In a taxi
Sunday, March 23rd, 2003I was chatting to my taxi driver yesterday as I was going to Karl’s place to watch some DVDs. As we had to travel around the city centre to avoid the anti-war march, the Iraq war obviously became a topic of discussion.
The taxi driver himself sounded like a staunch supporter of the war, and quite clued in on current events, so vague platitudes as to why the war is bad would not work.
And considering that the war does seem to be going on without much damage, and the Iraqi people seem to be (for a large part) happy to be “rescued”, what is the argument?
And the argument lies not in the area of morality. I cannot claim to know for sure all the motivations of the president of the US or his inner circle. They may have valid moral reasons (in their heads) for what they do. But the problem with this war, I have always feared, is in the long-term reaction to it around the world. An increase in anger, a decrease in tolerance and understanding between peoples. These are the things to work towards - and regardless of the outcome of this war, these are still what must be focused on. By going to war, understanding and global peace has become that much harder, and I really hope that it is worth it.
The linked article from Salon is thoughtful and interesting, and meanders over similar territory in the discussion.
I don’t think it went all that badly when compared with the horror stories which had been relayed to me with relish during the week. But I am known to sometimes ignore reality, so I hope it wasn’t that bad for the other person. Regardless, I doubt there’s going to be a follow-up.
Well except that he tried repeat performances with some people… sigh.