite by causing further death and suffering in a country that has had more than its share?

No, actually, I think the aim is destabilization of the region, insofar as stability means the entrenchment of evil regimes.

Is it to weaken Al Qaeda? Saddam Hussein is a genocidal maniac but he is not Al Qaeda. He is certainly more visible though. Is he our target because he is easier to identify than the illusive terrorist network? Surely it is more likely that an attack on Iraq would only strengthen Al Qaeda by feeding Anti-American sentiment. Putting out the fire with gasoline, so to speak.

Given that it was American inaction in the face of attack (Khobar towers, USS Cole, etc.) that gave Al Qaeda the idea that there would be no backlash from an attack on American soil, I think the opposite is more likely to be true.

It is certainly not to liberate the people of Iraq who suffer under Hussein's rule, unless we call killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis liberation.

It certainly is. The idea of leaving the Iraqis at the mercy of a man you admit is a genocidal maniac ought to turn your stomach, but all you're worried about is whether he's a direct threat to you. Hell, Hitler wasn't a direct threat to the US either, chucklehead, and shouldn't the regime change in Germany have been up to The People? (Yeah, yeah, Godwin's law. Screw that, it's actually apropos this time.)

Saddam Hussein is a barbaric murderous dictator. I wish the world were free of him. But the answer is not to bomb this great culture of Iraq out of existence to stop him. Why must the children of Iraq die by the thousands to stop a tyrant?

Somehow I just knew The Children^TM were going to be brought into this. Shame on Dave Matthews for hiding behind The Children^TM.

It is not justice. And if we kill him what will we achieve?

Liberation of the Iraqis. A foothold in the middle east. A smack in the puss to villainy everywhere. What's not to like?

We will have taken the most unpopular leader in the Middle East and turned him into the greatest martyr radical Islam has ever had.

Pffft. W is not Henry II and Saddam Hussein is damn sure not Thomas Beckett. To refuse to do the right and moral thing because of some nebulous idea that he might become a martyr is just fiddling while Rome burns.

The U.N. weapons inspectors must be allowed to do their job thoroughly and any military action should be internationally agreed upon. We must not allow our government to turn us into a rogue nation.

The inspectors aren't being prevented from doing their jobs by the US, idiot. Hussein has been in flagrant violation of the agreed-upon terms of his surrender since the last war, and I think twelve years is long enough to wait for him to bring himself into compliance. I'd say it's pretty clear he has no intention of doing so. And if you're waiting for France, Germany, and Russia to come online with us, I'd say you'd better take a look at just who's been selling what to Iraq for the past few years, keeping him personally fat and happy despite the sanctions the US attempted to use to force him into compliance with the resolutions you think should be allowed to work.

I fear that our true motivation is about oil and our own flailing economy; about the failure to destroy Al Qaeda and about revenge. It is criminal to put our servicemen and women in harm's way and to put the lives of so many civilians on the line for the misguided frustrations of the Bush administration.

I fear you have no understanding of the way the world works.

Bottom line: this war is wrong and this war is un-American.

Bottom line: you're an idiot. Your heart may be in the right place, but your head is up your ass.

Peacefully submitted,
Dave Matthews

Pfft. Choke on your conscience next time.