Fear!!!

Fear and Lothing in Iraq:

Was the war right?

It goes without saying (though I will any way) that there are many citizens of this country that are against the America war in the country of Iraq. They call it unnecessary, immoral, and wrong. They say that America has become imperialistic, and is trying to make an empire for itself that would rival that of the old British Empire. And then they will adamantly try to convince you that Phish is the best band in the world.

I believe that the Iraqi War, Operation Desert Freedom, Gulf War 2: Electric Boogaloo; what ever you want to call it was a necessary. The idea of a fundamentalist Muslim, a country that says we as a country are Satan’s true form on earth, with anything bigger then a slingshot pointed at my country makes me a mite bit nervous. Especially after September 11, 2001. All of those bouts of paranoia we as a nation have been having since the communist bloc fell seem justified after that. What I don’t understand is why, if you were a county hostile to the United States of America, why oh why would you openly insult it. The Middle Eastern countries saw what happened in Grenada, They watched Panama on the television, and most Middle Eastern countries are geographically close to the Balkans. What would make them think that the United States of America wouldn’t invade there country? Did Iraq think that just because they have oil and were willing to withhold it from us if we didn’t cooperate, that we would? I’ll just chalk that up to arrogance and let it be. It doesn’t have anything to do with my main idea which…is…let me see…weather or not the United States of America, our county, was justified in going to war with the Middle Eastern nation of Iraq. My answer is yes.

There are many reasons that I say yes. I believe that America has a responsibility to the world and as such must help all of its people. I believe that as a country we did as much as was prudent to keep our nation out of the war. Not as much as we could have mind you, but enough to where we weren’t going in blind. But the biggest reason I think that the United States of America was justified in its decision to get go to war with Iraq is simple self defense.

The growing anti-American sentiment in most of the nations of the Middle East is enough for me, but there are many other convincing arguments for going to war. America had been attacked on its home soil by terrorists. We wanted these terrorist so we could put them on trial for the attacks, but the home country of the terrorist wouldn’t give them up. So instead of just going off and letting them get away with it, we take them. Then another nation, who for purposes of this exercise we will call “Iroq” starts up its nuclear power plant again, starts moving around some pretty suspicious supplies, and calling for the death of all Americans. Sure, the United States of America, being the calm and rational place that it is, a place that would never have a top rated talk show who’s main draw is the fact that someone might have a fight on it, could have simply turned the other cheek and just left things as they were, but the United States of America had just invade the sovereign land of another nation because its citizens were a treat to the United States of America (God bless the man/woman who designed auto complete). If the United States of America having had done this, would allow the leader of the nation of “Iroq”, a man whom the American public doesn’t have the warmest feelings about already, to get way with directly challenging the United States of America, the government and (since the United States of America is a representative democracy) the public of the United States of America would seem weak. This would not do. Imagine if you were hosting a cocktail party and suddenly someone dared to call you by a racial slur. You natural take the bum to task. Teach him to mess with you in your in you. But then someone else, maybe the guys brother for all you know, says the exact same thing to you. If you don’t take him out, you look like an irrational butthead for your former outburst, and it makes it look like actions such as those are permissible. That you will not do anything should this same person do something along the lines of cut the hood ornament of your car, or blow up two of your countries buildings as the un-metaphored case may be. If the government of the United States of America were to allow such a thing to come to pass then the America would look weak in the eyes of the international community.

It may seem like I am trying to make light of the conflict, but I assure you, I do not. My cousin put in a stint in Iraq during the most the height of the aggression (putting in a stint is on of the first things you learn to do in the army), and I and my family supported him and the decisions of our president, George “the big W” Bush, and still do today. A man or a country should not have to put up with treats against its safety, and the safety of its people (in the case of the country). So, in the spirit of a preemptive defensive strike, I believe that the Iraqi war was a good thing, and that the United States was right in entering in to it because if we hadn’t, the United States of America would have seemed weak in the eyes of those who wish to do our great country harm. By acting in our own defence, the war is justified.