This particular entry has more to do with what I'd do if I were a particular politican at a particular time. Namely, Bush... now.
I probably feel differently than a lot of people on this, and I am almost positive that I feel differentlt than Bush does, but IF I were Bush for the rest of October (or even the rest of his term) this is one of the first things I'd arrange to say. Once that this is "out of the way" I'd say similar things to other people(s), and then... finally... I'd set to work on doing something worthwhile for my country until the end of my term... when I'd announce that I would not seek reelection.
People of Iraq
We, as a nation, feared for our safety. We feared for your safety and the safety of your neighbors. We feared that your former leader, Saddam Hussein, had weapons of mass destruction and ill will toward us and others. We knew that he has killed many people already. We feared that he would do it again.
We were wrong about the weapons of mass destruction. We may have been wrong about Saddam Hussein’s intentions, but we can never know that. We wronged this nation in an attempt to do what we felt was right, and we apologize. We apologize because we killed many people, destroyed many buildings, and we have caused great suffering and loss.
We cannot undo these things that we have done.
We can help to restore your nation.
We have a strong desire to help rebuild your nation – your country – because we want to rebuild our relationship with all Iraqis and all of the Arab world.
We feel that we share a responsibility to help restore Iraq to the nation that it was before 2003, and – if it is possible – make it even better.
So, today I am here to admit to my wrongdoing, apologize, request the forgiveness of the entire nation and all the people in it, offer to earn that forgiveness, and ask for your help.
Yes, I need your help. America needs the help of Iraq and all Iraqis. We need your help to restore your nation as much as possible, and to maybe even make it better. We need Iraqis to take positions of leadership, positions of faith and trust. We need Iraqis to help clear away the debris of the war that we waged. We need cooperation, because without it we can do nothing.
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… (More inspiring politician-type stuff)
...
We need to go home, and stay home, until a day when you invite us to return.
May God bring that day to us soon.
NOTES:
I'm sure a real speech writer could do a much better job, but that pretty much says everything that I feel, everything I hope others feel, and everything I'd want to say if I could.
I recognize that this would fix neither all the wrong that we've done nor all the wrongs that others perceive that we've done, but I think that meaning all of these things would really help -- no matter how we say it. Besides, we're the larger nation, maybe we can back that up and be, well... you know
Also, I really think that it would be good if peoples tried to make up after a fight/war, move on with life, and not give anyone a decent reason to hate.
I agree with you. That's great. But unfortunately not everyone thinks that way. There's a good portion of the population that thinks we should be there. They think that Iraq needs to pay for sending suicide bombers to take down the World Trade Center. They think that we are holy and rightious in our crusade to blast them damn sand-niggers to hell. I'm not sure how many people think this way but given Bush's approval rating, I guess that's about, what, 52% of the population?
Posted by: Eric at October 12, 2003 06:31 PM