It's The Freedom, Stupid!

Senator John McCain is not my first choice for President. Actually, neither is Barack Obama, but I would prefer a Democrat in office this fall than a Republican, if only to balance the Court system. This does not equal an endorsement of either party, as, quite frankly, I'd rather see anyone OTHER than a Republican or Democrat in office, but that ain't gonna happen.

One of the problems with Senator McCain is that, since he's sewed himself into the Bush/Cheney quilt, he's unable to see anything outside of it. John McCain has called timelines for withdrawal suggested by Obama (and agreed to be sensible to others, including other Republicans and the Iraqis) "giving up on Iraq." You see, one of the long-term goals of invading Iraq was to create a friendly nation in the region, a government with a puppet who would give us our SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement), allowing us to remain in the area long-term, so that we can meddle in middle eastern affairs. This would be under the guise of a mutual agreement by their government, their "free" democratically elected government, created in our Christian Nation's image. You know, except for the muslim thing.

There was one hiccup, though. While Obama, McCain, the pundits, the President, and pretty much everyone else with a mouth and a television camera (but apparently no brain) argued over when, if, and how we should remove our forces, nobody decided to invite the Iraqi government and people to the discussion. Turns out, those people have opinions, too. And their opinion is that they are a free country and don't want us there forever.

This, of course, is a problem for the Republican nominee, who has basically hung his Iraq hat on long-term troop commitment.

Personally, I can't get over how selfish the Iraqis are being about this. I mean, we freed them. They didn't even ask for it, and we gave it to them. Where's our thanks? Where's our long-term SOFA? Where's the agreement that our forces are not subject to Iraqi laws? Where's the agreement that we can detain Iraqi civilians as the enemy because they look the part? Don't they know that if they want to be free, they must sacrifice some of their liberties? Look at us - ever since Saddam Hussein launched that attack on September 11, we have had our communications subject to wiretaps without warrants, our phone records taken subject to National Security Letters, people can be detained as providing material support for donating to charities that might be connected somehow to a terrorist organization, we've attempted to deny habeas rights to our detainees, we cannot go to Mexico or Canada without a visa like we used to be able to, we cannot bring nail clippers or lotion on airplanes... and we've never been more free! Our economy is strong, the dollar is top-notch, and our international standing is on a level it's never been before. Personally, I think we should invade that ungrateful nation and overthrow its government - those people want western-style democracy and the stability only our forces can provide.