I was having a conversation with a friend last weekend, and something suddenly came to mind. My friend had mentioned something about the several thousand Iraqi civilians who had died as a direct result of the American campaign in Iraq, not including the many more who have died as an indirect result.
When the first reports of Iraqi civilians started pouring in, I didn't really change my opinion of the campaign (at the time). Yes, it's a tragedy that Iraqi civilians died. But when looking at the big picture, a few thousand dead civilians is a small price to pay to prevent the hundreds of thousands of deaths that would occur from Saddam's torture/incarceration programs over the next decade. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands or millions that might be saved should Saddam have actually possessed WMD.
Of course, we're all wiser to what the true situation was, even though we probably still don't know the half of it. DonSpanton covers the topic nicely in his thread, and I'm sure I'm not doing it justice.
But here's what catches me. Bush was willing to sacrifice the lives of thousands, and if necessary, tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, in order to prevent the very probable deaths (and suffering) of tens or hundreds of thousands of those same civilians, as well as the possible (even if not plausible) deaths of hundreds of thousands or millions of Westerners, presumably Americans, and Israelis.
On the other hand, he is not willing to sacrifice a few hundred to a few thousand American embryos in order to very probably prevent the deaths (and suffering) of millions of Americans, and tens of millions of people worldwide. A larger payoff for a smaller sacrifice (and that's only in human terms. Throw in finances, and ESC wins hands down).
At some point, the cynic in me can only assume that *unwanted* American embryos, left over from IVF clinics, are somehow more valuable than Iraqi civilians, who in most cases are definitely "wanted" by their families: their wives, children, parents, friends, and extended families.
Now I'd like to believe that Bush's true motives for this disparity in opinions is political, in that killing Iraqi civilians, while not acceptable, is less unacceptable than killing unwanted American embryos. Of course, if he's correct in his *political* motives, it says the discrepency in opinions is that of the American voter.
At any rate, whether the discrepancy in opinions is that of Bush or of the American voter, it does present an interesting situation: Why not use Iraqi embryos? I mean, if they're so worthless, then we could use their embryos, and save our precious leftovers.
The statement is completely ridiculous, and I don't intend it to be a serious suggestion. But I do intend it to show the complete hypocrisy of those who oppose ESC and yet supported the invasion of Iraq.
