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June 14, 2003 The heated debate over Operation Iraqi Freedom began even before it was an operation at all. It continues to this day. In the first part of this two-part column I will discuss the liberation of Iraq. In part two, to come later this week or possibly next week, I will address the WMD question. "De Opresso Liber" or "to free the oppressed" is the motto of the U.S. Army Special Forces. Think about that phrase for a minute. It is hard to find fault in that phrase. This nation fought a war against itself to free Africans from the oppression of slavery. This nation fought a war in Europe to free Europeans from the oppression of Hitler. This nation fought a war in the Middle East to free the Iraqis from the oppression of Saddam Hussein. In all cases the wars were just and the good guys won. What if the good guys had lost, or if the wars had never been fought(Bush- haters would have been happy with either)? The first case would send chills down the spines of African-Americans, the second is almost too scary to think about, but the last case probably wouldn't have affected everyday Americans that much, aside from the WMD issue to be addressed in part 2, but it would have affected Iraqis a great deal. Here are a few examples of how. Young children would still be in prison. Parents would still be made to watch the torture of their children. Parents would still be being executed for words spoken by their children in school. Doctors would still be being beheaded, in front of their families, in the streets, and left there as an example for others, because they complained about the state-run health services(this is from an actual Amnesty Intl. account that I read myself). Iraqis would still be being thrown into unmarked graves BY THE THOUSANDS. Saddam Hussein, by most accounts, killed around 1.5 MILLION Muslims. Who was waging a war against Islam? Not us. We did a truly remarkable and wonderful thing for the Iraqi people. Don't believe that the daily attacks by ticked off baathists and out-of- work fedayeen speak for the majority of Iraqi's feelings(when they attack by the millions I might change my mind). Ahmed Al-Rab'i of a London-based Arabic newspaper said, "Is there not a single man of conscience who might be brought by these sights to admit that he was mistaken, that he was unaware of the truth, that he was a victim of the misleading (Arab) media?" Very well said. I believe that human lives are worth a lot. It doesn't matter if they are African, Asian, Jewish, Arab, or anything else, they are worth a lot more than dollars, they are worth going to war for. We should intervene in matters of human suffering, not always by waging war, but we should wage war if no other choice remains. We should not just stand by and do nothing(remember Rwanda). It is a legitimate debate on whether or not we should be the world's police force. My point of view is this. Who else will do it, the U.N.? Well they've done a great job so far huh (remember Rwanda). Now imagine the chaos in New York City if there was no police department, not pretty. Now imagine the world without the U.S., sobering. It was for me. Iraq may be messy right now but I hope this last quote will give a little perspective to the situation. "We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed" -Thomas Jefferson ------------ Email Jonathan Robbins: jcrob@hsonline.net Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
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