As I am died in the wool blue, my opposition to the war has remained with me since the invasion began. Unfortunately, once the war began, I have not been able to see any way for the US to leave, and have had a harder time trying to find a few simple words that express my feelings. To me, sovereignty is paramount, military pre-emption is abhorrent. Powell's Pottery Barn you broke it you bought it is exactly how I feel, and I see the only simple solution is to reinstate Saddam Hussein as President, and remain in the country until normalcy returns. As it does not appear that Saddam has a future second tenure, nor normality has much of a future, and as the future there looks bleaker and bleaker, at least here some form of debate about the war has begun.
To many on the right, the criticism of Rumsfeld by retired generals is tantamount to treason, and to many on the left, it is too little too late. What must be noted is that the debate has moved out of the sphere of politics and into the sphere of the military where it is trickling down through the ranks. And that is where I found the simple words to express my feelings about the situation:
"We destroyed the internal security of that state, so now we have to restore it."
That cadets and officers interviewed by the NYTimes are having these debates and acknowledging the errors that have been made, suggests to me that if there ever is any kind of apology for the disaster we have leveled against Iraq it will first come from those who physically administered it, and through there leadership, I can only hope that those who intellectually administered it will follow and apologize as well.