I'm Not the Only Bad American

Arthur Silber, Bad American, is on fire. Here's an excerpt:

So let's be completely clear, and restate it once more for emphasis. We invaded and occupied a country that hadn't attacked us, and that was no threat to us. Our government has murdered more than half a million innocent Iraqis -- and destroyed an entire nation. Our government has also murdered and maimed tens of thousands of Americans.

...

But in the moral sense -- in the sense of destroying human life with no justification whatsoever -- we certainly deserve to lose. It would only be just, and it would be minimal justice at that. We have committed a monstrous, unforgivable war crime, indeed a countless number of war crimes. If you care at all about the sanctity of an individual human life, and if you still give a damn, that should matter to you. Nothing in the world is more important.

So, yes, in the sense I have described, I want us to lose. We already have. There is no forgiveness for what we have done. Do I want American soldiers to die? Of course not. I never wanted them to be sent to Iraq in the first place. If we had never begun this catastrophe, those who have died would be alive today -- as would over half a million Iraqis.

One might hope that we've learned something from our indecent and immoral acts, and that we will be more careful in our future actions. In a tragedy beyond measure, it is already entirely clear that we have learned absolutely nothing -- just as we learned nothing from Vietnam. All of the forces that led to more than a century of unending war are still in place. We have learned nothing.

Well. Someone had to say it. So I just did.

I'm ready for Guantanamo now. I'd like to say goodbye to some friends and spend time with my cats before I leave. You can pick me up in the morning.

By all means, go read it all.