ShilohCat, what I see as an underlying theme to many of your answers is basically this. Saddam is really not that bad of a guy, the world can find a way of living with him and containing his aggressive tendencies.
What if you're wrong? The repercussions would be horrific. Will those who ascribe to this endless policy of containment own up to their responsibility if a biological weapon is unleashed in New York City? A biological weapon planted by Al Qaeda and obtained via Baghdad? Al Qaeda is on the run, they will use any ally they can find to destroy an American city.
Thousands upon thousands of vessels come and go every day from harbors in the United States. Completely protecting them is practically impossible.
You've spoken of preventing our allies from selling him wmd. How do we prevent North Korea, or China, or a dozen of other nations from selling him wmd? As you've said, the devil is in the details. Describe to me a detailed plan which prevents the French government, or German businesses from taking money for pieces of the technology Saddam needs? We already know, by media reports, German businesses have violated restrictions imposed by the U.N. How can we realistically contain this desire for profits endlessly?
We have the ability to control our own destiny. As President Bush so eloquently put it the other day. "Free people will determine the course of mankind". Not tyrants. Not madman hell bent of building arsenals of destruction.
Another way to answer those questions is this way.
1. Remove him from power.
2. Kill him and those who protect him.
3. Ensure he removes weapons of mass destruction and never tries to build them again.
There is little doubt in my mind, he has been building these weapons for quite some time. There is also little doubt in my mind, if he thought he could get away with it (meaning the U.S. military wasn't around), he would have already used them and taken over Saudi Arabia as well as Kuwait. In a prior post you alluded to the fact that the U.S. was wrong in forcing him out of Kuwait. Imagine what this world would look like, had he been allowed to annex Kuwait. Imagine what this situation would look like, had Israel not bombed his nuclear reactor years ago.
It's time we took our destiny in our own hands and removed this threat once and for all. We have the ability to do so. We have the ability to end this threat and possibly free the people of Iraq living under terrible oppression.
America could have taken the road of isolation and appeasement many times in our history. But we've chosen to remain engaged in world affairs, we've chose to remain engaged in determining the path this world takes. Spreading the values of democracy and free markets is in our best interest. It's in our best interest because democratic nations, operating under free market principles of economics, naturally seek peaceful solutions to world conflicts.
Yes, there are risks. We may lose some of our soldiers in the process of ending this threat. We may also lose some good and decent Iraqi citizens. However, how many lives will be saved because we took action? How many decent people will be liberated from tyranny? |
