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Imagine, if you will, a different world…
There was no war in Iraq. We never invaded. We never accused them of having imaginary weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein was never toppled. Al-Qaeda never spread into the chaos that was never created.
The attacks of September 11, 2001 still happened, though the leaders of our country tried their hardest to prevent them. The memo advising the President that Osama bin Laden was determined to strike inside the United States never fell on deaf ears. The Homeland was being protected before we knew that it needed to be protected. The efforts to stop it were valiant, but they were just a little too late.
Afghanistan was indeed invaded, but with twice the strength and four times the planning. The intelligence was better, the plan was sharper, and the attacks were more precise. The assault on Tora Bora never happened, so it never had a chance to fail. Bin Laden was killed early on, along with much of the Al-Qaeda leadership. The Taliban was effectively destroyed, and the remains that weren’t annihilated in the following weeks took up residence just over the border in Pakistan, though they were never fully accepted by the locals.
The effort to crush the Taliban was a truly international one, as the US gained aid from allies across the world who pledged troops and supplies in the biggest front in the new War on Terror. It was a global victory, and traditional allies who weren’t sure about the United States at times were reassured. It was far from world peace, but things seemed just a little better than before.
There was never an Axis of Evil. No yellow cake uranium from Africa. No speeches and demonstrations before the UN General Assembly. No threats demanding allies join in an unneeded battle or else suffer the consequences. No failed assassination attempts, no Iraqi civilians killed, no power outages or water shortages. No Halliburton.
North Korea never developed their nukes. It never came to that. Dialogue came first, with all the powers in the region discussing how the North Korean nuclear program would be disassembled. Aid packages were discussed and enacted to ease the strain on those who suffered under the reign of the dictator. For once, China, the United States, Japan, North and South Korea could agree to a peaceful solution.
Iran was still as feisty as ever, but the situation never began to get out of control. Ahmadinejad still spouted anti-Western rhetoric, but it wasn’t as quite as sharp as it could have been. Diplomacy came first. Threats were never used. It became important to talk to the leaders of the region to discuss what was happening. There was an Iranian nuclear program, and nobody was sure if it was peaceful or if weapons were being developed. The important thing, at the time, was keeping dialogue open and allowing diplomacy to run its course.
The American people were never spied upon. Their civil liberties were never chipped away one at a time. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights still meant something. Habeas Corpus was never stripped away in the name of “protection.” Guantanamo Bay was a naval base in Cuba of little importance. Nobody dared imply that the US used torture, because there were no accusations of such brutal tactics. International agreements regarding the treatment of prisoners of war were not ignored, abused, and abandoned.
The economy didn’t continue to soar upward. It leveled out and maintained a steady rate of growth. The housing bubble was strained, but it didn’t burst. There were no signs of a freefall. The dollar was a little stagnant, but international markets weren’t passing it left and right. There were a few issues, but a recession was not inevitable.
America never lost its standing as the leader of the world. It was still a nation that pushed progressive, positive reform for all peoples of the earth. The government that ran it was one the citizens could, for the most part, be proud of. There weren’t polls showing the President and Congress neck and neck for the lowest approval ratings the country had ever seen. Americans could travel around the world without having to fear too much. America was still respected.
Billions of dollars were never poured into a failed military venture engineered by some of the most brutal, evil, twisted minds the nation has ever seen. A failed invasion never took place. Violent repercussions did not increase the threat of terrorism throughout the world. Lives were not ruined. Men were not slaughtered. Women were not murdered. Children were not maimed. Violence did not become a way of live for not just one nation, but two.
Soldiers were never mentally scarred in the barren battlefields and crumbling cities of Iraq. The brave men and women of our nation did not lose their hearing, their eyesight, their limbs, and their peace of mind for an illegal venture into the realm of evil. 4000 of our bravest, our best, and our brightest did not die for a war that never made sense. 4000 men and women did not die for their country under false pretenses. 4000 Americans did not lose their lives because a handful of “leaders” lied, cheated, and stole.
It never happened.
But… It did happen. All of it. It’s still happening, and it will continue to happen. It will happen for days, for weeks, for months, and maybe even years to come. Our bravest and our brightest will continue to give their lives for our country in a war of lies and treachery. Iraqi innocents will continue to die at the hands of murders determined to take command and destroy all they can see. The dollar will continue to tumble in the global market. The United States will lose respect in the hearts and minds of people all across the world.
Imagine the world we could have had following the election of November 6th, 2000. Look how different it is from the world we have now. Which would you prefer? Which will you fight for? Which is the world we should have? In 224 days, we have another chance to end the madness. When that day comes, remember the following eight words:
Keep John McCain out of the White House.
Imagine the world we can build if we stop him.
Imagine the world we’ll have if we don’t.
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