I think we all agree that a decision to go to war should not be taken lightly. In a perfect world there would be no shades of gray, it would be black and white. This is not a perfect world.
Personally, I don't have any one single reason why I support war against Iraq. It is a combination of many - some practical, some idealistic, some strategic - I can't pigeonhole myself into any of your categories.
I try and picture the world if we do remove the present Iraq regime and then I try and picture the world if we don't. In my opinion, the world will be safer, freer and more prosperous - for America and her allies, for Iraq and its people and for the Arab world. You might disagree with me and there have been many posts to counter this opinion, but they have yet to persuade me. Most of them seem to be "whistling by the graveyard, leave him alone and he'll go away type posts." You're welcome to keep trying. I have been known to change my mind on issues in the past like the death penalty, nuclear power and the greenhouse effect. I'd like to think I have an open mind.
War is not the perfect solution, but there are times when it is the best response. War certainly must be followed up by wise decisions afterwards. My optimistic nature leads me to see the possibilities of an area with a free Iraq, an independent Palestine and a changed Iran. The U.S. has made some horrible decisions in the past and maybe there's no cause for optimism that we will make better ones in the future but I think we've learned something. Yes, we helped make Saddam, yes our blind support of Israel had tragic consequences, yes our oil policies were misguided, yes we made the wrong choices at the end of the Gulf War and perhaps it is those choices that have brought us to the brink of war. Unfortunately, whatever the root causes of the conflict, war is - at this time - the best course, in my opinion.
And one final thought. Sometimes you have to be willing to fight to prevent it. Everyone who's ever had an experience with a bully knows how this works. And make no mistake, Saddam is just like the playground bully, he likes being feared and force is what he understands most. My deepest hope is that we can achieve our goals without war. But like I said, you have to be willing to risk war.
-Cho |
