A tiring argument we hear on a daily basis from conservatives is that the
liberal left believes that Saddam should have been left in power to rape and
kill. The truth is that is a totally false assertion, and, in my opinion,
getting rather old.
The fact is that we question the timing of the war more than the reasoning
for it. We all admit that Saddam Huessein was a horrible dictator that raped,
killed and tortured his people. We also admit the fact that he has previously
attacked surrounding nations without provocation. As matter of fact, it was
while Bill Clinton was President of the United States that Congress passed
resolution 4655 which was called the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. This was
passed by both floors and signed into law on October 31, 1998 by President
Clinton. The resolution passed the House by a vote of 360-38 and passed Senate
by unanimous consent. The fact lies in that both parties regarded Saddam as an
evil dictator that needed removed from power. This thereby negates the argument
from certain conservatives that the liberal right thought Saddam should remain
in power.
So why all the debate over the war in Iraq, both past and present? If we all
agree Saddam should be removed as Iraq’s tyrant leader how come Democrats and
now some Republicans want the troops out? The truth is our questioning has
always been behind the reasoning of going to war with Iraq at a time when we
were already engaged in another war on terrorism
Never throughout the history of our great country have we been simultaneously
involved in two wars. The notion of the United States waging war with Iraq at a
time when we were already engaged in a war was unprecedented. Also, the United
States waging a war with a nation that had not attacked us, was not attacking
other nations, was not committing a mass genocide, and was not planning any of
the above was also something the United States had never done.
We are concerned about the reasons for starting this war. On September 11,
2001 our nation was brutally attacked. Americans from coast to coast watched in
total disbelief as they saw something they previously thought would only be seen
through the magic of movies. Airplanes were turned into weapons of mass
destruction and used to take down the World Trade Center and attack the
Pentagon. In all more then 3,000 lives were lost that day and we were left with
our most prize city in a state of mayhem and ruin.
A couple weeks after this brutal attack we were told that our brave men and
women of the United States military were going after the ones who caused this
horrible event in our history. We were going to hunt them down and bring them to
justice. Those 3,000 lives that perished on that warm summer day will have
justice brought to their executioners. This was a war that America as a whole
supported whole-heartily.
We continued fighting this war for the months to come. We would hear how some
of those responsible have been captured or killed as we were slowly defeating
the regime that supported them.
Finally our President shifted his sites. No longer was Osama Bin Laden the
focus of our military. It was being changed to Iraq. We now heard that Saddam
Huessein was planning on attacking us with Weapons of Mass Destruction and a tie
to Al Qaeda was being told. We were presented with compelling speeches and
presentations. Our President told us the chilling story of how Saddam was
wanting to by uranium from Niger in order to construct nuclear weapons. Our
worst fears from the cold war were being rekindled. A month later Secretary of
State Colon Powell made a compelling presentation to the United Nations complete
with satellite photos of weapons factories and a vile of anthrax. This gained a
big support for the President and his need to remove Saddam from power.
We have removed Saddam from power, and are now more than 1700 lives and
hundreds of billions of dollars in debt. During this time our war on those who
attacked us seems to have dwindled down and the master mind behind those
horrible attacks still walks free and makes videos for all of us to see. Our
troops are still stuck in Iraq and dying everyday with no end in site.
Furthermore, we were told that Iraq had no ties to Al Qaeda a few months after
the bombs started dropping in Baghdad, and now the President even admits that
Iraq has become the central front in the war on terror.
We have been seeing more evidence emerge on an almost weekly or daily basis
that the war in Iraq was not necessary at that time. It proves that we should of
finished one war before starting another. Liberating Iraq was a great thing to
do, but it was not the right time to do it. It has in fact weakened our homeland
security by effectively spreading our military all over the opposite side of the
globe. It has also declined the number of troops we have and our attempts to
replenish those numbers are dwindling down as evident in recruitment levels.
There is evidence to show us that President Bush was willing to “fix†the
intelligence in order to gain support to wage war in Iraq. Congress did approve
authorization for the war in Iraq, but they did so, on the merits of the
intelligence that our President was “fixingâ€ÂÂ. The passing of that motion further
denounces any argument that the liberals feel Saddam should have stayed in
power.
America’s have been lied to and lost many of its loved soldiers because of
these lies. Worst yet, we were lied to by the man we elected to lead our nation.
Our Congress was also lied to, as well as the entire world. Other nations choose
to support us in this war because of the lies George Bush and his administration
were generating.
Saddam definitely needed to be removed from power at some point. That is a
point that can not be argued. The point that can be argued is if we needed to
remove him from power at the time we did. He was not manufacturing weapons of
mass destruction, he was not tied to Al Qaeda, and he was not committing mass
genocides or illegal invasions at the time. The fact is he was cooperating with
UN weapons inspectors, and we even watched some of his old weapons being
destroyed on our favorite news channel.
So before the close minded continue to assert that the liberals supported
Saddam, think again! We did not support Saddam. We wanted him out of power also.
We felt bad for the Iraqi people living under this tyrant leader, but America
needs to take care of its own first and by going to war in Iraq we diverted our
attentions and resources from the actual people who did attack us and could
possible be planning more attacks against us. George Bush, by his own words, has
effectively given Al Qaeda a better chance of surviving against us. He has
opened up Iraq to Al Qaeda as a training ground, and the continual occupation of
our troops there generates more supporters for Osama Bin Laden’s crusade against
the American people. We want George Bush to answer for this. We want to know how
he could effectively aide our enemy who brutally attack us. If we would have
eliminated Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden before freeing the Iraqi people, then
there would not be such an opposition to our war in Iraq today. We supported
George Bush based upon his lies. Now that we see he did lie, he must answer for
them. It is an answer that is due not only to the family of soldiers who have
fallen, but to America, Iraq and the entire world. If he is proven to have lied,
then he is no better than Osama Bin Laden and needs to be held accountable for
his actions as a war criminal. We are a democracy and we demand justice be
served in the memory of everyone who has fallen!
I hope this puts to rest the continual ridicule the people who question the
war in Iraq gets. We are not supporters of a brutal dictator; we are supporters
of the truth. To divert our military to another war based upon false pretences
is a hideous crime, and must be compelled by some twisted reasons.