It may disgust you, but you've gotta understand that all that patriotism, buzzwording, etc. exists because it works. It probably sounds ridiculous to the people who created it, but it gets support for the war. It's like any other advertising. You may thing you know the ins and outs of it and understand all the dirty tactics that advertisers may use, but ads get results from the people who aren't concerned about the tactics (and probably many of those who do to a certain extent, despite what they say). I'm not trying to tell you that you're subconsiously supporting this war in a way due to buzzwords, after all, this isn't some commercial, but that many other people are. My point is that this patriotism and stuff that you don't like isn't a way of handling the war, but rather a way of garnering support for it, like any leader does in a time of crisis. Public support is necessary, and that's just one way of attaining it.
The fact that we have bodybags coming back daily shows that we're in a war, and the other side doesn't like it too much, not necessarily that we're doing something wrong. Wars have casualties (Desert Storm was an anomaly and was under different circumstances).
Regarding the scalpel comment and helping Iraqis rebel, I couldn't agree more. The only problem is how do you go into another country and organize an effective rebellion with a people who are so politically repressed that they're scared to do anything. Saddam had eyes on his country, so there was little they could do by themselves, even with a little help from us. The only thing we could do was give them arms and troops, which crosses the scalpel to hammer line. The point is that sometimes the scalpel just isn't enough. Saddam was a tough opponent, and we needed force to bring him down.
Also, you're completely right about the populace being able to govern themselves, and that's why it's been so tough rebuilding there.
As for the cost of the war, yeah, that's a problem; wars aren't cheap. Hell, if the war was free, I'd be all up for going to kick the shit out of North Korea right now. Nobody wants deficit spending and debt, but the war in Iraq wasn't just some appropriations bill, it was something we needed to do. My solution? Slash domestic government programs, but that's another debate entirely. The fact is that this war has been costly, but that's just another obstacle to overcome.
--Guido
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