Normally I'm a lurker, but I feel compelled to respond here.
This war is about so much more than oil. Heck, if it were truly about oil I wouldn't be paying $3.26 for a gallon of gas. This war is about someone finally having the courage to do what's right, to help a situation that the world has turned a blind eye to for far too long.
Saddam Hussein commited genocide, that's considered a crime against humanity, which he was finally indicted for on 5/16/2006. Now when you take into consideration that he was in power since 1979, you can just imagine how long of a regin he had to do as he pleased. Just imagine how many people he killed, had murdered, and how many we'll never know about. They've found mass unmarked graves in Iraq- isn't that eerily similar to what the Allies found around 1945? So how can someone suggest that this is simply about oil? You can't sit here and tell me that you feel nothing for these people. To live in fear from 1979 until today- it's something we who live in western nations can't really imagine, not to that level at least.
Nor can you claim that Hussein's feelings aren't directed towards Britain and America. Those closest to him have said that he had an almost obsessive-hatred towards America. His own personal doctor recently did interviews about it, as well as some of his family members. If I can find the links again I'll post them for you.
And you claim that just because Hussein's anger was towards Shia's and not Americans that we shouldn't have sent troops in. Well, what if that anger was towards Britain instead of Shia's? Should we not have protect the British from cruel and unusual punshiment just because they're not American? By that logic, murder and torture are fine as long as they're not committed against your own people? Would you have told the victims of the Holocaust that it's not your problem since you're not directly effected by it? Or how about the one million people killed in the Rwandan genocide that happened around 1994? Or how about the Armenians who were killed in the Armenian genocide? Or is that not your problem, since you weren't involved?
First they Came for the Communists
by: Martin Niemoller
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me.
There's no way that you can claim that there is no emotion involved- this is ALL about emotion. We feel the need to protect others from atocrocies like this. This is more than just politics. If this were simply about politics we would have done as Germany and France did- waited for someone else to bring down the Iraqi government and then demand to be part of the rebuilding process. They didn't want to destabalize their economies any by helping take Hussein down but they want to improve those same economies by reaping the benefits of someone else's work. I call that cowardly and unfair. And there's no way that this isn't about emotion- I was seven in 1994 when the images of Rwanda flashed across my television and I still remember them. I was five when the WTC was bombed the first time and my mother worked there when it was bombed- those images are still burned in my memory. I was fourteen when my city's skyline changed forever and left a gaping hole in the sky, symoblic of the gaping hole left in most American's hearts when so many people died and are STILL dying of the effects of September 11th. We retaliated the only way we knew how- we aggressively attacked a problem that had been in our scopes for years but had a leader that refused to properly address said problem. I'm sorry, but you're wrong. We're a nation that leads with our heart regardless of what the rest of the world says. And we're leading with it once again in this situation.
And there are many more than just two or three grateful Iraqi's. My oldest brother is currently serving his second tour in Iraq through the USAF, and he sends home every letter that he gets from an appreciative Iraqi. I have two medium-sized boxes filled to the brim with letters, and have just started my third for him. He sends home pictures with kids who will walk up to him and hug him just to show him their appreciation. He's sent home pictures that these kids draw, most of which depict him as a hero- which he is. I agree when you claim that some of our military members have acted in ways that are unbecoming, but there are always a few bad apples in anything you do. You can't claim that the actions of few are representative of the entire military. That's insulting- moreso than you can ever imagine. Those "bad apples" are being dealt with appropriately, but do not generalize these brave and noble men and women. Thank them, if anything, for they are doing what you claim isn't necessary, but what we know is right.
Going into this war we knew it was going to be a long and drawn out affair, but you can't just knock down the infrastructure and leave. It would be a free-for-all; there would be more dead than there are now. Even the liberalist of politicians agree with that, if albeit reluctantly.
And again, to prove that this is more than just about oil, you claim that America is an "oil hungry nation." Well, yes, we do rely on oil more than other countries, but we also have MANY untapped reserves in the US. There are oil wells under Colorado that we haven't touched, not to mention the Alaskan oil and the oil off of the east coast of the US (not in international waters- in US waters no less). We buy foreign oil to help other economies- we could easily use our own. So please stop with the "this war is about oil" comments, becasue this is so much more than that. The media spews that rhetoric because they have very few legs to stand on and they know that the average citizen will buy up what's on the news, because the news doesn't lie. But it's all slanted liberally- if you look at this situation from a neutral standpoint you'll see that there are so many facets to this problem that it can't just be about oil or about politics- it's so much more.
For the record: Kanye West *IS* a joke. Aid was so slow because the mayor and governor of Louisiana didn't ask the federal government for help- which is proper protocol in instances of disasters. They didn't ask until it was too late, nor did they mandate the evacuation until Katrina was a few miles away. In cases of hurricanes you have to move ASAP- you can't wait until the clouds start rolling in. Especially when these people are WELL AWARE that the city of New Orleans is built well below sea-level, and that the levees are only built to sustain a catagory 2 hurricane; not to mention they were built when the French still owned the territory in the 1800s. Those levees were crumbling anyway- but again, the state government didn't do a damn thing to fix it. Kanye West had no idea what he was talking about- he saw things as "they're not helping us because we're black," when white people and hispanics were there too. It was a problem for Louisiana to deal with first and foremost, and as nasty as it sounds to say it, it wasn't really the government's responsibility until LA asked for help. You can only blame Nagin and the governor (whose name escapes me at the moment...my apologies) because everything leads back to them.
In refrence to poverty and 3rd world debts: to put it simply, it's not the US's responsibility. I do not want my tax dollars going to solve someone else's problems when we have so many problems ourselves- we have our own homeless and poor to deal with, we have an influx of illegal immigrants who are putting a strain on our social programs, we have children who graduate yet can't read, we have citizens who can't speak English here. We have to solve our problems first before we can solve anyone else's.
Now back to the problem with Hussein: this all started because he refused to let UN inspectors into his country to properly inspect the Iraqi weapons installations. He did this for YEARS, although it was required by the treaty that ended the Persian Gulf War. We took such a vested interest because we realized how much of a threat he posed since we weren't sure if he was exporting weapons of mass destruction or if he was cooperating with terrorists. You can surely understand how much of a realistic fear this became after 9/11 after they used commercial planes as weapons.
And again, you can't just claim that because we're going to face resistance that we should just stop. At this point, we can't just stop- we have to keep fighting for these people. You can't knock something down without rebuilding it and that's our goal. We want these people to live the lives they want to live, not live in fear of their government. We can no longer turn a blind eye to this situation it effects everyone and will continue to do so until this problem is solved. We can't pretend that this crimes against humanity didn't occur, or else what have we truly learned from wars past?
For the record: I don't pretend to agree with how this war is being run, but I support it wholeheartedly. Someone's got to do what the rest of the world won't.
