We as a community have noted many times the lies, the greed, and the pride which have led us to the Iraq war.
We have waited for neo-conservatives to acknowledge their huge error in pushing us into this war. We have waited for the Bush administration to acknowledge the "facts" were made up at every stage of the runup to this war - and beyond.
What can we do proactively and constructively as a community at this point to start the rehabilitation of America in the eyes of the world? What can we do to take control of this God-awful situation? What can we add that will bring some peace to our minds and to the poor Iraqi civilians who are on the receiving end of the neo-con idiocy, the Bush-created insurgents and newly awakened ethnic factions, and the Iraqi Taliban who want to impose religious rule on a previously secular society?
Read on to find out my small idea to bring a new moral spotlight on the conflict.
Simply stated, we should apologize on behalf of the American people to the Iraqi people, as well as to the American and Iraq soldiers and police who have had to fight and die for this misbegotten war. Since our government is unwilling, unable, and fundamentally opposed to the morally right thing, we need to take it upon ourselves to apologize where our government went wrong. After all, it is "Of, by, and for" us, so we can speak up when it simply isn't doing what needs to be done. And much like the South African Peace and Reconciliation Commission, this would be a way to move the dialog beyond who was right and who was wrong towards a powerful moral message that is difficult to disagree with.
I am thinking of a rally where different single issue groups apologize for various actions the US has taken. I am taking in the CTG lesson: As a whole, their apologies would be profound, whereas individually, this would not be anything but a blip in the headlines, if that.
For instance, get Amnesty USA to apologize on behalf of America for the torture at Abu Ghraib.
Get the help of Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq to apologize on behalf of America to all the women who are losing their right to dress, vote, and live as they choose.
Get the help of an organization that values America's participation (anyone know of one?) in the international community and upholding universal values to apologize for violating the rights of "detainees" in Guantanamo and (who the hell knows) elsewhere.
Get an ex-CIA group to apologize on behalf of America to our one-time closest allies for violating their laws, their trust, and their airspace.
Get the help of Veterans agains the Iraq War to apologize on behalf of the American people to the poor soldiers who return with PTSD, missing limbs, or not at all.
Get Allan Grayson to apologize on behalf of America to the American taxpayer and their children and grandchildren for the squandered dollars in Iraq - and that's just the corruption.
Get the NEA to apologize to American schoolchildren for their declining quality of education and diminishing chances to get a good job because of the money squandered in Iraq.
Get a group of Catholics to apologize to Iraqis for the use of an unjust war.
After all, if Free Muslims can apologize for 9/11, then a community of Americans as important as Daily Kos should be able to help arrange the same thing - but on a much grander scale, as we are connected to many amazing groups.
Feeling forgiving today? If so, post some ideas about how to make something like this come together and what groups need to be involved.